q sports panel: Why we should mourn wrestler Chyna
q's sports culture panel thinks beyond the play-by-play to weigh in on the societal impact of sports stories. Not a fan? Not a problem.
CBC Radio ·
Chyna, seen here in this September 2000 file photo, was found dead in her Redondo Beach, Calif., apartment April 20, 2016, police said. (Spencer Platt/Newsmakers/Getty Images)
Social Sharing
Q17:40q sports panel: Why we should mourn wrestler Chyna
q's sports culture panel thinks beyond the play-by-play to weigh in on the societal impact of sports stories. Not a fan? Not a problem. Our panel watches much more than the scoreboard.
Today the Toronto Star's Morgan Campbell, CBC host and reporter Sonali Karnick and The Nation's Dave Zirin join Shad to discuss the biggest and strangest stories in sports. Today:
Joanie Laurer broke barriers for women in pro wrestling under the stage name Chyna, and this was no easy feat. "WWE in the 1990's was an absolute machine of misogyny...it was a period where they were going for what was called an 'attitude era'...it was not exactly empowerment," says Dave.
After a few high-profile dustups between all-stars and journalists, we ask: to what extent should we expect athletes to keep their cool? Sonali points to the current sports media culture, "when accessibility to athletes and control over what they say to the media and when they say it is tighter," as a possible catalyst for these confrontations between athletes and reporters.
And after the #MoreThanMean video we ask: Why does it take male discomfort to attract attention to the abuse of female sports journalists? "If they had to face these [women] face-to-face they just wouldn't have the courage to say what they say [online], everyone's tough behind a keyboard," says Morgan.
