- Moe Factz with Adam Curry for August 1st 2020, Episode number 45
- Description
- Adam and Moe dig into President Trump's unconventional strategies. Are they really that novel?
- Associate Executive Producers:
- ShowNotes
- President Donald J. Trump Approves Florida Emergency Declaration | The White House
- Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that an emergency exists in the State of Florida and ordered Federal assistance to supplement the State's response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Isaias beginning on July 31, 2020, and continuing.
- The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Brevard, Broward, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, and Volusia.
- Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.
- Pete Gaynor, Administrator, FEMA, Department of Homeland Security, named Terry L. Quarles as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV
- Presidential Message on National Shooting Sports Month 2020 | The White House
- During National Shooting Sports Month, we commemorate our Constitutional right to bear arms by celebrating America's cherished past time of recreational and competitive shooting sports.
- Our great Nation has a rich history of fostering responsible gun ownership. In the early days of our Republic, turkey shoots encouraged community engagement and brought families closer together. As our country grew, these local events developed into large regional and national events and competitions that drew thousands of spectators. By the late 19th century, sharpshooters such as Pawnee Bill and Annie Oakley established popular shows with Wild West and other themes, touring the country with acts featuring their talent with firearms. These pioneering American folk heroes demonstrated the courage, skill, and persistence necessary to excel in shooting sports and that reflect our founding values. Today, we continue to promote interest in such social pastimes that celebrate our rich and unique history of shooting sports.
- As we encourage our fellow Americans to take part in learning more about firearms this month, including safety and proper instruction, we also pledge to continue doing our part to ensure that our rights are never infringed upon. Enshrined in the Bill of Rights, our Second Amendment protects the individual liberties of Americans to keep and bear arms. Since my first day in office, I have made clear that my Administration will always protect and defend the Second Amendment. We will continue to oppose those individuals and policies that attempt to tread on this essential and cherished liberty.
- This National Shooting Sports Month, I ask those Americans who currently participate in shooting sports to share this cherished tradition with others. Together, we can proudly ensure that the next generation knows how to safely and responsibly enjoy their Second Amendment freedoms.
- VIDEO-Heroes of Western Civilization: 76 Years After the Warsaw Uprising | The White House
- A little over three years ago, President Trump delivered one of the most important speeches of his presidency at Krasinski Square in Warsaw, Poland. Standing before a monument to the Warsaw Uprising, he called for defending Western civilization against all enemies who seek to destroy it.
- In that speech, President Trump honored the heroes of the Warsaw Uprising, who rose up and took arms against their Nazi oppressors 76 years ago on August 1, 1944. In vivid detail, the President recounted the story of the defenders of Jerusalem Avenue and their struggle to hold that vital strip of land in defense of Polish freedom.
- The heroes of the Warsaw Uprising remind us, President Trump said, ''that the West was saved with the blood of patriots; that each generation must rise up and play their part in its defense; and that every foot of ground, and every last inch of civilization is worth defending with your life.''
- The President also paid homage to Pope John Paul II, a lifelong champion for religious freedom. The Pope's nine-day pilgrimage to Poland in June 1979 changed the course of history and helped set in motion a chain of events that led to the downfall of Communism in Europe.
- ''And when the day came on June 2nd, 1979, and one million Poles gathered around Victory Square for their very first mass with their Polish Pope'--that day, every Communist in Warsaw must have known that their oppressive system would soon come crashing down,'' President Trump said.
- President Trump and the First Lady in Warsaw, Poland | July 6, 2017
- Inspired by Pope John Paul II's message of hope and courage in the face of oppression, the Polish people united in spiritual determination. The President noted that millions gathered to hear the Pope's sermon, where they joined in a single prayer of three simple words.
- This year, on the 41st anniversary of Pope John Paul II's historic pilgrimage, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled to the John Paul II Shrine in Washington, D.C. The President once again honored the Polish Pope's contribution to ending oppression and reaffirmed America's commitment to liberty for all people.
- President Trump and the First Lady at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. | June 2, 2020
- Pope John Paul II was a beacon of hope and strength to peoples oppressed by a brutal Communist regime. The Pope's heroic defense of freedom, as well as the valor of the Polish patriots of the Warsaw Uprising, remains an example to freedom-loving people the world over.
- Honoring their legacy, President Trump continues to fight for religious liberty both in the United States and across the world. He unwaveringly defends both the sanctity of life and human dignity. On the same day as his visit to Pope John Paul II's shrine in June, the President signed an executive order committing the United States to advancing religious freedom worldwide'--calling it ''America's first freedom'' as well as ''a moral and national security imperative.''
- President Trump understands that religious liberties are not a creation of the state. They are ''a gift of God to every person and a right that is fundamental to the flourishing of our society.''
- Sva°ilfari - Wikipedia
- Loki and Svadilfari (1909) by Dorothy Hardy
- In Norse mythology, Sva°ilfari (Old Norse perhaps "unlucky traveler"[1]) is a stallion that fathered the eight-legged horse Sleipnir with Loki (in the form of a mare). Sva°ilfari was owned by the disguised and unnamed hrimthurs who built the walls of Asgard.
- Gylfaginning [ edit ] A depiction of the unnamed master builder with the horse Sva°ilfari (1919) by Robert Engels.
- In chapter 43 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, High tells a story set "right at the beginning of the gods' settlement, when the gods had established Midgard and built Val-Hall" about an unnamed builder who has offered to build a fortification for the gods that will keep out invaders in exchange for the goddess Freyja, the sun, and the moon. After some debate, the gods agree to this, but place a number of restrictions on the builder, including that he must complete the work within one season with the help of no man. The builder makes a single request; that he may have help from his stallion Sva°ilfari, and due to Loki's influence, this is allowed. The stallion Sva°ilfari performs twice the deeds of strength as the builder, and hauls enormous rocks to the surprise of the gods. The builder, with Sva°ilfari, makes fast progress on the wall, and three days before the deadline of summer, the builder was nearly at the entrance to the fortification. The gods convened, and figured out who was responsible, which resulted in a unanimous agreement that, along with most trouble, Loki was to blame.[2]
- The gods declare that Loki would deserve a horrible death if he could not find a scheme that would cause the builder to forfeit his payment, and threatened to attack him. Loki, afraid, swore oaths that he would devise a scheme to cause the builder to forfeit the payment, whatever it would cost himself. That night, the builder drove out to fetch stone with his stallion Sva°ilfari, and out from a wood ran a mare. The mare neighs at Sva°ilfari, and "realizing what kind of horse it was," Sva°ilfari becomes frantic, neighs, tears apart his tack, and runs towards the mare. The mare runs to the wood, Sva°ilfari follows, and the builder chases after. The two horses run around all night, causing the building work to be held up for the night, and the previous momentum of building work that the builder had been able to maintain is not continued.[3]
- When the sir realize that the builder is a hrimthurs, they disregard their previous oaths with the builder, and call for Thor. Thor arrives, and kills the builder by smashing the builder's skull into shards with Mj¶llnir. However, Loki "had such dealings" with Sva°ilfari that "somewhat later" Loki gave birth to a gray foal with eight legs; the horse Sleipnir, "the best horse among gods and men".[3]
- Notes [ edit ] ^ Orchard (1997:156) ^ Faulkes (1995:35). ^ a b Faulkes (1995:36). References [ edit ] Faulkes, Anthony (Trans.) (1995). Edda. Everyman. ISBN 0-460-87616-3Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-34520-2
- Jester - Wikipedia
- A jester, court jester, or fool, was historically an entertainer during the medieval and Renaissance eras who was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets. Jesters are also entertainers who perform at modern-day historically themed events.
- Jesters in medieval times are often thought to have worn brightly coloured clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern and their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes, such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation, and magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style and many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences.
- Etymology [ edit ] The modern use of the English word jester did not come into use until the mid-16th century, during Tudor times.[1] This modern term derives from the older form gestour, or jestour, originally from Anglo-Norman (French) meaning storyteller or minstrel. Other earlier terms included fol, disour, buffoon and bourder. These terms described entertainers who differed in their skills and performances but who all shared many similarities in their role as comedic performers for their audiences.[1][2][3]
- History [ edit ] Early jesters were popular in Ancient Egypt, and entertained Egyptian pharaohs.[citation needed ] The ancient Romans had a tradition of professional jesters, called balatrones.[4] Balatrones were paid for their jests, and the tables of the wealthy were generally open to them for the sake of the amusement they afforded. Jesters were popular with the Aztec people in the 14th to 16th centuries.[5]
- English royal court jesters [ edit ] Queen Henrietta Maria with Sir Jeffrey Hudson by
- Van DyckMany royal courts throughout English royal history employed entertainers and most had professional fools, sometimes called licensed fools. Entertainment included music, storytelling, and physical comedy. It has also been suggested they performed acrobatics and juggling.
- Henry VIII of England employed a jester named Will Sommers. His daughter Mary was entertained by Jane Foole.
- During the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I of England, William Shakespeare wrote his plays and performed with his theatre company the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later called the King's Men). Clowns and jesters were featured in Shakespeare's plays, and the company's expert on jesting was Robert Armin, author of the book Fooled upon Foole. In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Feste the jester is described as "wise enough to play the fool".
- In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots had a jester called Nichola. Her son, King James VI of Scotland employed a jester called Archibald Armstrong. During his lifetime Armstrong was given great honours at court. He was eventually thrown out of the King's employment when he over-reached and insulted too many influential people. Even after his disgrace, books telling of his jests were sold in London streets. He held some influence at court still in the reign of Charles I and estates of land in Ireland. Anne of Denmark had a Scottish jester called Tom Durie. Charles I later employed a jester called Jeffrey Hudson who was very popular and loyal. Jeffrey Hudson had the title of Royal Dwarf because he was short of stature. One of his jests was to be presented hidden in a giant pie from which he would leap out. Hudson fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War. A third jester associated with Charles I was called Muckle John.
- Portrait of the Ferrara Court Jester Gonella by
- Political significance [ edit ] Scholar David Carlyon has cast doubt on the "daring political jester", calling historical tales "apocryphal", and concluding that "popular culture embraces a sentimental image of the clown; writers reproduce that sentimentality in the jester, and academics in the Trickster", but it "falters as analysis".[6]
- Jesters could also give bad news to the King that no one else would dare deliver. In 1340, when the French fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Sluys by the English, Phillippe VI's jester told him the English sailors "don't even have the guts to jump into the water like our brave French".[7]
- End of tradition [ edit ] After the Restoration, Charles II did not reinstate the tradition of the court jester, but he did greatly patronize the theatre and proto-music hall entertainments, especially favouring the work of Thomas Killigrew. Though Killigrew was not officially a jester, Samuel Pepys in his famous diary does call Killigrew "The King's fool and jester, with the power to mock and revile even the most prominent without penalty" (12 February 1668). The last British nobles to keep jesters were the Queen Mother's family, the Bowes-Lyons.
- In the 18th century, jesters had died out except in Russia, Spain and Germany. In France and Italy, travelling groups of jesters performed plays featuring stylized characters in a form of theatre called the commedia dell'arte. A version of this passed into British folk tradition in the form of a puppet show, Punch and Judy. In France the tradition of the court jester ended with the French Revolution.
- In 1968, the Canada Council awarded a $3,500 grant to Joachim Foikis of Vancouver "to revive the ancient and time-honoured tradition of town fool".[8][9] In the 21st century, the jester is still seen at medieval-style fairs and pageants.
- In 2015, the town of Conwy in North Wales appointed Russel Erwood (aka Erwyd le Fol) as the official resident jester of the town and its people, a post that had been vacant since 1295.[10][11]
- Other countries [ edit ] Poland's most famous court jester was StaÅczyk, whose jokes were usually related to political matters, and who later became a historical symbol for Poles.[12][13]
- In 2004 English Heritage appointed Nigel Roder ("Kester the Jester") as the State Jester for England, the first since Muckle John 355 years previously.[14] However, following an objection by the National Guild of Jesters, English Heritage accepted they were not authorised to grant such a title.[15] Roder was succeeded as "Heritage Jester" by Pete Cooper ("Peterkin the Fool").[16]
- In Germany, Till Eulenspiegel is a folkloric hero dating back to medieval times and ruling each year over Fasching or Carnival time, mocking politicians and public figures of power and authority with political satire like a modern-day court jester. He holds a mirror to make us aware of our times (Zeitgeist), and his sceptre, his "bauble" or marotte, is the symbol of his power.
- In 17th century Spain, little people, often with deformities, were employed as buffoons to entertain the king and his family, especially the children. In Velzquez's painting Las Meninas two dwarfs are included: Mari Brbola, a female dwarf from Germany with hydrocephalus, and Nicolasito Portusato from Italy. Mari Brbola can also be seen in a later portrait of princess Margarita Teresa in mourning by Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo. There are other paintings by Velzquez that include court dwarves such as Prince Balthasar Charles With a Dwarf.
- During the Renaissance Papacy, the Papal court in Rome had a court jester, similar to the secular courts of the time. Pope Pius V dismissed the court Jester, and no later Pope employed one.
- In Japan from the 13th to 18th centuries, the taikomochi, a kind of male geisha, attended the feudal lords (daimyÅs). They entertained mostly through dancing and storytelling, and were at times counted on for strategic advice. By the 16th century they fought alongside their lord in battle in addition to their other duties.
- Tonga was the first royal court to appoint a court jester in the 20th century; Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, the King of Tonga, appointed JD Bogdanoff to that role in 1999.[17] Bogdanoff was later embroiled in a financial scandal.[18]
- As a symbol [ edit ] The root of the word "fool" is from the Latin follis, which means "bag of wind" or bellows or that which contains air or breath.[19]
- In Tarot [ edit ] In Tarot, "The Fool" is a card of the Major Arcana. The tarot depiction of the Fool includes a man (or less often, a woman) juggling unconcernedly or otherwise distracted, often with a dog or cat at his heels. The fool is in the act of unknowingly walking off the edge of a cliff, precipice or other high place. (compare: Joker (playing card)).
