Catfight and Women Empowerment

[Aliza]

Do you think fighting can be a vehicle for women's empowerment, or to the contrary, it is sexist the way we treat it here?

I'd argue that when two consenting women fight fairly, it's basically them taking control of their own destiny instead of waiting for guys to decide who matters. It proves that their worth comes from what they can do, not just how they look or who's with them. It's a raw way of saying, "I earned my spot," which is pretty empowering on its own.

Sure, you could argue it's zero-sum--like one wins and the other loses out and that sometimes women end up fighting each other over scraps instead of cooperative interaction. But honestly, not every problem gets solved with a handshake. Sometimes you gotta stand your ground and show who's really in charge if you want to get ahead. By making it taboo, women are deprived of one of the tools to advance in the society.

I could be rationalizing my interests though, so I'd like to know others' opinion.

[Alix_Fights]

This is an interesting take on females fighting.  I don't have a lot of experience IRL (two arranged catfights because I as curious, one spontaneous because we were both drunk and catty), but I've seen a lot, so from my perspective, it doesn't seem to be a matter of empowerment. 

The fights I've seen were usually about jealousy, or misplaced perceptions of disrespect.  When I was able to find out the prior history, those interactions started out as small disagreements, and festered until both girls finally reached a breaking point and fought.

As far as the case where when two consenting women fight fairly, I have a friend like that (my tutor as it were) who just likes to fight, and catfights are her favorite.  I've see a couple of them, but those were a matter of both women wanting to fight, and it had nothing to do with destiny: it was more like a competition to see who was the better.

I suppose some catfights between women have a deeper meaning in their conflicts that lead to a physical fight, I just haven't witnessed it, or heard of it.

[ChandieSavage]

I love this topic! In terms of the fantasy of catfights, I think it can be a double-edged sword, and either be empowering OR objectifying depending on the context.

I like the idea of women feeling powerful, sexy and confident through wrestling as opposed to simply being a part of a male fantasy scenario.

[GrapplingMom]

I think it really depends. I feel it really only becomes sexist when done at the pleasure of men, thats when it becomes more objectifying. But just the act of women catfighting or wrestling is fairly neutral for me. Empowering even. If men can fight, why not women? I suppose it just depends on the spirit of the thing.

[into_the_ring]

I think it really depends. I feel it really only becomes sexist when done at the pleasure of men, thats when it becomes more objectifying. But just the act of women catfighting or wrestling is fairly neutral for me. Empowering even. If men can fight, why not women? I suppose it just depends on the spirit of the thing.

Not sure I fully agree that it becomes sexist just by being for the pleasure of men. I wrestle in front of my hubby often enough that I know it isn't true. It isn't sexist to want to put on a show for a lover. After all, he wrestles often enough for my pleasure. I think that maybe it is rather when it is emphasized or promoted as just "sexy girls rolling around" all ditzy and squealing. If there is no appreciation for it that doesn't go more than just the skin deep fact of it looking sexy, then I suppose it can be sexist.

[ChandieSavage]

Fantasies with partners and personal enjoyment aside, a better way to think is like this.

You can have  catfight in a beer commercial or you can have a classic catfight from Hollywood cinema.

Both are fun to watch but one is far more superficial and a bit sexist - even if just played for laughs. The other is still a fantasy but it plays on women being more than just eye candy and being both strong and sexy at the same time - fighting and being rough rather than just being there for someone to look at.

[Txblonde]

I think Grapling Mom is pretty much spot on...why should competing irl matches be any more empowering than participating in a tennis match or golf match? It only becomes sexist when you don't want to compete but feel forced into the competition because of the desires of your spouse/BF.....

[Txblonde]