Editing Professional wrestling (section)

=== Study and analysis ===
[[File:Mick Foley07.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Mick Foley]], who was one of the subjects of the ''[[Beyond the Mat]]'' documentary, became a [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' best-selling]] author for his books about professional wrestling]]
With its growing popularity, professional wrestling has attracted attention as a subject of serious [[Academia|academic]] study and [[Journalism|journalistic]] criticism. Many courses, theses, essays and dissertations have analyzed wrestling's [[convention (norm)|conventions]], content, and its role in modern society. It is often included as part of studies on theater, sociology, performance, and media.<ref>{{cite conference| first=Caceres|last=Ernesto Cruz|title=Monday Night Identity Wars: The Evolution of Performance Conventions in Professional Wrestling |year=2005| location=Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference Program| url=http://www.popularculture.org/2005%20PAGES/2005%20Program.htm|access-date=2008-03-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20050613082746/http://www.popularculture.org/2005%20PAGES/2005%20Program.htm|archive-date=2005-06-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference| first=Brian| last=Ledford|title=Grappling with Masculinity: Representation and Reception of Televised Professional Wrestling Imagery|publisher=SIUE College of Arts and Sciences| location=Spring Colloquium: Thinking About Masculinity| url=http://www.siue.edu/CAS/COLLOQUIA/MasculProgramFINAL.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409100044/http://www.siue.edu/CAS/COLLOQUIA/MasculProgramFINAL.pdf|archive-date=2008-04-09}}</ref> The [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] developed a course of study on the cultural significance of professional wrestling,<ref>Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Comparative Media Studies course on Professional Wrestling – [http://mitcmsprowrestling.blogspot.com/2006/12/this-class-will-explore-cultural.html Official Course weblog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708053415/http://mitcmsprowrestling.blogspot.com/2006/12/this-class-will-explore-cultural.html |date=2011-07-08 }}</ref> and anthropologist [[Heather Levi]] has written an ethnography about the culture of lucha libre in Mexico.<ref>The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity – [[The World of Lucha Libre]]</ref>