- In literature [ edit ] In literature, the jester is symbolic of common sense and of honesty, notably in King Lear, where the court jester is a character used for insight and advice on the part of the monarch, taking advantage of his license to mock and speak freely to dispense frank observations and highlight the folly of his monarch. This presents a clashing irony as a greater man could dispense the same advice and find himself being detained in the dungeons or even executed. Only as the lowliest member of the court can the jester be the monarch's most useful adviser.
- In Shakespeare [ edit ] The Shakespearean fool is a recurring character type in the works of William Shakespeare. Shakespearean fools are usually clever peasants or commoners that use their wits to outdo people of higher social standing. In this sense, they are very similar to the real fools, and jesters of the time, but their characteristics are greatly heightened for theatrical effect.[20] The "groundlings" (theatre-goers who were too poor to pay for seats and thus stood on the 'ground' in the front by the stage) that frequented the Globe Theatre were more likely to be drawn to these Shakespearean fools. However they were also favoured by the nobility. Most notably, Queen Elizabeth I was a great admirer of the popular actor who portrayed fools, Richard Tarlton. For Shakespeare himself, however, actor Robert Armin may have proved vital to the cultivation of the fool character in his many plays.[21]
- Modern usage [ edit ] American lawyer and politician
- Roscoe Conkling depicted as a jester in an 1884 cartoon.
- Buffoon [ edit ] In a similar vein, a buffoon is someone who provides amusement through inappropriate appearance or behavior. Originally the term was used to describe a ridiculous but amusing person. The term is now frequently used in a derogatory sense to describe someone considered foolish, or someone displaying inappropriately vulgar, bumbling or ridiculous behavior that is a source of general amusement. The term originates from the old Italian "buffare", meaning to puff out one's cheeks[22] that also applies to bouffon. Having swelled their cheeks they would slap them to expel the air and produce a noise which amused the spectators.[23]
- Carnival and medieval reenactment [ edit ] Today, the jester is portrayed in different formats of medieval reenactment, Renaissance fairs, and entertainment, including film, stage performance, and carnivals. During the Burgundian and the Rhenish carnival, cabaret performances in local dialect are held. In Brabant this person is called a "tonpraoter" or "sauwelaar", and is actually in or on a barrel. In Limburg they are named "buuttereedner" or "buutteredner" and in Zeeland they are called an "ouwoer". They all perform a cabaret speech in dialect, during which many current issues are reviewed. Often there are local situations and celebrities from local and regional politics who are mocked, ridiculed and insulted. The "Tonpraoter" or "Buuttereedner" may be considered successors of the jesters.[24]
- Media representations [ edit ] Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'Rigoletto' cast a court jester as the leading man.
- In The Queen's Fool, a 2004 historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory, the protagonist is Hannah Green, a fictional jester at the court of Mary I of England. A major part in the book's plot is played by the historical jester Will Sommers, who is depicted as the protagonist's mentor who trains her in the art of being a jester.
- Notable jesters [ edit ] Historical [ edit ] Tom le Fol (c. 13th century) was the 1st resident jester of Conwy, North Wales and personal jester to Edward I.Triboulet (1479''1536), court jester of Kings Louis XII and Francis I of France.StaÅczyk (c. 1480''1560), Polish jester.Jo£o de S Panasco (fl. 1524-1567), African court jester of King John III of Portugal, eventually elevated to gentleman courtier of the Royal Household and Knight of St. James.Will Sommers (died 1560), court jester of King Henry VIII of England.Chicot (c. 1540''1591), court jester of King Henry III of France.Archibald Armstrong (died 1672), jester of King James I of England.Jeffrey Hudson (1619''c. 1682), "court dwarf" of Henrietta Maria of France.Jamie Fleeman (1713''1778), the Laird of Udny's Fool.Perkeo of Heidelberg, 18th century, jester of Prince Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine.Sebastian de Morra, (died 1649) court dwarf and jester to King Philip IV of SpainDon Diego de Acedo, court dwarf and jester to Philip IV of SpainModern-day jesters [ edit ] Jesse Bogdonoff (b. 1955), court jester and financial advisor to King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of TongaRussel Erwood (b. 1981), known as Erwyd le Fol, is the 2nd official resident jester of Conwy in North Wales replacing the jester of 1295[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]See also [ edit ] [ edit ] ^ a b Soutworth, John (1998). Fools and Jesters at the English Court. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. 89''93. ISBN 0-7509-1773-3. ^ Welsford, Enid (1935). The Fool: His Social & Literary History. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 114''115. ^ "Jester". Online Etymology Dictionary . Retrieved 28 October 2012 . ^ Hor. Sat. i. 2. 2. (cited by Allen) ^ "Jester". Encyclop...dia Britannica . Retrieved 2012-06-07 . ^ Carlyon, D. (2002). "The Trickster as Academic Comfort Food". The Journal of American Culture. 25 (1''2): 14''18. doi:10.1111/1542-734X.00003. ^ Otto, Beatrice K (2001). Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World. University of Chicago Press. p. 113. ^ "The Corpus Christi Caller-Times". Corpus Christi, Texas. May 14, 1968. p. 19. ^ "Northumberland needs county jester to lighten up politics". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. ^ "Welsh town appoints first official jester in 700 years". NY Daily News. Archived from the original on 2018-10-11 . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ Day, Liz (2015-08-08). "This official town jester can balance a flaming barbecue on his head..!". walesonline . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ Janusz Pelc; Paulina Buchwald-Pelcowa; Barbara Otwinowska (1989). Jan Kochanowski 1584-1984: epoka, tw"rczoÅÄ, recepcja (in Polish). Lublin: Instytut BadaÅ Literackich, Polska Akademia Nauk. Wydawnictwo Lubelskie. pp. 425''438. ISBN 978-83-222-0473-3. ^ Jan Zygmunt Jakubowski, ed. (1959). "PrzeglÄ
d humanistyczny" (in Polish). 3. Warsaw: PaÅstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe: 200. ^ "Jesters joust for historic role". BBC News. 2004-08-08 . Retrieved 2010-05-06 . ^ Griffiths, Emma (2004-12-23). "England | Jesters get serious in name row". BBC News . Retrieved 2012-07-11 . ^ "England | Jester completes 100-mile tribute". BBC News. 2006-08-09 . Retrieved 2012-07-11 . ^ "Tonga royal decree appointing JD Bogdanoff as court jester". Archived from the original (JPEG) on 2012-11-06 . Retrieved 2009-10-29 . ^ "Tongan court jester faces trial". BBC News. 11 August 2003 . Retrieved 2009-10-29 . ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com . Retrieved 2017-03-30 . ^ The fools of Shakespeare: an ... - Frederick B. Warde - Google Boeken. Books.google.com . Retrieved 2011-12-24 . ^ "History of the Fool". Foolsforhire.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11 . Retrieved 2011-12-24 . ^ Encyclop...dia Britannica; or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Volume 4. Archibald Constable and Company. 1823. p. 780. ^ The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge Vol.III, London (1847), Charles Knight, p.918 ^ Home Kalender Nieuws Zoekertjes Albums Copyright. "Wat is carnaval? | Fen Vlaanderen". Fenvlaanderen.be . Retrieved 2014-01-23 . ^ "Conwy jester to take new job 'seriously ' ". BBC News. 2015-07-16 . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ "No joke - Welsh town gets its own official jester!". ITV News . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ MacGuill, Dan. "A Welsh town has just appointed its first resident jester in 700 years". TheJournal.ie . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ Hemming, Jez (2015-07-15). "Official jester to be hired by Conwy council". northwales . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ A Medieval Revival: The Jester Returns in a Small Town in Wales , retrieved 2016-10-14 ^ "Bristol juggler to become North Wales town's first official jester in 700 years". Bristol Post. 2015-07-19. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18 . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ "British town appoints first jester in 700 years". The Japan Times Online. 2015-08-05. ISSN 0447-5763 . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . ^ Editor, Kira Brekke; Video, HuffPost (2015-08-05). "Welsh Castle Appoints First Jester Since 13th Century". The Huffington Post . Retrieved 2016-10-14 . CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link) References [ edit ] Billington, Sandra A Social History of the Fool, The Harvester Press, 1984. ISBN 0-7108-0610-8Doran, John A History of Court Fools, 1858Hyers, M. Conrad, The Spirituality of Comedy: comic heroism in a tragic world 1996 Transaction Publishers ISBN 1-56000-218-2Otto, Beatrice K., "Fools Are Everywhere: The Court Jester Around the World," Chicago University Press, 2001Southworth, John, Fools and Jesters at the English Court, Sutton Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-7509-1773-3Welsford, Enid: The Fool : His Social and Literary History (out of print) (1935 + subsequent reprints): ISBN 1-299-14274-5Further reading [ edit ] Janik, Vicki K. (ed.) (1998). Fools and Jesters in Literature, Art, and History: A Bio-bibliographical Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group, USA. ISBN 0313297851.Robins, Elizabeth, "Mischief in the Middle Ages" in: The Atlantic Monthly, v.48, n.285, July 1881, pp. 1''8.External links [ edit ] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jesters .Fooling Around the World (A history of the court jester)Foolish Clothing: Depictions of Jesters and Fools in the Middle Ages and Renaissance What 14th-16th century jesters wore and carried, as seen in illustrations and museum collections.Costume (Jester Hat), ca. 1890-1920, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collection Database
- 11 Warning Signs of Gaslighting | Psychology Today
- Source: 123rf Stock Photo/Standard License
- Gaslighting is a tactic in which a person or entity, in order to gain more power, makes a victim question their reality. It works much better than you may think. Anyone is susceptible to gaslighting, and it is a common technique of abusers, dictators, narcissists, and cult leaders. It is done slowly, so the victim doesn't realize how much they've been brainwashed. For example, in the movie Gaslight (1944), a man manipulates his wife to the point where she thinks she is losing her mind.
- In my book Gaslighting: Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People - and Break Free I detail how gaslighters typically use the following techniques:
- 1. They tell blatant lies.
- You know it's an outright lie. Yet they are telling you this lie with a straight face. Why are they so blatant? Because they're setting up a precedent. Once they tell you a huge lie, you're not sure if anything they say is true. Keeping you unsteady and off-kilter is the goal.
- 2. They deny they ever said something, even though you have proof.
- You know they said they would do something; you know you heard it. But they out and out deny it. It makes you start questioning your reality'--maybe they never said that thing. And the more they do this, the more you question your reality and start accepting theirs.
- 3. They use what is near and dear to you as ammunition.
- They know how important your kids are to you, and they know how important your identity is to you. So those may be one of the first things they attack. If you have kids, they tell you that you should not have had those children. They will tell you'd be a worthy person if only you didn't have a long list of negative traits. They attack the foundation of your being.
- 4. They wear you down over time.
- This is one of the insidious things about gaslighting'--it is done gradually, over time. A lie here, a lie there, a snide comment every so often...and then it starts ramping up. Even the brightest, most self-aware people can be sucked into gaslighting'--it is that effective. It's the "frog in the frying pan" analogy: The heat is turned up slowly, so the frog never realizes what's happening to it.
- 5. Their actions do not match their words.
- When dealing with a person or entity that gaslights, look at what they are doing rather than what they are saying. What they are saying means nothing; it is just talk. What they are doing is the issue.
- 6. They throw in positive reinforcement to confuse you.
- This person or entity that is cutting you down, telling you that you don't have value, is now praising you for something you did. This adds an additional sense of uneasiness. You think, "Well maybe they aren't so bad." Yes, they are. This is a calculated attempt to keep you off-kilter'--and again, to question your reality. Also look at what you were praised for; it is probably something that served the gaslighter.
- 7. They know confusion weakens people.
- Gaslighters know that people like having a sense of stability and normalcy. Their goal is to uproot this and make you constantly question everything. And humans' natural tendency is to look to the person or entity that will help you feel more stable'--and that happens to be the gaslighter.
- They are a drug user or a cheater, yet they are constantly accusing you of that. This is done so often that you start trying to defend yourself, and are distracted from the gaslighter's own behavior.
- 9. They try to align people against you.
- Gaslighters are masters at manipulating and finding the people they know will stand by them no matter what'--and they use these people against you. They will make comments such as, "This person knows that you're not right," or "This person knows you're useless too." Keep in mind it does not mean that these people actually said these things. A gaslighter is a constant liar. When the gaslighter uses this tactic it makes you feel like you don't know who to trust or turn to'--and that leads you right back to the gaslighter. And that's exactly what they want: Isolation gives them more control.
- Source: StockLite/Shutterstock
- 10. They tell you or others that you are crazy.
- This is one of the most effective tools of the gaslighter, because it's dismissive. The gaslighter knows if they question your sanity, people will not believe you when you tell them the gaslighter is abusive or out-of-control. It's a master technique.
- 11. They tell you everyone else is a liar.
- By telling you that everyone else (your family, the media) is a liar, it again makes you question your reality. You've never known someone with the audacity to do this, so they must be telling the truth, right? No. It's a manipulation technique. It makes people turn to the gaslighter for the "correct" information'--which isn't correct information at all.
- The more you are aware of these techniques, the quicker you can identify them and avoid falling into the gaslighter's trap.
