| Fighting Cholitas | |
|---|---|
_2014-02-16_19-28.jpg) Cholitas fight it out in the arena (February 2014) | |
| Directed by | Mariam Jobrani |
| Produced by | Mariam Jobrani Teresa Deskins Kenny Krauss |
Running time | 20 minutes |
| Country | Bolivia |
| Part of a series on |
| Professional wrestling |
|---|
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The Fighting Cholitas are a group of Indigenous Aymara women wrestlers who perform in El Alto, Bolivia.[1] The Cholitas are part of a group called the Titans of the Ring, which includes both male and female wrestlers. The Titans perform each Sunday for an audience of hundreds at El Alto's Multifunctional Center. By 2005 tickets to the exhibitions costed $1.[1]
The idea of including women wrestlers as a maneuver for publicity came from Juan Mamami, a wrestler and president of the Titans. They routinely attract over a thousand spectators to their bouts in El Alto and several hundred spectators when they travel with the Titans to smaller towns.[1]
Like the general population of El Alto, which consists almost entirely of Aymara and Quechua residents, the Cholitas are Indigenous. They wear braided hair, bowler hats and polleras, multilayered skirts, in the ring.[1]
According to a 2005 article in The New York Times, the Titans earn about $13 for each bout. Most of the wrestlers have other jobs besides their wrestling careers.[1]
The Fighting Cholitas along with the Cholita Climbers and other groups of Indigenous Aymara women are pushing back against negative stereotypes.[2]
- ^ a b c d e Forero, Juan. "In This Corner, in the Flouncy Skirt and Bowler Hat..." The New York Times, 2005-07-21.
- ^ "The rise of Bolivia's indigenous 'cholitas' – in pictures". the Guardian. 2018-02-22. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-26.