Following WWE programming last week, two story line points emerged which caused some stir on the internet and on social media, and lead to accusations of sexism towards women on WWE TV.
One of the story line points in question was when Ric Flair, at last Sunday’s Royal Rumble, forcibly kissed Becky Lynch during her match to distract her from Charlotte, an act which was mostly lauded by the announce team as a joke. The second story line was on WWE Raw this past week when The Rock delivered a speech to Lana describing an apparent sexual encounter the two had last year.
The story lines prompted writer Alex Groot to post an editorial at Vocativ.com called “WWE’s Looming Sexism Problem”. Below is an article excerpt:
What do all these characters have in common? They were positioned as babyfaces in their storylines, the good guys that fans were expected to support and cheer for. That, for far too long, has been the strange ethos of the WWE, where women are objects, crude name calling is to be cheered, and slut-shaming is righteous. Indeed, it is no secret that the company has a checkered, problematic past, not only with women, but with race, homophobia, and taking care of its own employees. The empire Vince McMahon built has a rather retrograde history, much like that of American professional wrestling, more broadly.”
