Is this appropriate for a so-called role model?

I realise I might get a bit of stick for what I’m about to say but I’ll give it a shot anyway. 

I recently revisited an old WWE Raw show after having a conversation with someone about a controversial “announcement” that Sasha Banks made on the show. Eager to find out what the deal was, and indeed why it upset some people, I went back to the Raw and watched the announcement again. WWE superstar Sasha Banks came in the ring and said she had an announcement to make regarding her injury. She seemed emotional and, hell, the build up in what she was saying wasn’t too far off from the retirement announcements of former WWE stars such as Edge. Then in typical WWE fashion, out comes the bad guy, in this case Dana Brooke, much to the anger of the fans. She said she was out there to finish off what Raw women’s Champion Charlotte started. Dun dun dun! But what happened soon after is what really surprised me (the full segment is below). 

Skip through to 7.25 on the clock.  Sasha Banks bends over a beaten down Dana Brooke and calls her “Miss Piggy”. Now WTF?

Let’s recap. Sasha Banks, who is by the way meant to be the “good guy/girl” in all of this just spent the first five minutes of this segment talking about how she helped pave the way for women’s wrestlers. How she was part of the “Women’s Revolution”. This is an ongoing thing and it’s laudable. Of course it’s great to see these fine athletes also being given the respect they deserve as performers and being treated as equals to the men.  But that kind of all goes out the window a few minutes later when she calls her fellow women’s wrestler Dana by the name Miss Piggy. 

Now, as this is a scripted show, I’m not going to lay all the blame firmly at Sasha’s feet. After all, this wouldn’t be the worst thing that WWE writers have done. Hell, then even exploited the premature death of WWE two time Hall of Famer Ric Flair’s youngest son.  But calling Dana Brooke “Miss Piggy is rather low. 

Now let’s get one thing straight, we all know what the connotation of Miss Piggy is and I’ll be damned if anyone legitimately thinks Dana Brooke is even overweight. 

Sure she’s a busty girl and she’s got a slightly bigger bum than some of the other girls but she is still incredibly athletic. Hell, just look at the muscle tone in her arms. So what am I getting at?

Well, personally I think it’s really ridiculous that we’re hearing this sort of name calling/attempted body shaming in the WWE, especially by a good guy. You wouldn’t hear a male WWE superstar stooping down to calling someone porky or ugly and we have had some pretty big and pretty battered guys come through over the years. And the WWE and the women’s wrestlers of today are trying REALLY hard to make us believe that we have turned the corner in wrestling and that men and women are equals. So then why are we hearing women deride each other based on how they look? There’s jus no need in my opinion. Especially as such a cheap shot. 

The second thing is that again, despite the WWE telling us that it fully supports Anti-Bullying movements such as BeAStar, it quite happily has their good guy characters again belittle someone by how they look. Isn’t that a form of bullying? Are we now saying that it is okay for young girls and boys to go around calling their peers fatty? Are we now saying also that unless you are slim enough that you are happy to bare your midriff on television that you are fat? I’m sorry but it’s not on. And as someone who was bullied at school and who had consequently suffered for many years from self loathing, this truly bothers me. 

As for Dana Brooke, girl, you are one beautiful and talented woman in my eyes.