Racial Stereotypes at Wrestlemania: A Political Economic Approach

• Other Authors: Bartlett, Zachary M. (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Communication
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-8939

Ever since professional wrestling made the transition from sport to spectacle, stereotypes have played a role in the show, traditionally as a narrative device that divides the wrestling world into heels (villains) and faces (heroes). In the past, as a regional product, wrestling promotions would appeal to the demographic of the region, placing their morals and ideology onto the hero. As wrestling has gone mainstream, that hasn't changed, but the audience has. No longer relying solely on regional ticket sales, but rather large, national mass media contracts and advertisers, professional wrestling now attempts to appeal to the white, masculine, neoliberal hegemony and in doing so perpetuates its ideology through stereotypes. Now, nearly every group outside of the majority culture is depicted by lazy archetypal portrayals meant to reinforce hegemonic ideology. This thesis, using the work of many political economic scholars, attempts to identify and describe portrayals of race in the WWE from a political economic perspective, focusing on the ideology dispersed by the messages within WWE content and the structural factors that encourage the portrayals. In attempt to do so, trade journals and popular press were examined, and WrestleManias 1-30 were analyzed using textual analysis to examine portrayals of race. === A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. === Summer Semester, 2014. === April 18, 2014. === Economy, Political, Race, Stereotype, Wrestling, WWE === Includes bibliographical references. === Jennifer Proffitt, Professor Directing Thesis; Davis Houck, Committee Member; Felecia Jordan Jackson, Committee Member.