- Follow-up article: Are Gaslighters Aware of What They Do? Book: Gaslighting: Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People - and Break FreeCopyright 2017 Sarkis Media: www.stephaniesarkis.com
- Gaslighting - Wikipedia
- Psychological manipulation via being made to question one's own judgment
- Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes including low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim's beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred, to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
- The term originated from the British play Gas Light (1938, but originally performed as Angel Street in the United States) and its 1940 and 1944 film adaptations (both titled Gaslight). The term has been used in clinical psychological literature,[1][2] as well as in political commentary and philosophy.[3]
- Etymology The term originates in the systematic psychological manipulation of a victim by her husband in Patrick Hamilton's 1938 stage play Gas Light,[4] and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944.[5] In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes. The play's title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. He further uses the lights in the sealed-off attic to secretly search for jewels belonging to a woman whom he has murdered. He makes loud noises as he searches, including talking to himself. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm her perceptions about the dimming lights, noises and voices, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and instead it is she who is going insane.[6]: 8 He intends on having her assessed and committed to a mental institution, after which he will be able to gain power of attorney over her and search more effectively.[citation needed ]
- The term "gaslighting" has been used colloquially since the 1960s[7] to describe efforts to manipulate someone's perception of reality. The term has been used to describe such behaviour in psychoanalytic literature since the 1970s.[8] In a 1980 book on child sexual abuse, Florence Rush summarized George Cukor's Gaslight (1944) based on the play and wrote, "even today the word [gaslighting] is used to describe an attempt to destroy another's perception of reality."[9]
- Characteristics Gaslighting involves a person, or a group of persons, the victimizer, and a second person, the victim. It can be either conscious or unconscious, and is carried out covertly such that the resulting emotional abuse is not overtly abusive.[10]
- Gaslighting depends on "first convincing the victim that his thinking is distorted and secondly persuading him that the victimizer's ideas are the correct and true ones".[1]: 45 Gaslighting induces cognitive dissonance in the victim, "often quite emotionally charged cognitive dissonance",[11] and makes the victim question their own thinking, perception and reality testing, and thereby tends to evoke in them low self-esteem and disturbing ideas and affects, and may facilitate development of confusion, anxiety, depression and in some cases even psychosis.[1]: 33''34 After the victim loses confidence in their mental capacities and develops a sense of learned helplessness,[12] they become more susceptible to the victimizer's control.[1]: 34 Victims tend to be people with less power and authority.[13]: 7
- The role of either victimizer or victim can oscillate within a given relationship, and often each of the participants is convinced that they are the victim.[14] When a group of people acts as the victimizer, gaslighting does its damage through the group members' "small, often invisible actions that have power through their accumulation and reinforcement".[15] Gaslighting has been used by individuals and groups for "attaining interpersonal and social control over the psychic functioning of other individuals and groups".[1]: 6
- The illusory truth effect, a phenomenon in which a listener comes to believe something primarily because it has been repeated so often, may occur to a victim during gaslighting.[12]
- Psychoanalytic explanation In a 1981 article, psychoanalysts Victor Calef and Edward Weinshel argued that gaslighting involves the projection and introjection (the "transfer") of psychic contents from the victimizer to the victim.[14] The psychic contents include affects, perceptions, impulses, resistances, fantasies, delusions, conflicts. The authors explored a variety of reasons why the victims may have "a tendency to incorporate and assimilate what others externalize and project onto them", and concluded that gaslighting may be "a very complex highly structured configuration which encompasses contributions from many elements of the psychic apparatus".[14]
- Later, psychiatrist Theodore Dorpat described this "transfer" of the victimizer's unconscious psychic contents as an example of projective identification.[16][1]: 5''6, 40 For projective identification to be most effective, the victim would be unaware of being gaslighted. It becomes destructive when the victim as well identifies with the contents of the "transfer" (what has been projected). These effects however are cancelled when the victim becomes capable of disbelieving and disidentifying with the negative introjects that result from projective identification.
- In personality disorders Sociopaths[17] and narcissists[18] frequently use gaslighting tactics to abuse and undermine their victims. Sociopaths consistently transgress social mores, break laws and exploit others, but typically also are convincing liars, sometimes charming ones, who consistently deny wrongdoing. Thus, some who have been victimized by sociopaths may doubt their own perceptions.[17] Some physically abusive spouses may gaslight their partners by flatly denying that they have been violent.[2] Gaslighting may occur in parent''child relationships, with either parent, child, or both lying to the other and attempting to undermine perceptions.[19]
- In psychiatry Gaslighting has been observed between patients and staff in inpatient psychiatric facilities.[20]
- In a 1996 book, Dorpat claimed that "gaslighting and other methods of interpersonal control are widely used by mental health professionals as well as other people" because they are effective methods for shaping the behavior of other individuals.[1]: 45 He noted that covert methods of interpersonal control such as gaslighting are used by clinicians with authoritarian attitudes,[1]: xiii''xxi and he recommended instead more non-directive and egalitarian attitudes and methods on the part of clinicians,[1]: 225 "treating patients as active collaborators and equal partners".[1]: 246
- In romantic relationships In interpersonal relationships, the victimizer "needs to be right" in order to "preserve [their] own sense of self", and "[their] sense of having power in the world"; and the victim allows the victimizer to "define [their] sense of reality" inasmuch as the victim "idealizes [them]" and "seeks [their] approval".[6]: 3
- The psychological manipulation may include making the victim question their own memory, perception, and sanity. The abuser may invalidate the victim's experiences using dismissive language: "You're crazy. Don't be so sensitive. Don't be paranoid. I was just joking! ... I'm worried; I think you're not well."[3]
- Psychologists Jill Rogers and Diane Follingstad said that such dismissals can be detrimental to mental health outcomes. They described psychological abuse as "a range of aversive behaviors that are intended to harm an individual through coercion, control, verbal abuse, monitoring, isolation, threatening, jealousy, humiliation, manipulation, treating one as an inferior, creating a hostile environment, wounding a person regarding their sexuality and/or fidelity, withholding from a partner emotionally and/or physically".[21]
- Gaslighting has been observed in some cases of marital infidelity: "Therapists may contribute to the victim's distress through mislabeling the [victim's] reactions. [...] The gaslighting behaviors of the spouse provide a recipe for the so-called 'nervous breakdown' for some [victims] [and] suicide in some of the worst situations."[19][22]
- In their 1988 article "Gaslighting: A Marital Syndrome", psychologists Gertrude Zemon Gass and William Nichols studied men's extramarital affairs and their consequences on their wives.[22] They described how a man may try to convince his wife that she is imagining things rather than admitting to an affair: "a wife picks up a telephone extension in her own home and accidentally overhears her husband and his girlfriend planning a tryst while he is on a business trip." His denial challenges the evidence of her senses: "I wasn't on the telephone with any girlfriend. You must have been dreaming."[22]
- Rogers and Follingstad examined women's experiences with psychological abuse as a predictor of symptoms and clinical levels of depression, anxiety, and somatization, as well as suicidal ideation and life functioning. They concluded that psychological abuse affects women's mental health outcomes, but the perceived negative changes in one's traits, problematic relationship schemas, and response styles were stronger indicators of mental health outcomes than the actual abuse.[21]
- Psychotherapist Stephanie Moulton Sarkis explained that it takes "a certain amount of cognitive dissonance to remain connected to a gaslighter" and that "the healthiest way to resolve cognitive dissonance" in such situations involves "leaving or distancing yourself from the gaslighter".[13]: 24''25
- Signs and methods As described by Patricia Evans, seven "warning signs" of gaslighting are the observed abuser's:[23]
- Withholding information from the victim;Countering information to fit the abuser's perspective;Discounting information;Using verbal abuse, usually in the form of jokes;Blocking and diverting the victim's attention from outside sources;Trivializing ("minimising") the victim's worth; and,Undermining the victim by gradually weakening them and their thought processes.Evans considers it necessary to understand the warning signs in order to begin the process of healing from it.[23]
- The psychologist Elinor Greenberg has described three common methods of gaslighting:[18]
- Hiding. The abuser may hide things from the victim and cover up what they have done. Instead of feeling ashamed, the abuser may convince the victim to doubt their own beliefs about the situation and turn the blame on themselves.Changing. The abuser feels the need to change something about the victim. Whether it be the way the victim dresses or acts, they want the victim to mold into their fantasy. If the victim does not comply, the abuser may convince the victim that he or she is in fact not good enough.Control. The abuser may want to fully control and have power over the victim. In doing so, the abuser will try to seclude them from other friends and family so only they can influence the victim's thoughts and actions. The abuser gets pleasure from knowing the victim is being fully controlled by them.An abuser's ultimate goal, as described by the divorce process coach Lindsey Ellison, is to make their victim second-guess their choices and to question their sanity, making them more dependent on the abuser.[24] One tactic used to degrade a victim's self-esteem is the abuser alternating between ignoring and attending to the victim, so that the victim lowers their expectation of what constitutes affection, and perceives themselves as less worthy of affection.[24][verification needed ]
- Role of gender Sociologist Paige Sweet, in the context of the social inequalities and power-laden intimate relationships of domestic violence, has studied gaslighting tactics that "are gendered in that they rely on the association of femininity with irrationality".[25]
- According to philosophy professor Kate Abramson, the act of gaslighting is not specifically tied to being sexist, although women tend to be frequent targets of gaslighting compared to men who more often engage in gaslighting.[3] Abramson explained this as a result of social conditioning, and said "it's part of the structure of sexism that women are supposed to be less confident, to doubt our views, beliefs, reactions, and perceptions, more than men. And gaslighting is aimed at undermining someone's views, beliefs, reactions, and perceptions. The sexist norm of self-doubt, in all its forms, prepares us for just that."[3] Abramson said that the final "stage" of gaslighting is severe, major, clinical depression.[3] With respect to women in particular, philosophy professor Hilde Lindemann said that in such cases, the victim's ability to resist the manipulation depends on "her ability to trust her own judgements". Establishment of "counterstories" may help the victim reacquire "ordinary levels of free agency".[26]
- Psychotherapist Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, who observed gaslighting to be present in about 30''40% of the couples she treats, says that "Gaslighting is as likely to be done by men as women"[27] and that "as far as we know, the genders are represented equally".[13]: 27 She explains further that we tend to think gaslighters to be mostly men because "men are often more reluctant (perhaps embarrassed) to talk to someone about a female partner who is being emotionally abusive".[13]: 27
- In parent-child relationships Children at the hands of unloving parents may become victims of gaslighting. Maternal gaslighting of daughters has received particular attention. In a section titled ''Lying, Gaslighting, and Denial'' in her best-seller Mothers Who Can't Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters, therapist and author Susan Forward writes: ''A severely narcissistic mother's anger, criticism, and thoughtless dismissal of her daughter's feelings are painful and destructive. And every daughter clings to the belief that if only her mother could see that behavior and its effects, she'd stop. Daughters try again and again to hold up a mirror, hoping that this time, things will be different. But severe narcissists stay true to form, responding to any confrontation with drama followed by deflection and a focus on your shortcomings. When that doesn't produce the desired results, they turn to what may be their most frustrating and infuriating tool: denial. Confrontation makes them feel cornered, and when that happens, they can't and won't validate your experience or acknowledge their part in it. Rather, they rewrite reality and tell you that what you saw, you didn't see, what you experienced didn't happen, and what you call real is actually a figment of your imagination.''[28]: 32''33
- But both mothers and fathers may gaslight children. Psychologically abusive parents often put on a ''good parent'' face in public yet withhold love and care in private, leading children to question their own perceptions of reality and to wonder whether their parent is the good person everyone else sees or the much darker person that comes out when child and parent are alone. Manipulative parents may also ''pit children against each other; ... play favorites but persuade the unloved child it's all his or her fault for not being more gifted, prettier, and otherwise more lovable.''[29]
- In politics Columnist Maureen Dowd was one of the first to use the term in the political context.[30][31] She described the Bill Clinton administration's use of the technique in subjecting Newt Gingrich to small indignities intended to provoke him to make public complaints that "came across as hysterical".[31][32]
- In his 2008 book State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind, psychologist Bryant Welch described the prevalence of the technique in American politics beginning in the age of modern communications, stating:
- To say gaslighting was started by the Bushes, Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, Fox News, or any other extant group is not simply wrong, it also misses an important point. Gaslighting comes directly from blending modern communications, marketing, and advertising techniques with long-standing methods of propaganda. They were simply waiting to be discovered by those with sufficient ambition and psychological makeup to use them.[33]
- Journalist Frida Ghitis used the term "gaslighting" to describe Russia's global relations. While Russian operatives were active in Crimea, Russian officials continually denied their presence and manipulated the distrust of political groups in their favor.[34]
- Journalists at The New York Times Magazine, BBC and Teen Vogue, as well as psychologists Bryant Welch, Robert Feldman and Leah McElrath, have described some of the actions of Donald Trump during the 2016 US presidential election and his term as president as examples of gaslighting.[31][35][36][37][38] Journalism professor Ben Yagoda wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education in January 2017 that the term gaslighting had become topical again as the result of Trump's behavior, saying that Trump's "habitual tendency to say 'X', and then, at some later date, indignantly declare, 'I did not say "X". In fact, I would never dream of saying "X"" had brought new notability to the term.[30]
