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lucha libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...
, an ''exótico'' () is a male
wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...
, known as a ''luchador'', who fights and performs while incorporating
feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
aspects in to their wrestling personas, known as "
gimmicks A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...
". They are characterized by a
camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...
style, feminine costumes, and
humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...
.Levi, Heather. The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity. Durham: Duke UP, 2008. Print. Though not all ''exóticos'' are
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
, some are and some incorporate sexual ambiguity into their performance. Wearing feather boas, headdresses,
sequins A sequin ( ) is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament. Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...
or
stockings Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparen ...
, they are often seen as defying traditional macho Latino culture.Berry, Mark. "Lucha Libre." Gay Times (09506101) 359 (2008): 56-59. LGBT Life. Web. 29 May 2012.


Meaning

Lucha libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...
(Mexican-style professional wrestling) is a blend of
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
and
sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
that involves various fighting techniques such as
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
,
jujitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...
,
grappling Grappling is a fighting technique based on throws, trips, sweeps, clinch fighting, ground fighting and submission holds. Grappling contests often involve takedowns and ground control, and may end when a contestant concedes defeat. Shou ...
and
kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...
. It is a world of masked ''luchadores'' (enmascarados), flying little people and flamboyant costuming, one filled with acrobatics and athleticism, all mixed with
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
, pageantry and a
physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. It can include slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts, or making funny faces. Physical comedy originated as part of the Commedia dell'arte. It is ...
that is uniquely Latino origin. Everything that a ''luchador'' says, does, and wears is essential to their character and their
performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...
. There are different kind of ''luchadores'' who represent
good and evil In philosophy, religion, and psychology, "good and evil" is a common dichotomy. In religions with Manichaeism, Manichaean and Abrahamic influence, evil is perceived as the dualistic cosmology, dualistic antagonistic opposite of good, in which ...
, '' técnico'' or ''rudo''/
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...
, and queers. ''Lucha libre'' is a space in which the
macho Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...
- maricón (
heterosexual-homosexual continuum Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...
) is represented not only in the relative positioning of men competing over who is "more" macho but also by men who have abdicated their masculinity. Many gay wrestlers show in their performances that they may identify as a female, but can be just as strong as a male, and can deliver a great performance just like any other male wrestler. ''Lucha libre'' is a performance that is open to multiple readings on axis of representation by two men. Many ''lucha libre'' matches cannot be described as a struggle between two men, because not all wrestlers are male, and not all male wrestlers are unambiguously men. A ''lucha libre'' match between two men represents a rudo and a técnico (evil and good), in which most ''exóticos'' end up being rudos. This does not apply to all ''exóticos'', but the audience usually responds to them being a rudo.


History

In the 1940s, the first ''exóticos'' were seen in the history of lucha libre. Initially, the category of ''exóticos'' was formed as simply an act for entertainment; it did not reflect the life of any luchador. One of the earliest acknowledged ''exótico'' was Sterling Davis, also known as Gardenia Davis (ring name). Gardenia would enter the ring by throwing
gardenias ''Gardenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Madagascar, Pacific Islands, and Australia. The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus and John Ellis after ...
at the crowd. But up until the late 1980s, ''exóticos'' claimed that the act was just an act and that it did not reflect any personal lifestyles. In the mid-1980s, two luchadores trained by Reynosa began wrestling as ''exóticos'' but unlike previous ''exóticos'', they did not deny their homosexual identity publicly. "The ''exóticos'' changed the ''exótico'' style from a representation of a tendency to a representation of a social category and celebrated lucha libre as a means of
upward mobility Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given socie ...
for themselves specifically as homosexuals". "I love it. I come from a 'machismo' family in which many are
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
. I've had many doors slammed in my face, but I am who I am. What you see is what you get. I'm gay, and I've had no problem saying it." Many Lucha libre fanatics would argue that ''exóticos'' are "not quite men", but ''exóticos'' defend themselves, the thing that maricones are thought to, by definition, not be capable of doing.


