The Revenge of Hatpin Mary: Women, Professional Wrestling and Fan Culture in the 1950's
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5 Stars
The author of this book will not be recognizable to the majority of, if any fans of the wrestling industry. He has a Ph.D. in communication arts anf has edited a variety of collections of investigative pieces looking into media and society. Chad is also an Associate Professor of Communications at Monmouth University. As a child he would grow up watching wrestling on the television.
Chad Dell takes the reader through why he feels in many ways professional wrestling audiences are the perfet example of how the feminist movement was fully underway in the 1950's and is the contrary to what we typically envisage women to be of that period of time. He starts off by laying down the foundations for what the reader is in store. He takes us briefly through his childhood watching wrestling, then through the common view of 1950's America. Chad also outlines the rest of the chapters to come too. Of course this does evolve around wrestling so we get a history of wrestling also in the introductory chapter titled, "My Grandmother Was a Huge Fan." Chapter two gives us an insight into the effects that television had on the professional wrestling industry. How a business once dominated by men whether it was in the audience or behind the curtains all of a sudden became attractive and available to women across a nation, whether it be on a set in their home or by watching it in a store window. As you may expect from a man with the qualifications of Dell, the third chapter gives a look at the mainstream media of the time and how they covered the wrestling events and the actions of what would be considered outlandish behaviour of the women in attendance. The following chapter is very interesting look at how people inside of the wrestling business adapted, catered, and rearranged the way they worked magazines and/or shows in accordance to the new and growing audience. Then we get an even more interesting view of fan clubs and bulletins during the 1950's which highlight exactly how involved the women were involved and speaking out for their independence which had been taken away at the end of the second world war. The sixth chapter is possibly the most insightful of them all, whilst facts, figures, and excerpts are used through-out, nothing is more telling than the first hand experience of the women who owned fan clubs he interviewed for the book, as they recount the literal attraction to the professional wrestlers they were watching at the time. The reader now comes to the conclusion, a recap of all the evidence provided in previous chapters and the explanation of what exactly it means to the history of women in America.
Well, to say I purchased this book thinking it would be about something totally different is a vast understatement. I have a habit of just looking at the cover, not reading what the book is about until I open the first page. Quite often that way of purchasing reading material comes back to bite me in the butt. This time, whilst at first I thought it was going to, it turned out to be one of the most interesting looks at professional wrestling I have ever read. It would be a bold faced lie to say I was interested in the social movement of women, but when in the context of wrestling, presented with images of rare memorabilia, wrestling articles and first hand perspective, and cited with sources of information through-out; it was truly a joy to read. Whether intentional or not Chad Dell has composed a look at the booking and culture of wrestling that is very rarely looked at or spoken of, the sex appeal. If you're interested in the workings of wrestling, the history of wrestling, the birth of television, wrestling memorabilia, the 1950's in general, or the role of the woman in the audience, this is the book for you.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Review of The Revenge of Hatpin Mary: Women, Professional Wrestling and Fan Culture in the 1950's.
Reviewer: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: Pre-2019.
Book Review: #7.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Review of The Revenge of Hatpin Mary: Women, Professional Wrestling and Fan Culture in the 1950's.
Reviewer: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: Pre-2019.
Book Review: #7.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
The Revenge of Hatpin Mary: Women, Professional Wrestling and Fan Culture in the 1950's.
Author: Chad Dell.
Pages: 172.
Published as Paperback: March 14, 2006.
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.