- Gaslighting is utilized by leaders and followers of sectarian groups to ensure conformity of any potentially deviating members.[39]
- In the workplace Gaslighting in the workplace is when people do things that cause colleagues to question themselves and their actions in a way that is detrimental to their careers.[40] The victim may be excluded, made the subject of gossip, persistently discredited or questioned to destroy their confidence. The perpetrator may divert conversations to perceived faults or wrongs.[41] Gaslighting can be committed by anyone and can be especially detrimental when the perpetrator has a position of power.[42]
- In popular culture The 2016 mystery and psychological thriller film The Girl on the Train explored the direct effects gaslighting had on the protagonist (Rachel).[31] During her marriage, Rachel's ex-husband Tom was a violent abuser and victimizer. Rachel suffered from severe depression and alcoholism. When Rachel would black out drunk, he consistently told her that she had done terrible things that she was incapable of remembering.[43]
- Gaslighting was the main theme of a 2016 plotline in BBC's radio soap opera, The Archers. The story concerned the emotional abuse of Helen Archer by her partner and later husband, Rob Titchener, over the course of two years, and caused much public discussion about the phenomenon.[44]
- For several months during 2018, gaslighting was a main plotline in NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives, as character Gabi Hernandez was caught gaslighting her best friend Abigail Deveroux after Gabi was framed for a murder Abigail had committed in the series.[45]
- In March 2020, The Chicks released a song titled "Gaslighter", the title track from their forthcoming album Gaslighter, a reference to gaslighting[46] inspired by lead singer Natalie Maines' divorce from actor Adrian Pasdar.[47]
- See also References ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dorpat, Theodore L. (1996). Gaslighting, the Double Whammy, Interrogation, and Other Methods of Covert Control in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson. pp. 31''46. ISBN 978-1-56821-828-1. OCLC 34548677 . Retrieved 2014-01-06 . ^ a b Jacobson, Neil S.; Gottman, John M. (1998-03-10). When Men Batter Women: New Insights into Ending Abusive Relationships . Simon and Schuster. pp. 129''32. ISBN 978-0-684-81447-6 . Retrieved 2014-01-06 . ^ a b c d e Abramson, Kate (2014). "Turning up the Lights on Gaslighting". Philosophical Perspectives. 28 (1): 1''30. doi:10.1111/phpe.12046. ISSN 1520-8583. ^ "Gas Light". Goodreads. ^ Larner, A.J (2016-04-28). A Dictionary of Neurological Signs. p. 139. ISBN 978-3319298214. ^ a b Stern, Robin (2007-05-01). The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life. New York: Morgan Road Books. ISBN 9780767924450. OCLC 85766223 . Retrieved 2014-01-06 . ^ "gaslight". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) 1969 S. C. Plog Changing Perspectives in Mental Illness 83 It is also popularly believed to be possible to 'gaslight' a perfectly healthy person into psychosis by interpreting his own behavior to him as symptomatic of serious mental illness. ^ Shengold, Leonard L. (1979). "Child Abuse and Deprivation: Soul Murder". Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 27 (3): 533''559. doi:10.1177/000306517902700302. PMID 512287. ^ Rush, Florence (February 1992). The Best-kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children. Human Services Institute. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8306-3907-6. ^ Dorpat, Theodore (2007). Crimes of Punishment: America's Culture of Violence . New York: Algora Publishing. pp. 118''130. ISBN 9780875865638. OCLC 85498769. ^ Spear, Andrew D. (2019-04-25). "Epistemic dimensions of gaslighting: peer-disagreement, self-trust, and epistemic injustice". Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy: 1''24. doi:10.1080/0020174X.2019.1610051 . ISSN 0020-174X. ^ a b "50 Shades Of Gaslighting: Disturbing Signs An Abuser Is Twisting Your Reality". www.culteducation.com . Retrieved 2020-02-09 . ^ a b c d Sarkis, Stephanie (2018-10-01). Gaslighting: Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People'--and Break Free. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0738284668. OCLC 1023486127. ^ a b c Calef, Victor; Weinshel, Edward M. (January 1981). "Some Clinical Consequences of Introjection: Gaslighting". The Psychoanalytic Quarterly. 50 (1): 44''66. doi:10.1080/21674086.1981.11926942. ISSN 0033-2828. PMID 7465707. ^ Adkins, Karen C. (2019). "Gaslighting by crowd". Social Philosophy Today. 35: 75''87. doi:10.5840/socphiltoday201971660. ^ Dorpat, Theo. L. (1994). "On the double whammy and gaslighting" . Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy. 11 (1): 91''96. INIST:4017777. ^ a b Stout, Martha (2006-03-14). The Sociopath Next Door. Random House Digital. pp. 94''95. ISBN 978-0-7679-1582-3 . Retrieved 2014-01-06 . ^ a b Greenberg, Elinor. "Are You Being 'Gaslighted' By the Narcissist in Your Life?". Psychology Today. Sussex Publisher . Retrieved 3 April 2018 . ^ a b Cawthra, R.; O'Brian, G.; Hassanyeh, F. (April 1987). " ' Imposed Psychosis': A Case Variant of the Gaslight Phenomenon". British Journal of Psychiatry. 150 (4): 553''56. doi:10.1192/bjp.150.4.553. PMID 3664141. ^ Lund, C.A.; Gardiner, A.Q. (1977). "The Gaslight Phenomenon: An Institutional Variant". British Journal of Psychiatry. 131 (5): 533''34. doi:10.1192/bjp.131.5.533. PMID 588872. ^ a b Follingstad, Diane R.; Rogers, M. Jill (2014-08-01). "Women's Exposure to Psychological Abuse: Does That Experience Predict Mental Health Outcomes?". Journal of Family Violence. 29 (6): 595''611. doi:10.1007/s10896-014-9621-6. ISSN 1573-2851. ^ a b c Gass, Gertrude Zemon; Nichols, William C. (1988). "Gaslighting: A Marital Syndrome". Journal of Contemporary Family Therapy. 10 (1): 3''16. doi:10.1007/BF00922429. ^ a b Evans, Patricia (1996). The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to Recognize it and How to Respond (2nd ed.). Holbrook, Mass.: Adams Media Corporation. ^ a b Ellison, Lindsey (June 12, 2015). "7 Signs You Are a Victim of Gaslighting". Divorced moms .com. DivorceMag.com . Retrieved 14 April 2017 . ^ Sweet, Paige L. (October 2019). "The sociology of gaslighting". American Sociological Review. 84 (5): 851''875. doi:10.1177/0003122419874843. ^ Nelson, Hilde L. (March 2001). Damaged identities, narrative repair. Cornell University Press. pp. 31''32. ISBN 978-0-8014-8740-8 . Retrieved 2014-01-06 . ^ Dohms, Elizabeth (2018-10-29). "Gaslighting Makes Victims Question Reality". Wisconsin Public Radio . Retrieved 2020-01-30 . ^ Forward, Susan (2013-10-01). Mothers Who Can't Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters. Harper. ISBN 978-0062204349. OCLC 858980753. ^ Fileva, Iskra. "Gaslighting Instead of Love: Surviving your own mother and father". Psychology Today . Retrieved 2020-04-18 . ^ a b Yagoda, Ben (2017-01-12). "How Old Is 'Gaslighting'?". The Chronicle of Higher Education . Retrieved 2017-06-02 . ^ a b c d Gibson, Caitlin (27 January 2017). "What we talk about when we talk about Donald Trump and 'gaslighting ' ". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. ^ Dowd, Maureen (November 26, 1995). "Liberties;The Gaslight Strategy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved March 31, 2017 . ^ Welch, Bryant (2008-06-10). State of Confusion: Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind . New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312373061. OCLC 181601311. gaslighting. ^ Ghitis, Frida. "Donald Trump is 'gaslighting' all of us". CNN . Retrieved 2017-02-16 . ^ Dominus, Susan (2016-09-27). "The Reverse-Gaslighting of Donald Trump". The New York Times Magazine . Retrieved 2017-01-23 . ^ Duca, Lauren (2016-12-10). "Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America". Teen Vogue . Retrieved 2017-01-23 . ^ Fox, Maggie (2017-01-25). "Some Experts Say Trump Team's Falsehoods Are Classic 'Gaslighting ' ". NBC News . Retrieved 2017-03-08 . ^ From 'alternative facts' to rewriting history in Trump's White House, BBC, Jon Sopel, 26 July 2018 ^ Paolucci, Paul B. (2019-07-22). Acquiring Modernity: An Investigation into the Rise, Structure, and Future of the Modern World. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-39395-0. ^ Portnow, Kathryn E. (1996). Dialogues of doubt: the psychology of self-doubt and emotional gaslighting in adult women and men (EdD). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education. OCLC 36674740. ProQuest 619244657. ^ "Gaslighting at work '' when you think you are going crazy". 2016-07-22 . Retrieved 2018-04-13 . ^ Simon, George (2011-11-08). "Gaslighting as a Manipulation Tactic: What It Is, Who Does It, And Why". CounsellingResource.com: Psychology, Therapy & Mental Health Resources . Retrieved 2018-04-13 . ^ Yahr, Emily (2016-10-10). " ' The Girl on the Train': Let's discuss that twisted ending". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286 . Retrieved 2018-04-13 . ^ Watts, Jay (5 April 2016). "The Archers domestic abuse is classic 'gaslighting' '' very real, little understood". The Guardian . Retrieved 22 April 2017 . ^ " ' Days of Our Lives': Will Gabi Hernandez Face Any Consequences for Her Actions?". 2018-11-17. ^ Leimkuehler, Matthew (4 March 2020). "Dixie Chicks are back after 14 years with empowering 'Gaslighter' song, announce date for new album". USA Today. ^ Shaffer, Claire (4 March 2020). "Dixie chicks burn it all down with 'Gaslighter' video". Rolling Stone.
- Muhammad Ali and the complexity of black identity
- The day after shocking the world by defeating heavily favored Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship in 1964, Cassius Clay shook things up even more. He announced that he was joining the Nation of Islam and renouncing his ''slave name.'' Soon, he would be known as Muhammad Ali.
- That bold assertion of black identity was discomforting to both whites and blacks. For many whites, who knew nothing of the Nation of Islam and its ideology of black separatism, it challenged everything they thought they understood about African-Americans, and opened a window to the complexity and diversity of black identity.
- For African-Americans, long accustomed to papering over internal differences to present a ''respectable'' and unified front to the white world, it revealed long-standing '' and still ongoing '' debates over political outlook, self-image and even style.
- Remembering The Champ Muhammad Ali knew how to play the villain, but dodging the draft turned him into a pariah Muhammad Ali and the lyricism of self-love The Muhammad Ali boxing DNA strand Muhammad Ali's inspiring speech about life and death LeBron: Muhammad Ali's success in ring secondary to work outside it My two hours with Muhammad Ali 25 Muhammad Ali quotes to inspire you Ali made both groups confront the question of what it meant to be black in a majority white society.
- Decades later, the question still echoes in ways both profound and picayune. The nation's first black president has been criticized for not doing more to forge a black policy agenda. Is he black enough?
- Justice Clarence Thomas is the only African-American on the U.S. Supreme Court. He opposes affirmative action, saying it stigmatizes its beneficiaries. Does that make him a racial sellout or a man of principle?
- Darius Rucker first found musical success as a guitarist and lead singer for the rock band Hootie and the Blowfish. As a solo act, he has become a country music star. Is that a black thing?
- More than any athlete of his time, Ali challenged the nation's limiting notions of black identity. ''I think he raised the fact early on that all African-Americans were not cut from the same cloth and we all did not have the same consciousness as such,'' said Dewey Clayton, a University of Louisville political scientist.
- When Ali took the championship from Liston, there was a widely accepted role for athletes, particularly black athletes. They were to play their games, reap their ample rewards, and remain apart from the social turmoil percolating around them. In the eyes of many civil rights leaders, who were about the business of proving that black people belonged as full-fledged citizens, black athletes were supposed to be ''credits to the race,'' dignified and not showy.
- Ali rejected all of that. He was the Louisville Lip, mocking opponents and often predicting victory in rhyme, at a time when athletes were mostly stoic. He also deigned to be more than just an athlete. He was a man of religion. He chose to take political positions, and to be a social critic.
- At the time, a prominent black athlete could have done few things that would have been more unsettling. He became a Muslim in a country that saw itself as Christian. He questioned a war and defied the draft, at a time when most of the country saw that as unpatriotic. At a time when fighting for civil rights meant pushing for integration by marching or sitting in, Ali did neither. Instead, he joined a religious sect that preached racial separation.
- In this Feb. 25, 1968, file photo, former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali addresses a gathering at a Black Muslim convention in Chicago.
- As skeptical reporters pressed him about his religion and his name, the new champ refused to back down.
- ''I don't have to be who you want me to be. I'm free to be who I want,'' he said.
- It barely mattered that Ali was not always consistent. The man who defied the draft later advocated for it. The global icon at times looked down on less developed parts of the world. Yet, he asserted his blackness and self-respect in ways that African-Americans often found inspiring.
- ''He would ask things like why is Tarzan white and king of the jungle,'' Clayton said. ''He would ask why the media would beautify everything white, and do the opposite with everything black. This came at a time when black men were not supposed to stand straight and look white people in the eye.''
- Ali was not the first black athlete to do things on his own terms, of course. Jack Johnson waved a middle finger at convention by whipping white men in the ring, and dating white women outside of it. Paul Robeson, the Rutgers football star and valedictorian turned singer and actor, spoke out against U.S. imperialism and social injustice. Both Johnson and Robeson were relentlessly persecuted by the government and largely silenced. And they were never widely embraced as American heroes, never mind global icons.
- Jackie Robinson is beloved, maybe now more than ever. But early on, he largely suppressed his instinct toward fierceness in service of the cause of integrating baseball. But after Ali, the rules changed.
- Ali's rebelliousness was rooted in the same racism that moved Johnson, Robeson, and Robinson. He grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, during Jim Crow segregation, a reality that grated on Ali as he grew older. African-Americans could not try on clothes in downtown department stores, sit near whites at movie theaters, or buy homes in many Louisville neighborhoods.
- In those days, University of Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp was his state's sports hero. Rupp, who led Kentucky from 1930 to 1972, was one of the most successful coaches in collegiate history. But the so-called ''Baron of the Bluegrass'' resisted recruiting black players until 1970, long after many other Southern schools were fielding integrated teams.
- All of that had an effect on Ali.
- ''Lots of things were working in my mind,'' Ali told one of his biographers, Thomas Hauser. ''In my own life, there were places I couldn't go, places I couldn't eat. I won a gold medal representing the United States at the Olympic Games, and when I came home to Louisville, I still got treated like a n'--''.''
- Back home in Ali's old neighborhood in the West End, even people who had known him all of his life did not know what to make of some of his new identity. When he said that he was becoming a Muslim, they wondered what happened to the Bible-toting young man who used to shadowbox through the neighborhood.
- ''Mostly, our people were against it,'' said Lawrence Montgomery, 81, a longtime friend who still lives on the same block where Ali grew up. ''That was because we did not know what the Nation of Islam was all about. But then, I decided if that's what he wants to do, that's his business.''
- Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, talks with grocer Leonard Tucker outside a grocery store in Louisville, Kentucky.
- The Courier-Journal-USA TODAY Sports
- The neighbors thought much the same when Ali refused to be inducted into the military during the Vietnam War, famously saying ''I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me n'--''.''
- For a time, that decision brought him widespread scorn. Yet, as the nation turned against the Vietnam War, the rebel became a hero and his fearlessness proved inspiring.
- ''Every young man in this country who finds this war objectionable and abominable and unjust will file as a conscientious objector,'' civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. said. ''And no matter what you think of Mr. Muhammad Ali's religion, you certainly have to admire his courage.''
