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While the Attitude Era was a very popular and successful period of time in the WWF, it is highly exaggerated and not as great as fans make it out to be. Like any other era, the Attitude Era had many successes but also some notable failures.
The Attitude era had a diverse set of popular characters, shocking and entertaining storylines/feuds, bloody matches, but very poor often boring matches. Some gimmicks such as the Undertaker's ministry of darkness and Mick Foley's Dude Love gimmicks were just flops. The women were being misused as nothing more than eye-candy with the exception of Lita and Chyna. I was sometimes bored watching some pointless so called "entertaining" segments.
In short, there are other eras that deserve as much attention as the Attitude Era such as the Ruthless Aggression period or WWF's Golden Age of wrestling. While i don't want too much technical wrestling, i also don't wish for too much entertainment which is one of the pitfalls of the WWF's Attitude Era.
Men and women have for the most part been forbidden from facing each other in the ring together. WWE has allowed women to occasionally attack male wrestlers, but only when the circumstances are in their favor. Other than that, male wrestlers are the dominant representatives of pro-wrestling while sxism and anything intergender is controversial in sports, especially in Pro-Wrestling. Men have always been more popular and iconic than women. If WWE allows a woman to get hit by a man, there'd be so much controversy. Why? Because a man hitting a woman is something that is widely forbidden period. If WWE allows that, their company is screwed. However, as long as WWE allows women to stay in their own division, women's wrestling won't change for the best.
I believe that female wrestlers ought to have matches with other male wrestlers. Let's face it - the Diva's division sucks. At one point, it flourished but not consistently. Many divas are there just for show, fired, retired, or otherwise. Few divas like Beth Phoenix, Chyna and Lita are the most dominant athletes in the WWE.
Nevertheless, it seems people feel that women cannot be at the same competitive level as men. It's just not fair for women as men are biologically stronger or is it? I'm not going into the specifics, but let's assume for now that men are biologically stronger than women. This shouldn't prevent thin women from competing against bigger and stronger male wrestlers if they have the skills to compensate for lack of strength. The bigger they are, that harder they fall. This is true for anyone regardless if they are male or female.
Do i expect someone like Lita to defeat the Undertaker? No but i also don't expect a superstar like Rey Mysterio to do it either. This is because the Undertaker is so dangerous, he ought to not be reckoned with by anyone. Chyna on the other hand is a different story all together. She's attacked him and other dominant male wrestlers in the past. She's built like a man and she's dangerous. People object because it means that a woman has to compromise her femininity in the name of masculinity. This is completely false. I find Chyna to be a very attractive women as she is a model on the side. It doesn't mean i think any less of her as a person if she decides to show off her body in a bra and panties match. I'll support her for who she is period. Many divas don't have the same level of competition and drive as Chyna has. If a diva wants to be respected for more than her appearance, she has to work very hard for it. She has to stand out from the rest. This is why they typically don't get that much success.
By keeping women safe from men as a sign of respect, you are actually disrespecting women. By constantly saving divas from male opponents, your teaching that women are too weak to fight for themselves. Do you really believe someone as built and as tough as Chyna can't handle a punch to the face? If she went up against a bigger and tougher opponent, do you think she'd care? Women deserve a chance to be recognized for their talent and competitive spirit. This is something they won't get as long as male wrestlers are the faces of the WWE. For these reasons, women and men ought to be booked against each other for longer than Beth Phoenix briefly went against the Great Khali in the Royal Rumble. How many of you want to see Chyna and Undertaker fight each other? Looking at their records, i certainly do.
There are several people who claim that pro-wrestling is sexist and racist. They'll point out many examples such as WWE bra and panties matches, Machoism among male wrestlers, among other things. They will appeal to your sense of morality and argue that these are grounds to stop watching pro-wrestling all together.
However the media won't give you the full picture. They will claim that women are there for eye candy but ignore divas like Lita, a very dominant pro-wrestler among other women. They will claim that it's racist against blacks then use Mark Henry as an example although he stated it's not the company's fault. They will also ignore the many other things that also apply to men as much as women.
What is the main purpose of pro-wrestling? Entertainment. Ultimately, pro-wrestlers aren't there to be friends. They're not there to be role-models. They're not there to promote any morals. They're main goal is to entertain people in order to get paid. I don't watch pro-wrestlers to see how manly they are when they hurt others. I don't even watch pro-wrestling to see people get hurt. I watch pro-wrestling for the entertainment. It's the choreography and the art itself that i'm interested in.
With that in mind, everything that pro-wrestlers do regardless of gender or race is strictly to entertain the audience. Just as women are almost nude, so are the men. The reason being is that the less spandex you wear, the more mobile you become. It was not intended to degrade either gender.
While it's in my opinion that some WWE events like lap dances are irrelevant, they're not sexist. To judge them as slut-shaming is assuming that women are not sexual beings. What if a lesbian is turned on by the sight of woman in a bikini? What if a straight woman appreciates a Diva's curves? What if the Divas are comfortable expressing their sexuality? It is these kinds of questions rendering sexist arguments mute. They're not there just to please men, but also many other people. As for "manly" behavior, it's not restricted to one gender. Many women in the audience are fond of it while still keeping their femininity.
Some advocate for there being more women and races represented in the business. They argue there's so few blacks, Mexicans, or women in the business. This might strike you as concerning, but it's only because the media suggests that something is wrong. Being raised in a Hispanic family, i was never concerned about my race on T.V and neither were the audience. Many people of all races and ages loved Stone Cold, the Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, Bobby Lashley, Kane, the Rock, etc. because of their talent, not the color of their skin. If you were to ask me: "Do you think WWE needs more pro-wrestlers of your race?" My answer is "No." I'm satisfied with my favorite Hispanic superstars: Rey Mysterio and the Mexicools. When i saw their entrances, i did not see racism. On the contrary, they made me feel proud of my Mexican heritage. However when it comes to pro-wrestling, race is out of the picture. I look at quality over quantity.
Let's face it - The word "sexist" and "racist" have been thrown around too much. These terms are dead until we bring them to life by giving them meaning. No matter what race or gender you put on T.V, the outcome is the same - People will protest. There will always be people trying to take down the business by using race and sex as a means to do so. In the world of pro-wrestling, we ought to look at the pro-wrestler's character above all. The problem is not WWE, the problem is you and your perceptions. When you stop trying to implant ideas into entertainment in the name of education and politics then it stops being enjoyable. Embrace pro-wrestling for what it was meant to be - Entertainment.
While the Attitude Era was a very popular and successful period of time in the WWF, it is highly exaggerated and not as great as fans make it out to be. Like any other era, the Attitude Era had many successes but also some notable failures.
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