Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Women have been wrestling in Mexico since the 1930s. Decades later, lucha libre is part of a sport that is still dominated by men. More and more girls dream of making a career in the ring, but headline female shows remain rare.

Multimedia reporter Marta Franco spent almost a month documenting the lives of several female wrestlers and the meaning of lucha libre in Mexican culture. She met the women and their families and got to know their dreams, aspirations and the reasons why they endure a world that is often full of suffering, misunderstandings, and challenges.All these women share a love of their sport and each one has an amazing story to tell.

In Las Luchadoras - Tales of Women in a Mexican Ring, she profiled three female wrestlers and documented the culture of wrestling, the fans and what it means to be a woman in the lucha libre world. This multimedia project -- in Spanish and English -- includes six videos and photography.

www.lasluchadoras.com

Sources:

- Belem and Sergio Trejo, Journalists

- Berenice Alanis, Promoter

- Big Mama, Wrestler

- Black Fury, Wrestler

- Dark Angel, Wrestler

- Ernesto Ocampo, Journalist

- Lourdes Grobet, Photographer

- Alejandro Torres Huitrón, Historian

- Vicente Ernesto Infante Pacheco “Piero”, Referee and Collector

- Sadica, Wrestler

- Valerie Richter, Promoter

- La Vaquerita, Wrestler

- Keira, Wrestler

- Martin Marin, Promoter

- Blanca Camacho “Mama Lucha”, Fan

- Super Luchas Magazines

- Documentary: Gladiadores en la arena mexicana, TVE (1990)

- Documentary: Vivir en la lucha libre, Televisa / Editorial Clio TV (1998)

- Lola Miranda Fascinetto, Sin Mascara Ni Cabellera (Lucha Libre En Mexico Hoy), Marc Ediciones (1992)

- Lourdes Grobet, Espectacular de lucha libre, UNAM (2006)