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Paper short abstract:

Examining situations in which Senegalese wrestlers demonstrated a “playful disposition” (Malaby 2009) toward their craft, I show how these moments contributed to both reproduce and to subtly subvert the gendered mythologies of wrestling.

Paper long abstract:

During their training and daily life, làmb (Senegalese wrestling with punches) wrestlers usually embody forms of entrepreneurial and “warrior masculinity”. Wrestlers try to enhance their reputation through a constant work on themselves: They declare on the mass media to follow draconian training schedules; they train intensely showing an unabated ability to endure pain and fatigue when key actors are attending the performance; they organize dancing and wrestling events to rally supporters; they build their public-self by carefully choosing wrestling nicknames, displaying distinctive aesthetic styles and crafting their self-narratives (Hann, Chevé, Wane 2021). For a wrestler to demonstrate total commitment to training and to epitomize the virtues of “warrior masculinity” are major assets in order to augment the number of his supporters, and to be offered a fighting contract.

Yet, fieldwork demonstrated that during less intense training sessions and lulls wrestlers were also irreverent, less disciplined and enjoyed parodying images of “warrior masculinity”. Examining situations in which wrestlers played with masculine stereotypical values and behaviors improvising jokes and pantomimes, I show the partially unintended consequences of these moments in both reproducing and subtly subverting the gendered mythologies of wrestling practice. These gendered ideals work to both marginalize female practitioners and to increase the risks of injury and overtraining for wrestlers.