In Sumo's Push for the Olympics, a Turn Away From Tradition

As described in a New York Times article by Daniel Krieger, women’s sumo wrestling has recently become more popular. This all started in 1994 when the International Olympic Committee created a rule which excluded single sex sports from the Olympic Games. Men sumo wrestlers had been fighting for years to make sumo wrestling an Olympic sport, so they didn’t want to just give up. For that reason, sumo wrestling organizations worked very hard to popularize female sumo wrestling. Stephen Gadd, the general secretary for the European Sumo Union was especially involved in this movement.
Two years later, the first women’s sumo wrestling tournament was held in Europe and the sport started to become more acceptable for women in Europe. However, they did have several challenges. Their biggest challenge was attempting to get rid of the negative connotation associated with female wrestling. This stigma originated in the 18th century when topless women would wrestle blind men for the entertainment of other men. Also, in previous years, women were not even allowed to touch or go inside of the wrestling ring because they would make it impure. And on top of all of this, many women just thought that sumo wrestling should not be a female sport. Gadd explained, “In the professional sumo world, women in sumo is as unthinkable as a rabbi sponsoring a pork farm.”
Despite all of these challenges, female sumo wrestling somehow started to attract followers. One successful female sumo wrestler, Yuka Ueta commented, “Normal-size people can do any sports they like, but someone who is heavy doesn’t have many options. Sumo is perfect for this kind of woman. And if she has a complex about her body, that will change with sumo.” Ueta is not the only female who has a love for this sport. Women’s sumo wrestling has become very prominent in Japan and several European countries. Because of this recent popularization, Gadd hopes that if the 2020 Olymic Games could be held in Japan, they might be able to finally make sumo wrestling an Olympic sport.
It is great that this sport is now an equal opportunity sport for both men and women. But when looking at the event, it seems that the only reason female sumo wrestling became prominent was because men's sumo wrestling was being hindered. If the Olympic Committee did not make that law would their tradition have eventually changed? Should we follow this example to come closer to gender equality in other aspects of life?


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/sports/19iht-SUMO.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=sumo wrestling&st=cse&scp=2