How Indigenous Women Revolutionized Bolivian Wrestling
Though wrestling is widely regarded as the world's oldest sport, women have only recently gained a foothold. And even then, they've done so while facing tremendous discrimination and resistance from organizers, other wrestlers, and fans.
This is certainly true in competitive Olympic forms of wrestling. But it's also been the case for more spectacular forms of wrestling entertainment, where women have long been relegated to the roles of managers or girlfriends. When they do actually wrestle, they're often sexualized.
Yet these women are nonetheless making advances. World Wrestling Entertainment's most recent Wrestlemania featured the first-ever women's main event. And in the world of Bolivian wrestling, women have also made big strides. In fact, many Bolivian women wrestlers now have achieved far more popularity than their male counterparts.