- That sense of independence lifted him to prominence and eventually unparalleled popularity. Former President Bill Clinton will deliver a eulogy at his memorial service at downtown Louisville's 22,000-seat Yum! Center on Friday. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, King Abdullah II of Jordan and comic Billy Crystal are also among those scheduled to speak.
- Still, some things have changed and others have not since Ali stood up for himself. Many black athletes are applauded now when they make political statements even if their actions come with few of the risks that confronted the former champ. Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James and other NBA players were widely celebrated for wearing ''I Can't Breathe'' T-shirts during warm-ups before a 2014 game in Brooklyn, New York, to call attention to the killing of Eric Garner by New York City police.
- Other prominent athletes are criticized for not doing enough. Michael Jordan has never lived down his decision not to endorse black U.S. Senate candidate Harvey Gantt of North Carolina when he was running against Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, who was widely condemned as a racist.
- The debate continues to rage over the value of respectability, whether it is more effective to work within the system to effect change, or to agitate from outside. Black Lives Matter protesters have taken to the streets in many cities, including those run by black politicians, to protest police brutality. Meanwhile, some black elected officials and others have challenged these activists to do more to combat the street crime that claims thousands of black lives each year.
- And if Americans are now more familiar with Islam than they were when Ali converted in 1964, it seems that much of the old suspicion remains. Polls have found that more than half of Americans hold unfavorable views of Islam. And one poll late last year found that nearly half of Americans support presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's proposal to impose a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
- Social justice messages each NBA player is wearing on his jersey Read now 'They stand for something': NBA players make Alvin Gentry proud on historic night Read now Mike Conley: 'I am a man just like you are' Read now
- Once, Ali's choices cost him his heavyweight title, more than three years of his boxing prime, and untold millions of dollars. Now, Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the U.S. Senate, who once vowed to limit the country's first black president to one term in office, took to the floor to extol Ali, calling his story ''an American story'' that touched people ''in every corner of the world.''
- In a statement issued by the White House, President Barack Obama noted that in his private study off the Oval Office he keeps a pair of Ali's boxing gloves on display. Just above them is the famous photograph of Ali standing over a fallen Liston. The president went on to quote the former champ.
- ''I am America,'' Ali said. ''I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me '' black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.''
- Michael A. Fletcher is a senior writer at The Undefeated. He is a native New Yorker and longtime Baltimorean who enjoys live music and theater.
- Professional wrestling - Wikipedia
- A form of wrestling that combines athletics with theatre
- Professional wrestling is a form of theatrical performance[1] wherein athletic performers portray prizefighters competing in matches with predetermined, scripted outcomes. It is based on classical and "catch" wrestling, with modern additions of striking attacks, acrobatics, feats of strength, fast-moving athleticism and occasionally, improvised weaponry.[2] The performances are all planned (if not rigidly choreographed) to maximize the entertainment value to the audience, and reduce the chances of the performers suffering real-life injuries.[3] Professional wrestling also liberally incorporates melodrama. Much like some of the real prizefighters they imitate, the characters in professional wrestling have large egos, flamboyant personalities (often attached to a gimmick), and turbulent interpersonal relationships. These personas are generally scripted, the same as the matches. Performances mainly take place in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing (a sort of theater in the round).[4] In the modern age of televised entertainment, many additional "backstage" scenes are also recorded to supplement the drama in the ring.[5]
- Professional wrestling in the United States began in the 19th century as a genuine competitive sport (shoot matches, as insiders call them), but wrestlers began choreographing their matches (worked matches) to make the matches less physically taxing, shorter in duration, and more entertaining for spectators. This allowed the wrestlers to perform more frequently and attracted larger audiences (and revenues) for promoters. This business model was very successful and was imitated in other countries, with particular success in Mexico and Japan. For a long time, those in the wrestling industry's notoriously insular community would not admit their "sport" was just theater, as the suspension of disbelief was crucial to the fans' enjoyment (and therefore, also crucial to performers' and promoters' livelihoods). Nowadays (in the United States, at least) it is normal for the wrestlers and promoters to either partially or completely acknowledge wrestling's essence as predetermined entertainment to the public. This development occurred upon promoters learning in the 1980s that the fans don't mind if the wrestlers break character "off-stage".
- History [ edit ] Originating as a popular form of entertainment in 19th-century Europe[6] and later as a sideshow exhibition in North American traveling carnivals and vaudeville halls, professional wrestling grew[when? ] into a standalone genre of entertainment with many diverse variations in cultures around the globe, and as of 2020[update] has become a billion-dollar entertainment industry. Since the 1980s, local forms have greatly[quantify ] declined in Europe; wrestling from North America has experienced several different periods of prominent cultural popularity during its century-and-a-half of existence and has been exported back to Europe to fill the cultural gap left by the aforementioned decline of local versions.[citation needed ] The advent of television gave professional wrestling a new outlet, and wrestling (along with boxing) became instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. In light of the growth of online video-on-demand, native professional wrestling promotions in markets all over the world have been able to circumvent traditional content-delivery and reach customers directly via social media and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Scope and influence [ edit ] Show wrestling has become especially prominent in Central/North America, Japan and Europe (especially the United Kingdom).[7] In Brazil, there was a very popular wrestling television program from the 1960s to the early 1980s called Telecatch. High-profile figures in the sport have become celebrities or cultural icons in their native or adopted home countries.
- Although professional wrestling started out as small acts in sideshows, traveling circuses and carnivals, today it is a billion-dollar industry. Revenue is drawn from ticket sales, network television broadcasts, pay-per-view broadcasts, branded merchandise and home video.[8] Pro wrestling was instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such as WrestleMania, Bound for Glory, Wrestle Kingdom and formerly Starrcade are among the highest-selling pay-per-view programming each year. In modern day, internet programming has been utilized by a number of companies to air web shows, internet pay per views (IPPVs) or on-demand content, helping to generate internet-related revenue earnings from the evolving World Wide Web.
- Home video sales dominate the Billboard charts Recreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week.[9]
- Due to its persistent cultural presence and to its novelty within the performing arts, wrestling constitutes a recurring topic in both academia and the media. Several documentaries have been produced looking at professional wrestling, most notably, Beyond the Mat directed by Barry W. Blaustein, and Wrestling with Shadows featuring wrestler Bret Hart and directed by Paul Jay. There have also been many fictional depictions of wrestling; the 2008 film The Wrestler received several Oscar nominations and began a career revival for star Mickey Rourke.
- Currently, the largest professional wrestling company worldwide is the United States-based WWE, which bought out many smaller regional companies in the late 20th century, as well as its primary US competitors World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in early 2001. Other prominent professional wrestling companies worldwide include the US-based All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Impact Wrestling, formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and Ring of Honor (ROH); Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) in Mexico; and the Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah leagues.
- Genre conventions [ edit ] When talking about professional wrestling, there are two levels: the "in-show" happenings that are presented through the shows, and happenings which are outside the scope of performance (in other words, are real life) but have implications on the performance, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines for the performers, the lines are often blurred and become confused.
- Special care must be taken when talking about people who perform under their own name. The actions of the character should be considered fictional events, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona).
- Some wrestlers would incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names.
- Kayfabe [ edit ] Historians are unsure at what point wrestling changed from competitive catch wrestling into worked entertainment. However, documented accounts do exist: WWE Superstar Bret "Hitman" Hart recalls "a long and fascinating talk" he had in the summer of 1981 with the great Lou Thesz who told him that:
- "the business was a total shoot until about 1925. At a time when Jack Dempsey was knocking everyone out in a couple of rounds and Babe Ruth was smashing the home run record in baseball, the average World Title (wrestling) match often lasted five or six hours and ended in a stalemate. Ed 'Strangler' Lewis, Thesz's mentor, was impossible to beat, so he eventually worked a title loss just to pump some new blood into the business and make a nice payoff'--and that was when it had all changed."[10]
- Those who participated felt that maintenance of a constant and complete illusion for all who were not involved was necessary to keep audience interest. For decades, wrestlers lived their public lives as though they were their characters.
- The practice of keeping the illusion, and the various methods used to do so, came to be known as "kayfabe" within wrestling circles, or "working the marks". An entire lexicon of slang jargon and euphemism developed to allow performers to communicate without outsiders' knowledge of what was being said.
- Occasionally a performer will deviate from the intended sequence of events. This is known as a shoot. Sometimes shoot-like elements are included in wrestling stories to blur the line between performance and reality. These are known as "worked shoots". However, the vast majority of events in professional wrestling are preplanned and improvised within accepted boundaries.
- Gradually, the predetermined nature of professional wrestling became an open secret, as prominent figures in the wrestling business (including World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon) began to publicly admit that wrestling was entertainment, not competition. This public reveal has garnered mixed reactions from the wrestling community, as some feel that exposure ruins the experience to the spectators as does exposure in illusionism. Despite the public admission of the theatrical nature of professional wrestling, many U.S. states still regulate professional wrestling as they do other professional competitive sports.[11] For example, New York State still regulates "professional wrestling" through the New York State Athletic Commission (SAC).[12] However, some states are considering removing, or have removed, professional wrestling from the purview of the state's athletic commissioners.[11]
- Aspects of performing art [ edit ] I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie. Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar.
- Professional wrestling shows can be considered a form of theater in the round, with the ring, ringside area, and entryway comprising a stage. However, there is a much more limited concept of a fourth wall than in most theatric performances, similar to pantomime involving audience participation. The audience is recognized and acknowledged by the performers as spectators to the sporting event being portrayed, and are encouraged to interact as such. This leads to a high level of audience participation; in fact, their reactions can dictate how the performance unfolds.[4] Often, individual matches will be part of a longer story line conflict between "babyfaces" (often shortened to just "faces") and "heels". "Faces" (the "good guys") are those whose actions are intended to encourage the audience to cheer, while "heels" (the "bad guys") act to draw the spectators' ire.[14]
- Most forms of stage combat attempt to minimize all risk of pain and injury to the actors, and fans of theater typically accept that stage combat cannot look very real. But fans of professional wrestling demand a better illusion, and consequently the performers perform physical feats that often lead to real pain and injury. Many professional wrestlers over long careers develop lasting injuries and disabilities not too dissimilar from what is seen in real contact sport, and they tend to have shorter lifespans.
- Rules [ edit ] There is no governing authority for professional wrestling rules, although there is a general standard which has developed. Each promotion has its own variation, but all are similar enough to avoid confusion most of the time. Any rule described here is simply a standard, and may or may not correspond exactly with any given promotion's ruleset.
- Due to the staged nature of wrestling, these are not actual "rules"[15] in the sense that they would be considered in similar articles about actual sports like freestyle wrestling. Instead, the "rules" in this article are implemented and supposedly enforced for the sake of suspension of disbelief (known as kayfabe in the jargon of the business).
- General structure [ edit ] Matches are held between two or more sides ("corners"). Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more. Most team matches are governed by tag team rules (see below). Other matches are free-for-alls, with multiple combatants but no teams. In all variants, there can be only one winning team or wrestler.
- Matches are held within a wrestling ring, an elevated square canvas mat with posts on each corner. A cloth apron hangs over the edges of the ring. Three horizontal ropes or cables surround the ring, suspended with turnbuckles which are connected to the posts. For safety, the ropes are padded at the turnbuckles and cushioned mats surround the floor outside the ring. Guardrails or a similar barrier enclose this area from the audience. Wrestlers are generally expected to stay within the confines of the ring, though matches sometimes end up outside the ring, and even in the audience, to add excitement.
- The standard method of scoring is the "fall", which is accomplished by:
- Pinning the opponent's shoulders to the mat, typically for three seconds (though other times have been used)Forcing the opponent to submitDisqualification of the opponentThe opponent remaining outside the ring for too long (countout)Knocking out or otherwise incapacitating the opponentThese are each explained in greater detail below. Typically, pinfalls and submissions must occur within the ring area, however there are times where it may be stipulated otherwise.
- Most wrestling matches last for a set number of falls, with the first side to achieve the majority number of pinfalls, submissions, or countouts being the winner. Historically, matches were wrestled to 3 falls ("best 2 out of 3") or 5 falls ("best 3 out of 5"). The standard for modern matches is one fall. However, even though it is now standard, many announcers will explicitly say so, e.g. "The following contest is set for one fall with a 20-minute time limit." These matches are given a time limit; if not enough falls are scored by the end of the time limit, the match is declared a draw. Modern matches are generally given a 10- to 30-minute time limit for standard matches; title matches can go for up to one hour. British wrestling matches held under Admiral-Lord Mountevans rules are 2 out of 3 falls.
- An alternative is a match set for a prescribed length of time, with a running tally of falls. The entrant with the most falls at the end of the time limit is declared the winner. This is usually for 20, 30 or 60 minutes, and is commonly called an Iron Man match. This type of match can be modified so that fewer types of falls are allowed.
- In matches with multiple competitors, an elimination system may be used. Any wrestler who has a fall scored against them is forced out of the match, and the match continues until only one remains. However, it is much more common when more than two wrestlers are involved to simply go one fall, with the one scoring the fall, regardless of who they scored it against, being the winner. In championship matches, this means that, unlike one-on-one matches (where the champion can simply disqualify himself or get himself counted out to retain the title via the Champion's Advantage), the champion does not have to be pinned or involved in the decision to lose the championship. However, heel champions often find advantages, not in Champion's Advantage, but in the use of weapons and outside interference, as these poly-sided matches tend to involve no holds barred rules.
- Many modern specialty matches have been devised, with unique winning conditions. The most common of these is the ladder match. In the basic ladder match, the wrestlers or teams of wrestlers must climb a ladder to obtain a prize that is hoisted above the ring. The key to winning this match is that the wrestler or team of wrestlers must try to incapacitate each other long enough for one wrestler to climb the ladder and secure that prize for their team. As a result, the ladder can be used as a weapon. The prizes include but are not limited to any given championship belt (the traditional prize), a document granting the winner the right to a future title shot, or any document that matters to the wrestlers involved in the match (such as one granting the winner a cash prize). Another common specialty match is known as the battle royal. In a battle royal, all the wrestlers enter the ring to the point that there are 20''30 wrestlers in the ring at one time. When the match begins, the simple objective is to throw the opponent over the top rope and out of the ring with both feet on the floor to eliminate that opponent. The last wrestler standing is declared the winner. A variant on this type of match is the WWE's Royal Rumble where two wrestlers enter the ring to start the match and other wrestlers follow in 90 second intervals (previously 2 minutes) until 30''40 wrestlers have entered the ring. All other rules stay the same. For more match types, see Professional wrestling match types.
