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| Banks should be able to wrestle without someone touching her, but the problem is deeper than wrestling Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Every couple of months, you have to remind the fans at-large that they're not supposed to touch the wrestlers or verbally abuse them. It happened in Mexico with Scarlett Bordeaux getting unwantedly hugged by an overzealous AAA fan, and it almost happened again here. The common thread was that in both cases, it was a dude trying to get sexual thrills by violating a female wrestler's personal space and body autonomy. Women, people in general, only want to be touched in a sexual manner when they consent to it. They can't consent to a fan putting their grubby hands on them in the heat of the moment when they, the wrestler, have their attention placed on the match they're trying to work.
The attitude is not limited to wrestling fans. Ask a woman, any woman, and odds are they've been on the receiving end of an unwanted grope, someone touching their body that took the woman by surprise and without her consent. It happens in schools, locker rooms, transit systems, even out in the open. People who don't respect boundaries are everywhere, and it's ingrained in their minds that they're in the right. They're not assaulting someone. They're taught that it's just them "shooting their shot." The best example of something in popular culture condoning this behavior is in Billy Madison. The kids dare Billy, played by Adam Sandler, to touch Veronica Vaughn's boobs (Vaughn played by Bridgette Wilson). He first remarks "That's assault, brotha" before agreeing to do it if he was "double-dog dared." He followed through, and Vaughn seemed to play it off with no real repercussions to Billy (the two ended up together at the end of the movie).
So, if everyone says it's okay to sexually harass a person minding their own business or doing their job, why should anyone, the person in the video or otherwise, do anything else? Whether you believe it or not, the established code of conduct rewards creeps under the guise of being bold or "shooting their shot." If they can do so to a random woman on the street, the next level up is to try it with a celebrity to see if it works. Thus you have the fan in Mexico trying to take Bordeaux home with her and the guy from Sunday trying to touch Banks' behind.
It can seem futile to shout #MeToo to the wrestling industry when people seem not to want to address it in real life. For example, supposed opposition leaders who theoretically care for women are opposed to making someone accused of sexual misconduct face some kind of consequence for it. No one with power cares about people, and the only way to change that is to fight to get people in power who do. Until then, the best thing to do is to keep ostracizing creeps like the guy from Sunday night. He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a live wrestling show, and Banks is apparently going to sue him. It's not much in this world where the underdogs are marginalized people and their opponents are favored by a billion points. But it's a start.
