Just Looking ...

I remember when I used to watch wrestling as a kid. The wrestlers that seem to be hated the most were often flabby. Bam Bam Bigelow was probably the one I despised the most. He was the complete opposite of what the ideal body, according to the bourgeois view of course, should look. Tattoos on his arms and on his head, he could have frightened anobody out there. I hated him, not because he was a bad wrestler or because he was playing the evil man because in fact I prefer those ones, but maybe because what he represented what the opposite of what I thought was an athlete. For me an athlete had to be more like Hulk Hogan. Fit, tall, and strong as hell.

Now looking back in time I realize that all the flabby wrestler I could remember of were the hated one. Yokozuna, Andre the Giant, the Big Show and some others I cant remember are part of this. There is no doubt in my mind that the WWF back then now WWE adopted the bourgeois view of the body and that they were able to maintain this perception by making sure that the flabby men would always be an evil character. One of the bug moment in the history of the WWE was when Hulk Hogan won at Wrestle Mania Andre the Giant, who until then dominated the other wrestlers. It was the ultimate consecration of the sculpted body over the fleshy one.

On the other hand, I was wondering if we can consider bodies like the one of Vince McMahon or Rick Flair, so older wrestlers whose flesh is not as fit as it used to be because of the age, as being part of this flabby body thing. I mean they are without anydoubt working out in order to get a fit body but their age limit the results. So can we consider someone who is trying to get a fit body but cant because of certains factors which he cant control, as a person with undisciplined flesh?

David