- Every match must be assigned a rule keeper known as a referee, who is the final arbitrator. In multi-man lucha libre matches, two referees are used, one inside the ring and one outside.
- Due to the legitimate role that referees play in wrestling of serving as liaison between the bookers backstage and the wrestlers in the ring (the role of being a final arbitrator is merely kayfabe), the referee is present, even in matches that do not at first glance appear to require a referee (such as a ladder match, as it is no holds barred, and the criteria for victory could theoretically be assessed from afar). Although their actions are also frequently scripted for dramatic effect, referees are subject to certain general rules and requirements to maintain the theatrical appearance of unbiased authority. The most basic rule is that an action must be seen by a referee to be declared for a fall or disqualification. This allows for heel characters to gain a scripted advantage by distracting or disabling the referee to perform some ostensibly illegal maneuver on their opponent. Most referees are unnamed and essentially anonymous, though some wrestling promotions, most notably in the present All Elite Wrestling, have made officials known by their names (and there are some cases where fans have called their name during matches).
- Special guest referees may be used from time to time; by virtue of their celebrity status, they are often scripted to dispense with the appearance of neutrality and use their influence to unfairly influence the outcome of the match for added dramatic impact. Face special referees will often fight back against hostile heel wrestlers, particularly if the special referee is either a wrestler himself or a famous martial artist (such as Tito Ortiz at the main event at TNA Hard Justice 2005).
- For heel special referees, common ways of assisting the heel wrestler to obtain victory include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Counting fast whenever the face wrestler is being pinned, while counting slow, faking a wrist or eye injury, or even refusing to count at all, when the heel wrestler is being pinned.Allowing heel wrestlers to use blatantly illegal tactics that most normal referees would instantly disqualify for, while not extending these relaxed rules to face wrestlers.Disqualifying the face wrestler for unfair reasons, such as an accidental attack on the referee or a maneuver that appears to be an illegal attack.Feigning unconsciousness far longer than they would normally otherwise be out, or using convenient distractions to look away from the wrestlers for a prolonged period of time. This allows for greater opportunities for run-ins or use of illegal weapons and tactics, or can be used as an excuse to avoid counting a pinfall or calling a submission in the face's favor. The referee often instantly up the moment the heel wrestler seems to have an advantage, usually the moment the heel goes for the pinfall or applies a submission finisher.Actually assisting in attacking the face wrestler.Tag rules [ edit ] In some team matches, only one entrant from each team may be designated as the "legal" or "active" wrestler at any given moment. Two wrestlers must make physical contact (typically palm-to-palm) to transfer this legal status. This is known as a "tag", with the participants "tagging out" and "tagging in". Typically the wrestler who is tagging out has a 5-second count to leave the ring, whereas the one tagging in can enter the ring at any time, resulting in heels legally double-teaming a face.
- The non-legal wrestlers must remain outside the ring or other legal area at all times (and avoid purposeful contact with the opposing wrestlers) or face reprimand from the referee. In most promotions, the wrestler to be tagged in must be touching the turnbuckle on his corner, or a cloth strap attached to the turnbuckle.
- Some multi-wrestler matches allow for a set number of legal wrestlers, and a legal wrestler may tag out to any other wrestler, regardless of team. In these matches, the tag need not be a mutual effort, and this results in active wrestlers being tagged out against their will, or non-legal wrestlers forced to enter the battle.
- Sometimes, poly-sided matches that pit every man for himself will incorporate tagging rules. Outside of kayfabe, this is done to give wrestlers a break from the action (as these matches tend to go on for long periods of time), and to make the action in the ring easier to choreograph. One of the most mainstream examples of this is the Four-Corner match, the most common type of match in the WWE before it was replaced with its equivalent Fatal Four-Way; four wrestlers, each for himself, fight in a match, but only two wrestlers can be in the match at any given time. The other two are positioned in the corner, and tags can be made between any two wrestlers.
- In a Texas Tornado Tag Team match, all the competitors are legal in the match, and tagging in and out is not necessary. All matches fought under hardcore rules (such as no disqualification, no holds barred, ladder match, etc.) are all contested under de facto Texas Tornado rules, since the lack of ability of a referee to issue a disqualification renders any tagging requirements moot.
- Regardless of rules of tagging, a wrestler cannot pin his or her own tag team partner, even if it is technically possible from the rules of the match (e.g. Texas Tornado rules, or a three-way tag team match). This is called the "Outlaw Rule" because the first team to attempt to use that (in an attempt to unfairly retain their tag team titles) was the New Age Outlaws.
- Decisions [ edit ] Pinfall [ edit ] To score by pinfall, a wrestler must pin both his opponent's shoulders against the mat while the referee slaps the mat three times (referred to as a "three count"). This is the most common form of defeat. The pinned wrestler must also be on his back and, if s/he is lying on his stomach, it usually does not count. A count may be started at any time that a wrestler's shoulders are down (both shoulders touching the mat), back-first and any part of the opponent's body is lying over the wrestler. This often results in pins that can easily be kicked out of, if the defensive wrestler is even slightly conscious. For example, an attacking wrestler who is half-conscious may simply drape an arm over an opponent, or a cocky wrestler may place his foot gently on the opponent's body, prompting a three-count from the referee.
- Illegal pinning methods include using the ropes for leverage and hooking the opponent's clothing, which are therefore popular cheating methods for heels, unless certain stipulations make such an advantage legal. Such pins as these are rarely seen by the referee and are subsequently often used by heels and on occasion by cheating faces to win matches. Even if it is noticed, it is rare for such an attempt to result in a disqualification (see below) and instead it simply results in nullification of the pin attempt, so the heel wrestler rarely has anything to lose for trying it anyway.
- Occasionally, there are instances where a pinfall is made where both wrestlers' shoulders were on the mat for the three-count. This situation will most likely lead to a draw, and in some cases a continuation of the match or a future match to determine the winner.
- Submission [ edit ] To score by submission, the wrestler must make his opponent give up, usually, but not necessarily, by putting him in a submission hold (e.g. figure four leg-lock, arm-lock, sleeper-hold).
- A wrestler may voluntarily submit by verbally informing the referee (usually used in moves such as the Mexican Surfboard, where all four limbs are incapacitated, making tapping impossible). Also, since Ken Shamrock popularized it in 1997, a wrestler can indicate a voluntary submission by "tapping out",[16] that is, tapping a free hand against the mat or against an opponent. Occasionally, a wrestler will reach for a rope (see rope breaks below), only to put his hand back on the mat so he can crawl towards the rope some more; this is not a submission, and the referee decides what his intent is. Submission was initially a large factor in professional wrestling, but following the decline of the submission-oriented catch-as-catch-can style from mainstream professional wrestling, the submission largely faded. Despite this, some wrestlers, such as Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Ken Shamrock, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Tazz, became famous for winning matches via submission. A wrestler with a signature submission technique is portrayed as better at applying the hold, making it more painful or more difficult to get out of than others who use it, or can be falsely credited as inventing the hold (such as when Tazz popularized the kata ha jime judo choke in pro wrestling as the "Tazzmission").
- Since all contact between the wrestlers must cease if any part of the body is touching, or underneath, the ropes, many wrestlers will attempt to break submission holds by deliberately grabbing the bottom ropes. This is called a "rope break", and it is one of the most common ways to break a submission hold. Most holds leave an arm or leg free, so that the person can tap out if he wants. Instead, he uses these free limbs to either grab one of the ring ropes (the bottom one is the most common, as it is nearest the wrestlers, though other ropes sometimes are used for standing holds such as Chris Masters' Master Lock) or drape his foot across, or underneath one. Once this has been accomplished, and the accomplishment is witnessed by the referee, the referee will demand that the offending wrestler break the hold, and start counting to five if the wrestler does not. If the referee reaches the count of five, and the wrestler still does not break the hold, he is disqualified.
- If a manager decides that his client wrestler should tap out, but cannot convince the wrestler himself to do so, he may "throw in the towel" (by literally taking a gym towel and hurling it into the ring where the referee can see it). This is the same as a submission, as in kayfabe the manager is considered the wrestlers agent and therefore authorized to make formal decisions (such as forfeiting a match) on the client's behalf.
- Knockout [ edit ] Passing out in a submission hold constitutes a loss by knockout. To determine if a wrestler has passed out in WWE, the referee usually picks up and drops his hand. If it drops to the mat or floor three consecutive times without the wrestler having the strength to hold it up, the wrestler is considered to have passed out. At one point this was largely ignored. However, the rule is now much more commonly observed for safety reasons. If the wrestler has passed out, the opponent then scores by submission.
- A wrestler can also win by knockout if he does not resort to submission holds, but stills pummels his opponent to the point that he is completely out cold. To check for a knockout in this manner a referee would wave his hand in front of the wrestlers' face and, if the wrestler does not react in any way, the referee would award the victory to the other wrestler.
- Countout [ edit ] A countout (alternatively "count-out" or "count out") happens when a wrestler is out of the ring long enough for the referee to count to ten (twenty in some promotions) and thus disqualified. The count is broken and restarted when a wrestler in the ring exits the ring. Playing into this, some wrestlers would "milk" the count by sliding in the ring and immediately sliding back out. As he was technically inside the ring for a split second before exiting again, it is sufficient to restart the count. This is often referred to by commentators as "breaking the count". Heels often use this tactic in order to buy themselves more time to catch their breath, or to attempt to frustrate their babyface opponents.
- If all the active wrestlers in a match are down inside the ring at the same time, the referee would begin a count (usually ten seconds, twenty in Japan). If nobody rises to their feet by the end of the count, the match is ruled a draw. Any participant who stands up in time would end the count for everyone else, while in a Last Man Standing match this form of a countout is the only way that the match can end, so the referee would count when one or more wrestlers are down and one wrestler standing up before the 10-count does not stop the count for another wrestler who is still down.
- In some promotions (and most major modern ones), Championships cannot change hands via a countout, unless the on-screen authority declares it for at least one match, although in others, championships may change hands via countout. Heels are known to take advantage of this and will intentionally get counted out when facing difficult opponents, especially when defending championships.
- Disqualification [ edit ] Disqualification (sometimes abbreviated as "DQ") occurs when a wrestler violates the match's rules, thus losing automatically. Although a countout can technically be considered a disqualification (as it is, for all intents and purposes, an automatic loss suffered as a result of violating a match rule), the two concepts are often distinct in wrestling. A no disqualification match can still end by countout (although this is rare). Typically, a match must be declared a "no holds barred" match, a "street fight" or some other term, in order for both disqualifications and countouts to be waived.
- Disqualification from a match is called for a number of reasons:
- Performing any illegal holds or maneuvers, such as refusing to break a hold when an opponent is in the ropes, hair-pulling, choking or biting an opponent, or repeatedly punching with a closed fist. These violations are usually subject to a referee-administered five count and will result in disqualification if the wrestler does not cease the offending behavior in time. Note that the ban on closed fists does not apply if the attacker is in midair when the punch connects, like with Jerry Lawler's diving fist drop or Roman Reigns' Superman Punch.Deliberate injury of an opponent, such as attacking an opponent's eye, such as raking it, poking it, gouging it, punching it or other severe attacks to the eye. This was imposed when Sexy Star was disqualified for a legitimate injury on Rosemary at AAA Triplemana XXV by popping her arm out of the socket. This type of disqualification can also be grounds for stripping a wrestler of a championship, as AAA overturned the result of that AAA Women's Championship match, stripping her of the title.Any outside interference involving a person not involved in the match striking or holding a wrestler. Sometimes (depending on the promotion and uniqueness of the situation), if a heel attempts to interfere but is ejected from the ring by a wrestler or referee before this occurs, there may not be a disqualification (All Elite Wrestling is known to use ejections, as AEW referees Earl Hebner and Aubrey Edwards have ejected numerous wrestlers during events, all for outside interference). In this disqualification method, the wrestler being attacked by the foreign member is awarded the win. Sometimes, however, this can work in heels' favor. In February 2009, Shawn Michaels, who was under the kayfabe employment of John "Bradshaw" Layfield, interfered in a match and super kicked JBL in front of the referee to get his employer the win via "outside interference".Striking an opponent with a foreign object (an object not permitted by the rules of the match; see hardcore wrestling) (sometimes the win decision can be reversed if the referee spots the weapon before pin attempt or after the match because they tried to strike when referee is either distracted or knocked out).[17]Using any kind of "banned" move (see below for details).A direct low blow to the groin (unless the rules of the match specifically allow this).Intentionally laying hands on the referee.Pulling an opponent's mask off during a match (this is illegal in Mexico, and sometimes in Japan).Throwing an opponent over the top rope during a match (this move is still illegal in the National Wrestling Alliance; however, in cases like the Royal Rumble match, this will be allowed in order to eliminate a wrestler from the match).In a mixed tag team match, a male wrestler hitting a female wrestler (intergender), or a normal sized wrestler attacking an opposing midget wrestler (tag team matches involving teams with one normal-sized and one midget wrestler).In practice, not all rule violations will result in a disqualification as the referee may use his own judgement and is not obligated to stop the match. Usually, the only offenses that the referee will see and immediately disqualify the match on (as opposed to having multiple offenses) are low blows, weapon usage, interference, or assaulting the referee. In WWE, a referee must see the violation with his own eyes to rule that the match end in a disqualification (simply watching the video tape is not usually enough) and the referee's ruling is almost always final, although dusty finishes (named after, and made famous by, Dusty Rhodes) will often result in the referee's decision being overturned. It is not uncommon for the referees themselves to get knocked out during a match, which is commonly referred to by the term "ref bump". While the referee remains "unconscious", wrestlers are free to violate rules until he is revived or replaced. In some cases, a referee might disqualify a person under the presumption that it was that wrestler who knocked him out; most referee knockouts are arranged to allow a wrestler, usually a heel, to gain an advantage. For example, a wrestler may get whipped into a referee at a slower speed, knocking the ref down for short amount of time; during that interim period, one wrestler may pin his opponent for a three-count and would have won the match but for the referee being down (sometimes, another referee will sprint to the ring from backstage to attempt to make the count, but by then, the other wrestler has had enough time to kick out on his own accord). In most promotions, a championship title cannot normally change hands via disqualification; this rule is explicitly enforced in a title match under special circumstances.
