One of the marketing tools for selling more copies of the old Wrestling Rags was to feature pictures of the wrestlers themselves perusing the magazines, checking out the other men and reading the latest news and gossip.
The implication is that the wrestlers themselves enjoy looking at the pictures and reading the interviews just as much as we do (perhaps in the same way we do.)
Seeing them staring at their fellow wrestlers sends the message that it’s OK to check out and enjoy photos of muscular men — it’s perfectly normal to purchase and enjoy wrestling magazines because the competitors themselves are doing it. If our wrestling heroes are turning their Male Gaze onto other athletes, then so should we.
In nearly every photo, the wrestler holding the magazine is shown in his ring gear, not wearing street clothes or even a shirt. His muscular build is on display for us to see as he is looking at pictures of other spectacular males. His near nudity adds a sexual vibe to the act of reading the wrestling magazine — the implication that he is going to be stimulated by the content of the magazine.
Most men will remove their clothes when preparing to spend some time alone with themselves, so the image of the lone wrestler clutching the magazine while stripped down to his wrestling gear sends the powerful message that these magazines can offer more than just the witty, well-written articles. They can be potentially pornographic.
When wrestlers are shown in groups, shirtless together as they scan the images of other nearly nude men engaged in wrestling, a circle jerk is implied. Arn and Tully are each holding a magazine with his own photo on the cover, which highlights their arrogance and self-centered focus.
Many of the wrestlers are shown in rapt attention to the magazine, their eyes riveted to the page, unable to be distracted by the photographer taking the picture.
Was this image of focused concentration meant to promote the excitement and high entertainment quality of the magazine’s content, or were we to understand he was feeling aroused as he devoured the images?
The flamboyant wrestlers who were under suspicion by the fans were invariably shown with their mouths hanging open, their eyes popping out of their heads.
Probably my favorite image of a wrestler looking at a magazine is the one below of young Curt Hennig sprawled out on the floor in black briefs, lost in his own world of pleasure, his long legs erect and crossed at the ankles. With his attention distracted by the magazine, he can’t shy away from, or prevent, our own Male Gaze which is now turned onto him.