Interpretation

Exóticos have been seen as figures of "contesting the dramatic representation of
machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1940s and 1950s and its use more wi ...
" and compete with their opponents in the ring while also "rejecting the outward signs of
manhood A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fath ...
".Cervantes, Susana Vargas. "Performing Mexicanidad: Criminality and Lucha Libre." Crime Media Culture An International Journal (2010): 187-203. SAGE Journals. Web. 6 June 2012. As the
connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive or ...
behind the meaning of being an ''exótico'' began to change and shifted from simply being an act to actually forming a category for female and gay representation in the ring,
gender roles A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gende ...
started to change. Not only were women's gender roles challenged, but they were also seen as a threat by machistas. For example, Juana Barraza was a known ''exótico'' wrestler and
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
who challenged gender norms. Barraza's wrestling body transgresses the
normative Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A Norm (philosophy), norm in this sense means a standard for evaluatin ...
gender and sex roles socially defined for women, thus challenging normative productions of mexicanidad. The physical strength that Barraza presents in the photograph as the la Dama del Silencio resists the "historical notions of the properly feminine body constituted as 'weak and pathological' and the culturally dominant codes of femininity that render women outside 'sports as cults of masculinity', especially in a Mexican cultural context where sports like lucha libre and physical strength are only celebrated for men; female bodies are culturally accepted if 'naturally' feminine, that is, if they do not threaten the dominant codes of the idealized Mexican, that is the
mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
and macho. As Balsamo (1996) explains, to be female and strong implicitly violates traditional codes of feminine identity". By having a female presence in the ring, Mexican women were empowered because they were now having a part in something that was seen as manly. The female presence in the sport showed that women and gay men could do the same things as men without a doubt. This threatened
social norms A social norm is a shared standard of acceptance, acceptable behavior by a group. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into wikt:rule, rules and laws. Social norma ...
because the traditional Machismo does not like strong women.


Significance

Heather Levi has argued that lucha libre's theatricality challenges mainstream machismo in Mexico in the performance of certain wrestlers, like ''exóticos''. ''Exóticos'' challenge the traditional norms of what a man should and should not do, and challenge that idea that a maricon can not defend himself. Foremost, they also allow women to empower themselves by bringing a female presence to the ring. Although there are audience members that do not take ''exóticos'' seriously, their act has helped challenge traditional machismo and has been effective enough to even be considered a threat by "ideal" machismo. "''Exóticos'' then contest the production of mexicanidad as they challenge the ideal mestizo-macho heterosexual) wrestler. As such, female wrestlers also challenge ''lucha libre''s traditional performances and, while women wrestlers only fight other women and cannot literally unman male opponents in the ring, they do so culturally, since female wrestlers transgress the codes of normative femininity inside and outside the ring." Although women do not actually fight with men in the ring, they are represented by ''exóticos'' since they are openly homosexual. This allows women to empower themselves even more and have a type of vision that gives them equal rights. The biggest reason why this is seen as a threat by traditional machismo is because once these women are empowered, they realize that they have the same rights as men do, therefore disempowering machismo completely. The fact that ''exóticos'' can physically challenge a man in the ring and physically challenge male masculinity is what makes the role of ''exóticos'' so crucial to the transformation of social norms. The outfit of an ''exótico'' is known to be different regarding its style and colors. The outfit represents different aspects of their identity and their stance against machismo, while empowering women. "Her face is covered with a silver and bright pink butterfly mask. Barraza's wrestling photograph thus juxtaposes markers of her physical strength with those of femininity, codified through butterflies and the bright pink color of her suit. In doing so, the photo creates what Anne Balsamo calls a 'gender hybrid' that invokes corporeal codes of femininity as well as of masculinity. The outfit that these men in drag sport help define their category of an ''exótico''. They create a gender hybrid in which the masculinity of a man is blended with the femininity of a woman but in an empowered form where they can compete with social norms and be accepted in an arena.


See also

*
List of drag queens This is a list of drag queens, sometimes known as female impersonators, drag performers, or drag artists. Performers See also * List of RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, List of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants * List of exóticos, ...
* List of ''exóticos''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exotico Lucha libre Drag (entertainment) Professional wrestling gimmicks LGBTQ characters in professional wrestling LGBTQ culture in Mexico