- If all participants in a match continue to breach the referee's instructions, the match may end in a double disqualification, where both wrestlers or teams (in a tag team match) have been disqualified. The match is essentially nullified, and called a draw or in some cases a restart or the same match being held at a pay-per-view or next night's show. Sometimes, however, if this happens in a match to determine the challenger for a heel champion's title, the champion is forced to face both opponents simultaneously for the title. Usually, the double disqualification is caused by the heel wrestler's associates in a match between two face wrestlers to determine his opponent.
- Forfeit [ edit ] Although extremely rare, a match can end in a forfeit if the opponent either does not show up for the match, or shows up but refuses to compete. Although a championship usually cannot change hands except by pinfall or submission, a forfeit victory is enough to crown a new champion. The most famous example of this happened on the December 8, 1997 episode of Raw is War, when Stone Cold Steve Austin handed the WWE Intercontinental Championship to The Rock after refusing to defend the title.
- Forfeit victories are extremely rare in wrestling. When a pay-per-view match is booked and one wrestler is unable to make it for one reason or another, it is usually customary to insert a last minute replacement rather than award a wrestler a victory by forfeit. Forfeit victories are almost always reserved for when the story the promotion is telling specifically requires such an ending. In addition to the aforementioned moment between Steve Austin and The Rock, other instance of this happening was in March 2009, when Triple H decided not to show up for a handicap match against Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr., instead opting to attack Randy Orton in his own home.
- Despite being, statistically, an extremely rare occurrence, Charles Wright is one wrestler who is famous for turning forfeit victories into his own gimmick. During the late 1990s, Wright called himself "The Godfather" and portrayed the gimmick of a pimp. He would often bring multiple women, who he referred to as "hos," to the ring with him, and would offer the sexual services of these women to his opponents in exchange for them forfeiting their matches against him.
- Draw [ edit ] A professional wrestling match can end in a draw. A draw occurs if both opponents are simultaneously disqualified (as via countout or if the referee loses complete control of the match and both opponents attack each other with no regard to being in a match, like Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker at 2002 Unforgiven), neither opponent is able to answer a ten-count, or both opponents simultaneously win the match. The latter can occur if, for example, one opponent's shoulders touch the mat while maintaining a submission hold against another opponent. If the opponent in the hold begins to tap out at the same time a referee counts to three for pinning the opponent delivering the hold, both opponents have legally achieved scoring conditions simultaneously. Traditionally, a championship may not change hands in the event of a draw (though it may become vacant), though some promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling have endorsed rules where the champion may lose a title by disqualification. A variant of the draw is the time-limit draw, where the match does not have a winner by a specified time period (a one-hour draw, which was once common, is known in wrestling circles as a "Broadway").
- Also if two wrestlers have been given a disqualification by either the referee or the chairman, this is a no contest and if there is a title on the line the champion keeps the championship.
- No contest [ edit ] A wrestling match may be declared a no contest if the winning conditions are unable to occur. This can be due to excessive interference, loss of referee's control over the match, one or more participants sustaining debilitating injury not caused by the opponent, or the inability of a scheduled match to even begin. A no contest is a state separate and distinct from a draw '-- a draw indicates winning conditions were met. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in practice, this usage is technically incorrect.
- Dramatic elements [ edit ] While each wrestling match is ostensibly a competition of athletics and strategy, the goal from a business standpoint is to excite and entertain the audience. Although the competition is staged, dramatic emphasis draws out the most intense reaction. Heightened interest results in higher attendance, increased ticket sales, higher ratings on television broadcasts (greater ad revenue), higher pay-per-view buyrates, and sales of branded merchandise and recorded video footage. All of these contribute to the profit of the promotion company.
- Character/gimmick [ edit ] In Latin America and English-speaking countries, most wrestlers (and other on-stage performers) portray character roles, sometimes with personalities wildly different from their own. These personalities are a gimmick intended to heighten interest in a wrestler without regard to athletic ability. Some can be unrealistic and cartoon-like (such as Doink the Clown), while others carry more verisimilitude (such as Chris Jericho, The Rock, John Cena, Steve Austin, and CM Punk). In lucha libre, many characters wear masks, adopting a secret identity akin to a superhero, a near-sacred tradition.[18]
- An individual wrestler may use his real name, or a minor variation of it, for much of his career, such as Bret Hart, John Cena and Randy Orton. Others can keep one ring name for their entire career (Shawn Michaels, CM Punk and Ricky Steamboat), or may change from time to time to better suit the demands of the audience or company. Sometimes a character is owned and trademarked by the company, forcing the wrestler to find a new one when he leaves (although a simple typeset change, such as changing Rhyno to Rhino, can get around this), and sometimes a character is owned by the wrestler. Sometimes, a wrestler may change his legal name to obtain ownership of his ring name (Andrew Martin and Warrior). Many wrestlers (such as The Rock and The Undertaker) are strongly identified with their character, even responding to the name in public or between friends. It's actually considered proper decorum for fellow wrestlers to refer to each other by their stage names/characters rather than their birth/legal names, unless otherwise introduced.[19] A character can become so popular that it appears in other media (Hulk Hogan and El Santo) or even gives the performer enough visibility to enter politics (Antonio Inoki and Jesse Ventura).
- Typically, matches are staged between a protagonist (historically an audience favorite, known as a babyface, or "the good guy") and an antagonist (historically a villain with arrogance, a tendency to break rules, or other unlikable qualities, called a heel). In recent years, however, antiheroes have also become prominent in professional wrestling. There is also a less common role of a "tweener", who is neither fully face nor fully heel yet able to play either role effectively (case in point, Samoa Joe during his first run in TNA Wrestling from June 2005 to November 2006).
- At times, a character may "turn", altering their face/heel alignment. This may be an abrupt, surprising event, or it may slowly build over time. It is almost always accomplished with a markable change in behavior. Some turns become defining points in a career, as when Hulk Hogan turned heel after being a top face for over a decade. Others may have no noticeable effect on the character's status. If a character repeatedly switches between face and heel, this lessens the effect of such turns, and may result in apathy from the audience. Vince McMahon is a good example of having more heel and face turns than anyone in WWE history.
- As with personae in general, a character's face or heel alignment may change with time, or remain constant over its lifetime (the most famous example of the latter is Ricky Steamboat, a WWE Hall of Famer who remained a babyface throughout his entire career). Sometimes a character's heel turn will become so popular that eventually the audience response will alter the character's heel-face cycle to the point where the heel persona will, in practice, become a face persona, and what was previously the face persona, will turn into the heel persona, such as when Dwayne Johnson first began using "The Rock" persona as a heel character, as opposed to his original "Rocky Maivia" babyface persona. Another legendary example is Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was originally booked as a heel, with such mannerisms as drinking on the job, using profanity, breaking company property, and even breaking into people's private homes. However, much to WWF's surprise, the fans got such a charge out of Austin's antics that he effectively became one of the greatest antiheroes in the history of the business. He, along with the stable of D-Generation X, is generally credited with ushering in the Attitude Era of WWF programming.
- Story [ edit ] While real exhibition matches are now not uncommon, most matches tell a story analogous to an episode of a serial drama: The face will from time to time win (triumph) or from time to time lose (tragedy), and longer story arcs can result from a couple of matches. Since most promotions have a championship title, opposition for the championship is a frequent impetus for stories. Also, whatever from a character's own hair to his job with the advertising can be wagered in a match.
- Some matches are designed to further the story of only one participant. It could be intended to portray an unstoppable force, a lucky underdog, a sore loser, or any other characterization. Sometimes non-wrestling vignettes are shown to enhance a character's image without the need for matches.
- Other stories result from a natural rivalry. Outside of performance, these are referred to as feuds. A feud can exist between any number of participants and can last from a few days to decades. The feud between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat lasted from the late 1970s into the early 1990s and allegedly spanned over two thousand matches (although most of those matches were mere dark matches). The career-spanning history between characters Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka is another example of a long-running feud, as is the case of Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, one of the most lucrative feuds in the World Wrestling Federation during 1998 and 1999.
- In theory, the longer a feud is built up, the more audience interest (aka heat) lasts. The main event of a wrestling show is generally the most heated. Commonly, a heel will hold the upper hand over a face until a final showdown, heightening dramatic tension as the face's fans desire to see him win.
- Throughout the history of professional wrestling, many other elements of media have been utilized in professional wrestling storytelling: pre- and post-match interviews, "backstage" skits, positions of authority and worked behind-the-scenes feuds, division rankings (typically the #1-contendership spot), contracts, lotteries, news stories on websites, and in recent years social media.
- Also, anything that can be used as an element of drama can exist in professional wrestling stories: romantic relationships (including love triangles and marriage), racism, classism, nepotism, favoritism, corporate corruption, family bonds, personal histories, grudges, theft, cheating, assault, betrayal, bribery, seduction, stalking, confidence tricks, extortion, blackmail, substance abuse, self-doubt, self-sacrifice; even kidnapping, sexual fetishism, necrophilia, misogyny, rape and death have been portrayed in wrestling. Some promotions have included supernatural elements such as magic, curses, the undead and Satanic imagery (most notably the Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness, a stable that regularly performed evil rituals and human sacrifice in Satanic-like worship of a hidden power figure). Celebrities would also be involved in storylines.
- Commentators have become important in communicating the relevance of the characters' actions to the story at hand, filling in past details and pointing out subtle actions that may otherwise go unnoticed.
- Promos [ edit ] A main part of the story-telling part of wrestling is a promo, short for promotional interview. Promos are performed, or "cut", in wrestling jargon, for a variety of reasons, including to heighten interest in a wrestler, or to hype an upcoming match.
- Since the crowd is often too loud or the venue too large for promos to be heard naturally, wrestlers will use amplification when speaking in the ring. Unlike most Hollywood acting, large and highly visible handheld microphones are typically used and wrestlers often speak directly to the audience.
- Championships [ edit ] Professional wrestling mimics the structure of title match combat sports. Participants compete for a championship and must defend it after winning it. These titles are represented physically by a title belt that can be worn by the champion. In the case of team wrestling, there is a title belt for each member of the team.
- Almost all professional wrestling promotions have one major title, and some have more. Championships are designated by divisions of weight, height, gender, wrestling style and other qualifications.
- Typically, each promotion only recognizes the "legitimacy" of their own titles, although cross-promotion does happen. When one promotion absorbs or purchases another, the titles from the defunct promotion may continue to be defended in the new promotion or be decommissioned.
- Behind the scenes, the bookers in a company will place the title on the most accomplished performer, or those the bookers believe will generate fan interest in terms of event attendance and television viewership. Lower ranked titles may also be used on the performers who show potential, thus allowing them greater exposure to the audience. However other circumstances may also determine the use of a championship. A combination of a championship's lineage, the caliber of performers as champion, and the frequency and manner of title changes, dictates the audience's perception of the title's quality, significance and reputation.
- A wrestler's championship accomplishments can be central to their career, becoming a measure of their performance ability and drawing power. In general, a wrestler with multiple title reigns or an extended title reign is indicative of a wrestler's ability to maintain audience interest or a wrestler's ability to perform in the ring. As such, the most accomplished or decorated wrestlers tend to be revered as legends due to the amount of title reigns they hold. American wrestler Ric Flair has had multiple world heavyweight championship reigns spanning over three decades. Japanese wrestler ltimo Drag"n once held and defended a record 10 titles simultaneously.
- Non-standard matches [ edit ] Often a match will take place under additional rules, usually serving as a special attraction or a climactic point in a feud or storyline. Sometimes this will be the culmination of an entire feud, ending it for the immediate future (known as a blowoff match).
- Perhaps the most well-known non-standard match is the cage match, in which the ring is surrounded by a fence or similar metal structure, with the express intention of preventing escape or outside interference'--and with the added bonus of the cage being a potentially brutal weapon or platform for launching attacks. The WWE has another provision where a standard cage match can end with one wrestler or wrestling team escaping the cage through the door or over the top.
- Another example is the WWE's Royal Rumble match, which involves thirty participants in a random and unknown order. The Rumble match is itself a spectacle in that it is a once-yearly event with multiple participants, including individuals who might not interact otherwise. It also serves as a catalyst for the company's ongoing feuds, as well as a springboard for new storylines.
- Ring entrance [ edit ] Triple H performing his ring entrance pose, mounting the second rope and displaying his physique under strobe lights
- While the wrestling matches themselves are the primary focus of professional wrestling, a key dramatic element of the business can be entrances of the wrestlers to the arena and ring. It is typical for a wrestler to get their biggest crowd reaction (or "pop") for their ring entrance, rather than for anything they do in the wrestling match itself, especially if former main event stars are returning to a promotion after a long absence.
- All notable wrestlers now enter the ring accompanied by music, and regularly add other elements to their entrance. The music played during the ring entrance will usually mirror the wrestler's personality. Many wrestlers, particularly in America, have music and lyrics specially written for their ring entrance. While invented long before, the practice of including music with the entrance gained rapid popularity during the 1980s, largely as a result of the huge success of Hulk Hogan and the WWF, and their Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. When a match is won, the victor's theme music is usually also played in celebration.
- Because wrestling is predetermined, a wrestler's entrance music will play as they enter the arena, even if they are, in kayfabe, not supposed to be there. For example, in 2012 through 2014, The Shield was a trio of wrestlers who were (in kayfabe) not at the time under contract with WWE (hence their gimmick of entering the ring through the crowd), but they still had entrance music which was played whenever they entered the arena, despite the fact that they were kayfabe invaders.
