Roped Off

In this photo, two Tag Team partners wear identical green wife-beaters to symbolize their sameness.  Matched clothing makes their homosocial bond visually obvious.  One partner watches from outside the ring as the other Headscissors a shirtless, muscular male who presents first his posterior, then his crotch to the view of the audience.

The scene is meant to contrast the participation by one partner with the isolation of the other.  One is fortunate to experience the application of a Headscissor and domination (and implied rape) of the spectacular male, while the other watches passively like a voyeur.

The ring ropes serve as a symbolic barrier that prevents the Outside Wrestler from joining in the action and from interacting with the victim or his own partner.

As discussed over a year ago, the ring ropes block the Outside Wrestler from rescuing his partner from the evil opponents’ abuse.   I now believe the ropes also serve the purpose of keeping the Good Guys straight —  preventing them from touching.

Their homosocial friendship can be preserved (i.e., does not devolve into a homo-sexual relationship) because the ropes keep them on the straight and narrow.  The rope barrier — the great divide between them — ensures they maintain a hetero-normative, non-sexual partnership.  The ring ropes prevent the two tag team partners (and the audience) from experiencing “Gay Panic.”

The ropes are a constant reminder that, in our patriarchal society, violence against the enemy is fine, and partnership with another male is encouraged, but physical intimacy between two male partners is strictly forbidden.

The ropes also serve as a barrier between us (the audience) and the wrestlers.  Just as the ropes prevent contact between Tag Team partners, they also forever block all dudes at ringside from achieving physical contact with the wrestlers.

The ropes are like a visual chastity belt for the excited (but frustrated) watcher.