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Submitted by Penni Mitchell on Tue, 07/12/2011 - 07:58
Foaming at the mouth over sweet revenge outside the White House; slavering as cage fighters pounded away at each other— two seemingly disparate events were a source of distress for those of us who believe that non-violence is key to the feminist project.
Within minutes of Barack Obama announcing that a special U.S. military unit had assassinated Osama Bin Laden, crowds gathered outside the White House to celebrate, as did hordes outside sporting venues, screaming an Olympic-style chant, “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” The blood lust was astounding, the perils of vengeance obvious. Do we really think it’s okay to be howling approval and revelling in someone’s death?
Then again, can we be totally surprised that an extrajudicial assassination might garner the same response as a sporting event, especially in a culture that has now embraced ultimate fighting and mixed martial arts gladiator-type competitions?
In these prize fights, combatants combine wrestling, boxing and kicking with variations on martial arts movements to beat their opponents into submission. In an attempt to make you think no harm can be done, the official website lists over 20 fouls—tactics fighters aren’t permitted to do. So you can’t gouge anyone’s eyes, or bite, or pull hair.
But you can continue to pummel your opponent while he’s down on the ground, and you can smash his head onto the floor of the ring—sometimes a cage—and it doesn’t matter how much blood you draw, the referee does not have to stop the fight.
It’s ironic that while other professional sports are trying to reign in head injuries and end the concussion epidemic, specifically football, which has now banned head hits, and hockey whose premiere player Sidney Crosby may never play again thanks to a concussion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship—in which combatants do not wear helmets—has been given the go-ahead here in Ontario.
The Canadian Medical Association has already expressed its disapproval of mixed martial arts, arguing that it puts fighters at risk of serious head injuries and bodily harm. Many UFC defenders have scoffed, saying participants consent to their own involvement. But this does not take into account the fact that many competitors enter the UFC community to rise above poverty. Is that really consent?
The UFC was approved when Ontario Premier McGinty cravenly caved in in response to lobbyists who argued that the so-called sport would bring in too much revenue to the city and the province for the governing grits to ignore. The province, in fact, takes a slice of the UFC profits—blood money if I’ve ever seen it.
Can we build a non-violent society when mammoth entertainment conglomerates promote a sport that has only one goal—to hurt and maim its participants. UFC fighters have already turned into heroes for young boys. By approving the
UFC, Ontario made it clear that participating in sports whose primary goal is bodily destruction is cool.
This is not pure entertainment, like wrestling, which is more choreography than combat. It’s much more like watching gladiators in a ring, and the audience responds in kind, cheering the competitors on, taking pure pleasure in the mayhem. Outside the Rogers Centre, where the UFC made its Canadian debut, the vibe was decidedly menacing and fights kept breaking out among the spectators. So much for the argument that such events act as a “safety valve” against violence.
Though U.S. President Obama deserves some credit for not releasing photos of Osama Bin Laden with his head blown off, the idea that it’s all right for foreign governments to go into other countries and kill people without due process remains disturbing.
Jumping up and down with delight when people are killed in any context goes against any peace-lover’s grain. And screaming in support of so-called athletes beating the crap out of each other is just as objectionable.
As feminists, we need to challenge the assumptions that there’s virtue in violent revenge and that sports like ultimate fighting are harmless entertainments. Otherwise, there’ll be no end of violence—of all kinds.
Susan G. Cole is an editor at NOW magazine in Toronto.
Cole’s Notes
BY SUSAN G. COLE
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