As a female wrestler I get asked questions about being a wrestler all the time. Most of these questions are absurd however, they are stereotypes and untrue. Women wrestlers are always getting stereotyped just because other athletes and outsiders don’t really know how it works period mens or womens, only a true wrestler or someone who has family or friend background in the sport knows.

 

Myth number 1- All girl wrestlers are lesbians

 

        This one I hear mostly every day when I go out almost anywhere. Just because I play a certain sport that shouldn’t mean or determine my sexual attraction towards another person. According to wrestler Kate Hawthorn, “When people ask I usually just laugh it off because it’s assumed all the time. They say we are lesbian because generally wrestling is typically a male sport. When I’m with my friends I usually say yeah and play along just to mess with the people that ask but I’m not, I just find it amusing now because I’ve been asked so many times. I usually get asked by guys at social party when they come up to me.” Yes now there are some homosexuals on wrestling teams but name something in 2018 an there's a percentage in everything.

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Myth number 2- Women wrestlers take testosterone.

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        As women wrestlers strength is important, lots of wrestlers are pretty jacked. Enhancers are highly illegal and I get that some athletes use them. Most people assume wrestlers use them because as females they think we shouldn’t look so strong or be so strong so it's easier to say we've been taking pills rather than understanding our hard work. According to wrestler Kenya Sloan, “I feel offended and hurt, I’ve never met anyone who’s ever taken any enhancers in the 10 plus  years that I have been in wrestling. They say this because performance enhancing drugs enhance your abilities an wrestlers perform above the rate of an average human. When you’re not in the room it’s hard to see the strength that is gained from practices in order to become stronger individuals. We don’t just sit here piping pills to get to where we are. When with friends I explain to them how enhancement drugs are dangerous and unhealthy. But to my friends I’d explain my frustrations just because I’m a female and I wrestle I don’t take enhancing drugs, I take care of my body. Other athletes that don’t wrestle assume and don’t ask in a training environment but in casual environment.” The way we look and how we do things puts ideas in people's heads. So quick to judge and make assumptions just because we are doing something out of the norm.

 

Myth number 3- Women wrestlers can’t wrestle at all

 

        When women start doing activities usually preferred for the opposite sex it scares people but as years go on change isn't bad we improve on this so they constantly change for the better. According to wrestler Koral Sugiyama, “When people tell me I can’t wrestle my first coach definitely didn’t want me on the team so I had to push harder than the boys stepping up my work ethic. They say it because it’s challenging to the status quo and it’s been called men’s wrestling and it’s hard for change. When with friends I would talk about how that person was ignorant and close minded. Usually said by older men and in a wrestling environment.” A women can do anything a man can do. Our bodies might not look the same but they do move the same.

 

Myth number 4- People say we look like men

 

        This myth actually hurts a lot of wrestlers self esteem being a female in a male sport is already hard enough we don’t need to be told we look a man while doing it. According to wrestler Rory Coscia, “When people tell me I look like a man an it makes me think that it’s true. They say I look like a boy just because I wrestle. When people say that in front of my team or friends I make a joke about it and play it off then after I say that it actually hurts and they tell me I don’t look like one. Where people usually ask they usually ask me at school.” When more girls are around its easier because we lean on each other because we all go through hard appearances trying to see what fits.

 

Myth number 5- Size matters

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         Wrestlers come in all different sizes, weight classes define us. Everyone is different, nobody in the world is the same. People come in all different shapes sizes because the genes never stay the same. According to wrestler Charlotte Fowler, “I feel upset when people say this about me because obviously size doesn’t matter. They say this because they don’t know wrestling, only wrestlers truly understand what it means and how it goes with rules. When people ask me in public I laugh it off then turn to friends and say how messed up it was. Teachers really ask usually in classrooms during introductions.” Sometimes if you ask the wrong person why they wrestle because they are so “tiny” it hurts. You can't control the way you look just how much shape you are in.

 

        Women's wrestling is a big sport among nations and is one of the fastest growing sport so of course criticism will come around, criticism happens to everything because humans are entitled to their own opinions. Now does that mean I think their opinion might mean less? Absolutely because I Love Wrestling and no ones is going to change my mind about it. All day every day. I’m not going to bash you for the things you’re into so don't spread myths about something I love.