That's right, guys. Women can fight too.
On this upcoming episode of National Geographic's Taboo, the topic of women fighting in MMA is explored. Jill, the woman featured in the video, demonstrates her proficiency in fighting as she takes down men bigger than her with her Brazilian jiu-jitsu (she is the only female at her gym). Dr. Greg Downey brings up an excellent point about women traditionally having to be "frail, helpless, and in need of men". Therefore, women like Jill would threaten men's masculinity as well as shatter this conservative notion of physically inferior women. In fact, it is quite interesting that the video starts out with Jill in the kitchen (of all places) hugging her baby daughter like a traditional mother before transitioning to her "other life" as a MMA fighter.
Women's MMA has made some headway as MMA organization Strikeforce consistently places female matches on its fight card. However, the biggest name in MMA, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has yet to allow women in the Octagon. And if UFC won't even allow women to fight each other, what would happen if a female fighter wanted to fight a male? Before watching this video, I would laugh at that suggestion. There is no way in hell a chick, no matter how high her skill level is, would be able to step into the Octagon and trade blows with the likes of Junior dos Santos or Jon Jones (google them). These guys and most of the male fighters in the UFC are far heavier and stronger than their female counterparts.
However, in the UFC there are three weight classes: flyweight (125 lbs), bantamweight (135 lbs), and featherweight (145 lbs) in which female fighters may be able to compete with the men. Jill displayed considerable skill in the video and I honestly believe (and Derrida would probably agree with me) that in the same weight class, men and women would be able to compete together. Take the size advantage away from the guy and he would have to rely on his skills. As a result, the fight can go either way especially if the woman has...say better grappling or striking skills.
And if this is the case, then why hasn't it happened yet? One final obstacle stands in the way and it is the awkward situation that a man would be put in if he had to fight a woman in an MMA match. He is basically in a dilemma. If he loses to her, he would be physically inferior to her and lose his masculinity as a result. On the other hand, if he even hits her, he'll receive major backlash for it. Therefore, gender equality in MMA may not be such a good idea because while it empowers women to rise up and challenge man in his comfort zone, it also corners him into a no win-situation.
But if women like Gina continue to rise up, anything is possible.
When I read your post, I was interested in how you said Derrida would think that women and men would be able to compete together in the same weight class. By men and women fighting together, there is a violent undertone, which does have me question the purpose of having them fight in the same ring... women and men don't play basketball together. Women and men don't play hockey together. So why now do they need to violently wrestle and punch each other until they're knocked out? Isn't this just emphasizing male/female lines? If fighting is a sport, gender lines should be lost and the person should competes to win, not to show off their that their gender is champion.
ReplyDeleteYou make a valid point there and it does have me thinking. I feel like women and men are on a more balanced scale in MMA than other sports. In basketball and hockey, men have an obvious size and strength advantage over women, therefore it is not possible for the two to play together. However, in MMA, there are certain weight classes which I mentioned where a woman could possibly fight and prove that she can compete with men in the sport. I agree with your last point. Unfortunately, this cannot be possible as guys will try to maintain their dominance in fighting and women will be fighting to prove themselves.
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