In the early 20th century, once it became apparent that the "sport" was worked, pro wrestling was looked down on as a cheap entertainment for the uneducated working class,<ref name="Kreit" /> an attitude that still exists to varying degrees today.<ref name="Lipscomb" /> The French theorist [[Roland Barthes]] was among the first to propose that wrestling was worthy of deeper analysis, in his essay "The World of Wrestling" from his book ''[[Mythologies (book)|Mythologies]]'', first published in 1957.<ref name="Barthes">{{cite web|last=Barthes|first=Roland|title=The World of Wrestling|work=Mythologies|year=1957|url=http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ikalmar/illustex/Barthes-wrestling.htm|access-date=2008-03-21|archive-date=2010-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306043917/http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ikalmar/illustex/Barthes-wrestling.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Kreit" /> Barthes argued that it should be looked at not as a scamming of the ignorant, but as [[spectacle]]; a mode of theatric performance for a willing, if bloodthirsty, audience. Wrestling is described as performed art which demands an immediate reading of the juxtaposed meanings. The logical conclusion is given least importance over the theatrical performers of the wrestlers and the referee. According to Barthes, the function of a wrestler is not to win: it is to go exactly through the motions which are expected of him and to give the audience a theatrical spectacle. This work is considered a foundation of all later study.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lagorio| first=Christine|title=Wrestling With The Margins|work=Education Supplement 2005| publisher=The Village Voice|date=2005-01-04| url=http://www.villagevoice.com/arts/0502,lagorio,59937,12.html|access-date=2008-03-21|archive-date=2008-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705180645/http://villagevoice.com/arts/0502,lagorio,59937,12.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While pro wrestling is often described simplistically as a "[[soap opera]] for males", it has also been cited as filling the role of past forms of [[literature]] and [[theater]]; a [[wikt:synthesis|synthesis]] of [[Classics|classical]] [[hero]]ics,<ref>{{cite web|last=Plank|first=William|title=The Athlete as Buffoon: Cultural and Philosophical Considerations on Professional Wrestling|publisher=Montana State University-Billings| url=http://www.msubillings.edu/CASFaculty/Plank/THE%20ATHELETE%20AS%20BUFFOON.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411141551/http://www.msubillings.edu/CASFaculty/Plank/THE%20ATHELETE%20AS%20BUFFOON.htm|archive-date=2008-04-11}}</ref> [[commedia dell'arte]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Jonathan|title=Foreign Objects Included|work=The Scope magazine|date=2006-11-09|url=http://thescope.ca/?p=576|quote=There is a sense in which wrestling resembles nothing if not a kind of postmodern commedia dell'arte|access-date=2008-03-19|archive-date=2023-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406042846/http://thescope.ca/?p=576|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Revenge play|revenge tragedies]],<ref name="Mazer">{{cite book| last=Mazer| first=Sharon| author-link = Sharon Mazer | title=Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle| isbn = 978-1578060207| publisher=Jackson: University Press of Mississippi|year=1998}}</ref> [[morality play]]s,<ref name="Mazer" /> and [[American burlesque|burlesque]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Garvin|first=Diana|title=Et tu, Steve Austin?|work=The Harvard Crimson|publisher=Harvard University|year=2005| url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=508906|access-date=2008-03-19|archive-date=2008-04-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419024730/http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=508906|url-status=live}}</ref> The characters and storylines portrayed by a successful promotion are seen to reflect the current [[Mood (psychology)|mood]], [[attitude (psychology)|attitudes]], and concerns of that promotion's [[society]]<ref name="Lipscomb" /><ref name="Bollom" /> and can in turn influence those same things.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Merchants of Cool| url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/|series=Frontline|airdate=2001-02-27|season=2001|access-date=2017-09-08|archive-date=2021-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628010309/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, wrestling's high levels of [[violence]] and [[masculinity]] make it a vicarious outlet for [[aggression]] during [[peacetime]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Farley|first=Frank|title=CZW: Blood, Philadelphia and Fun|work=Rat Blood Soup magazine|url=http://ratbloodsoup.com/czw.html|access-date=2008-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208172727/http://www.ratbloodsoup.com/cow.html|archive-date=2007-12-08|url-status=dead}}</ref> The displays of masculinity are said to incorporate [[homoerotic]] elements and elements of pageantry that have been compared to [[Drag queen|drag]] or [[Ball culture]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Levey |first=Ry |title='Out in the Ring': How professional wrestling has become an LGBTQ friendly space |url=https://www.cbc.ca/arts/out-in-the-ring-how-professional-wrestling-has-become-an-lgbtq-friendly-space-1.6465375}}</ref> some scholars posit that the homoerotic undertones target the desires of ostensibly heterosexual male viewers, "[allowing] them the vicarious pleasure of transgressing gender norms"<ref>Millman, Daniel Sarnat, [https://scholarworks.smith.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2204&context=theses "Free to act any way he wanted: male gender identity and professional wrestling]" (2009). Masters Thesis, Smith College, Northampon, MA.</ref> by identifying with "wrestlers who perform culturally transgressive notions of masculinity including flamboyance, attention to physical appearance, and ambiguous sexual identity".<ref>Mazer, S. (1998). [[doi:10.2307/j.ctvx5w9pw|Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle]]. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.</ref>

[[Documentary film|Documentary]] [[Film director|filmmakers]] have studied the lives of wrestlers and the effects the profession has on them and their families. The 1999 theatrical documentary ''[[Beyond the Mat]]'' focused on [[Terry Funk]], a wrestler nearing [[retirement]]; [[Mick Foley]], a wrestler within his prime; [[Jake Roberts]], a former star fallen from grace; and [[Glossary of professional wrestling terms#School|a school of wrestling students]] trying to break into the business. The 2005 release ''[[Lipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling]]'' chronicled the development of women's wrestling throughout the 20th century. Pro wrestling has been featured several times on [[HBO]]'s ''[[Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel]]''. MTV's documentary series ''[[True Life]]'' featured two episodes titled "I'm a Professional Wrestler" and "I Want to Be a Professional Wrestler". Other documentaries have been produced by [[TLC (TV channel)|The Learning Channel]] (''The Secret World of Professional Wrestling'') and [[A&E (TV channel)|A&E]] (''[[Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows]]''). ''[[Bloodstained Memoirs]]'' explored the careers of several pro wrestlers, including [[Chris Jericho]], [[Rob Van Dam]] and [[Roddy Piper]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}