- With the introduction of the Titantron entrance screen in 1997, WWF/WWE wrestlers also had entrance videos made that would play along with their entrance music.
- Other dramatic elements of a ring entrance can include:
- PyrotechnicsAdditional visual graphics or staging props to complement the entrance video/routine or further emphasize the character. For instance, Kane's entrance graphics employ heavy use of fire-themed visuals, The Undertaker's entrance features dark lighting, fire, fog and dry ice, and lightning-themed effects, John Morrison's entrance would feature use of multicolored psychedelic style patterns, The Miz has in the past incorporated inflatable lettering spelling out the word "AWESOME" into his entrance, and Montel Vontavious Porter frequently used an inflatable entrance tunnel during his WWE tenure. Goldust has been known to use on-screen visual effects in his entrance to simulate the presentation of a feature film (i.e. widescreen, production company credits), as to emphasize his Hollywood-themed film aficionado character. Brodus Clay entered with disco ball lighting effects to emphasize his "Funkasaurus" character.A distinct sound or opening note in the music (used to elicit a Pavlovian response from the crowd). For example, the glass shattering in Steve Austin's entrance theme, The Undertaker's signature bell toll, and the sound of bells and a cow's moo in JBL's theme.Darkening of the arena, often accompanied by mood lighting or strobe lighting, such as in The Undertaker's, Triple H's, or Sting's entrances. Certain colors of lighting have been associated with specific wrestlers; for instance, blue lighting for The Undertaker and Alexa Bliss, green lighting for Triple H, D-Generation X, and Shane McMahon, red and orange lighting for Kane, multicolored lighting for John Morrison, gold lighting for Goldust, pink lighting for Val Venis and Trish Stratus, and so forth.Costumes that evoke "otherworldly" or "fictional" themes. With examples such as Big Van Vader's bio-mechanical themed headdress which spewed steam, Pyro's fire shooting outfit, Shockmaster's bejeweled space helmet, and Ricky Steamboat's dragon costume, to name a few.Entering in a manner in keeping with their character traits, such as a fast, highly energetic entrance, or a slow, stoic entrance. For example, The Ultimate Warrior would run at high speed down the entrance ramp and into the ring while Randy Orton would slowly and darkly walk to the ring. The Undertaker has adopted one of the most notable entrances, taking around 4 to 5 minutes, darkening the whole arena, and performing a slow, intimidating walk. Goldberg walked slowly to the ring while being escorted by security guards from the locker room. Like sound effects, some entrance mannerisms often become signature to individual wrestlers. For example, Steve Austin's entrance often involves him standing on the second turnbuckle, raising his hands in the air for few seconds, and then doing the same thing for the other three turnbuckles, a mannerism which has become just as much a signature part of Austin's entrance as the glass-shattering sound effect.Driving a vehicle into the arena. For example, Eddie Guerrero would arrive into the arena in a lowrider, The Undertaker (in his "American Bad Ass" biker gimmick), Chuck Palumbo, Tara, and the Disciples of Apocalypse on motorcycles, The Mexicools on riding lawn mowers, JBL in his limousine, Alberto Del Rio arriving into the arena in various luxury cars, Steve Austin driving an all-terrain vehicle, and Camacho and Hunico entering on a lowrider bicycle.Acting out a trademark behavior, such as posing to display their muscularity, mounting the ring ropes, or sitting in the corner.Talking to the crowd using a distinctive patter. For instance, chanting or rapping along with the music (i.e. Road Dogg, R-Truth). Another example is Vickie Guerrero entering to no music, but announcing her arrival with the words "Excuse me!"Many heels with narcissistic gimmicks (Lex Luger, Shawn Michaels, Cody Rhodes, Paul Orndorff, etc.) would admire themselves with a mirror on their way to the ring.Coming through the audience, such as The Sandman's beer drinking and can smashing entrance, or Diamond Dallas Page's exit through the crowd, or most recently, The Shield walking through the arena.Accompaniment by a ringside crew or personal security, an example of which would be GoldbergEntering the arena by a lift in the stage, such as Kurt Angle, Gangrel and Rey MysterioIf a wrestler is a current champion, he will attempt to visually draw attention to his championship belt by either holding it high over his head or (if the belt is worn around the waist) moving his hands across it or pointing to it.Another method of entry involves descending from the ceiling with a Zip-line or rappel line and stunt harness. This has been done by Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, by Sting many times in WCW and TNA, gained major controversy over its role in the death of wrestler Owen Hart at Over the Edge.
- Special ring entrances are also developed for big occasions, most notably the WrestleMania event. For example, WrestleMania III and VI both saw all wrestlers enter the arena on motorized miniature wrestling rings. Live bands are sometimes hired to perform live entrance music at special events. John Cena and Triple H are particularly notable in recent years for their highly theatrical entrances at WrestleMania.
- Wrestlers [ edit ] Women's wrestling [ edit ] The women's division of professional wrestling has maintained a recognized world champion since 1937, when Mildred Burke won the original World Women's title. She then formed the World Women's Wrestling Association in the early 1950s and recognized herself as the first champion, although the championship would be vacated upon her retirement in 1956. The NWA however, ceased to acknowledge Burke as their Women's World champion in 1954, and instead acknowledged June Byers as champion after a controversial finish to a high-profile match between Burke and Byers that year. Upon Byers' retirement in 1964, The Fabulous Moolah, who won a junior heavyweight version of the NWA World Women's Championship (the predecessor to the WWE Women's Championship) in a tournament back in 1958, was recognized by most NWA promoters as champion by default.
- Intergender wrestling [ edit ] For most of its history, men and women would rarely compete against each other in professional wrestling, as it was deemed to be unfair and unchivalrous. Andy Kaufman used this to gain notoriety when he created an Intergender Championship and declared it open to any female challenger. This led to a long (worked) feud with Jerry Lawler.
- In the 1980s, mixed tag team matches began to take place, with a male and female on each team and a rule stating that each wrestler could only attack the opponent of the same gender. If a tag was made, the other team had to automatically switch their legal wrestler as well. Despite these restrictions, many mixed tag matches do feature some physical interaction between participants of different genders. For example, a heel may take a cheap shot at the female wrestler of the opposing team to draw a negative crowd reaction. In lucha libre, cheap-shots and male-female attacks are not uncommon.[18]
- Intergender singles bouts were first fought on a national level in the 1990s. This began with Luna Vachon, who faced men in ECW and WWF. Later, Chyna became the first female to hold a belt that was not exclusive to women when she won the WWF Intercontinental Championship. While it is a rare feat in WWE, in TNA, ODB participates in singles intergender matches. Also, ODB's kayfabe husband and tag team partner Eric Young held the Knockouts tag team titles for a record 478 days before it was stripped by Brooke Hogan because Young was a male.
- Midget wrestling [ edit ] Midget wrestling can be traced to professional wrestling's carnival and vaudeville origins. In recent years, the popularity and prevalence of midgets in wrestling has greatly decreased due to wrestling companies depriving midget divisions of storyline or feud. However, WWE has made a few attempts to enter this market with their "minis" in the 1990s and the "junior's league" as recent as 2006. It is still a popular form of entertainment in Mexican wrestling, mostly as a "sideshow".
- Some wrestlers may have their own specific "mini me", like Mascarita Sagrada, Alebrije has Quije, etc. There are also cases in which midgets can become valets for a wrestler, and even get physically involved in matches, like Alushe, who often accompanies Tinieblas, or KeMonito, who is portrayed as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre's mascot and is also a valet for Mistico. Dave Finlay was often aided in his matches by a midget known mainly as Hornswoggle while in WWE, who hid under the ring and gave a shillelagh to Finlay to use on his opponent. Finlay also occasionally threw him at his opponent(s). Hornswoggle has also been given a run with the WWE Cruiserweight Championship and feuded with D-X in 2009.
- Styles and characteristics in different countries [ edit ] A match of All Japan Pro Wrestling in Taiwan, 2009
- The U.S., Japan and Mexico are three countries where there is a huge market and high popularity for professional wrestling. But the styles of professional wrestling are different, given their independent development for a long period.
- Professional wrestling in the U.S. tends to have a heavy focus on story building and the establishment of characters (and their personalities). There is a story for each match, and even a longer story for successive matches. The stories usually contain characters like faces and heels, and less often antiheroes and tweeners. It is a "triumph" if the face wins, while it is a "tragedy" if the heel wins. The characters usually have strong and sharp personalities. The opposition between faces and heels is very intense in the story, and the heels may even attack the faces during TV interviews. The relationship between different characters can also be very complex.
- La Sombra taking down opponent with a wrestling move
- Although professional wrestling in Mexico (Lucha libre) also has stories and characters, they are less emphasized. Wrestlers in Mexico are traditionally more agile and perform more aerial maneuvers than professional wrestlers in the U.S. who, more often, rely on power moves and strikes to subdue their opponents.[18] The difference in styles is due to the independent evolution of the sport in Mexico beginning in the 1930s and the fact that wrestlers in the cruiserweight division (Spanish: peso semicompleto) are often the most popular wrestlers in Mexican lucha libre. Wrestlers often execute high flying moves characteristic of lucha libre by utilizing the wrestling ring's ropes to catapult themselves towards their opponents, using intricate combinations in rapid-fire succession, and applying complex submission holds.[20] Lucha libre is also known for its tag team wrestling matches, in which the teams are often made up of three members, instead of two as is common in the U.S.[21]
- The style of Japanese professional wrestling (puroresu) is again different. With its origins in traditional American style of wrestling and still being under the same genre, it has become an entity in itself.[22] Despite the similarity to its American counterpart in that the outcome of the matches remains predetermined, the phenomena are different in the form of the psychology and presentation of the sport. In most of the largest promotions, such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah, it is treated as a full contact combat sport as it mixes hard hitting martial arts strikes with shoot style submission holds,[23] while in the U.S. it is rather more regarded as an entertainment show. Wrestlers incorporate kicks and strikes from martial arts disciplines, and a strong emphasis is placed on submission wrestling, and unlike the use of involved storylines in the U.S., they are not as intricate in Japan, more emphasis is placed on the concept of "fighting spirit", meaning the wrestlers display of physical and mental stamina are valued a lot more than theatrics. Many of Japan's wrestlers including top stars such as Shinya Hashimoto, Riki ChÅshÅ and Keiji Mutoh came from a legitimate martial arts background and many Japanese wrestlers in the 1990s began to pursue careers in mixed martial arts organizations such as Pancrase and Shooto which at the time retained the original look of puroresu but were actual competitions. Other companies, such as Michinoku Pro Wrestling and Dragon Gate, wrestle in a style similar to Mexican companies like AAA and CMLL. This is known as "Lucharesu".
- Culture [ edit ] Professional wrestling has developed its own cultures, both internal and external.[citation needed ]
- Those involved in producing professional wrestling have developed a kind of global fraternity, with familial bonds, shared language and passed-down traditions. New performers are expected to "pay their dues" for a few years by working in lower-profile promotions and working as ring crew before working their way upward.[24][25] The permanent rosters of most promotions develop a backstage pecking order, with veterans mediating conflicts and mentoring younger wrestlers.[26] For many decades (and still to a lesser extent today) performers were expected to keep the illusions of wrestling's legitimacy alive even while not performing, essentially acting in character any time they were in public.[27] Some veterans speak of a "sickness" among wrestling performers, an inexplicable pull to remain active in the wrestling world despite the devastating effects the job can have on one's life and health.[28]
- Fans of professional wrestling have their own subculture, comparable to those of science fiction, video games, or comic books. Those who are interested in the backstage occurrences, future storylines and reasonings behind company decisions read newsletters written by journalists with inside ties to the wrestling industry.[27][29] These "rags" or "dirt sheets" have expanded into the Internet, where their information can be dispensed on an up-to-the-minute basis. Some have expanded into radio shows.[30]
- Some fans enjoy a pastime of collecting tapes of wrestling shows from specific companies, of certain wrestlers, or of specific genres. The internet has given fans exposure to worldwide variations of wrestling they would be unable to see otherwise.[31] Since the 1990s, many companies have been founded which deal primarily in wrestling footage. When the WWE purchased both WCW and ECW in 2001, they also obtained the entire past video libraries of both productions and have released many past matches online and on home video.[citation needed ]
- Like some other sports, fantasy leagues have developed around professional wrestling. Some take this concept further by creating E-feds (electronic federations), where a user can create their own fictional wrestling character, and role-playing storylines with other users, leading to scheduled "shows" where match results are determined by the organizers, usually based on a combination of the characters' statistics and the players' roleplaying aptitude, sometimes with audience voting.[citation needed ]
- Professional wrestling in mainstream culture [ edit ] From the first established world championship, the top professional wrestlers have garnered fame within mainstream society. Each successive generation has produced a number of wrestlers who extend their careers into the realms of music, acting, writing, business, politics or public speaking, and are known to those who are unfamiliar with wrestling in general. Conversely, celebrities from other sports or general pop culture also become involved with wrestling for brief periods of time. A prime example of this is The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection of the 1980s, which combined wrestling with MTV.
- Professional wrestling is often portrayed within other works using parody, and its general elements have become familiar tropes and memes in American culture.
- Some terminology originating in professional wrestling has found its way into the common vernacular. Phrases such as "body slam", "sleeper hold" and "tag team" are used by those who do not follow professional wrestling. The term "smackdown", popularized by The Rock and SmackDown! in the 1990s, has been included in Merriam-Webster dictionaries since 2007.
- Many television shows and films have been produced which portray in-character professional wrestlers as protagonists, such as Ready to Rumble, Mucha Lucha!, Nacho Libre, and the Santo film series. At least two stage plays set in the world of pro wrestling have been produced: The Baron is a comedy that retells the life of an actual performer known as Baron von Raschke. From Parts Unknown... is an award-nominated Canadian drama about the rise and fall of a fictional wrestler. The 2009 South Park episode "W.T.F." played on the soap operatic elements of professional wrestling. One of the lead characters on the Disney Channel series Kim Possible was a huge fan of pro wrestling and actually featured it on an episode (with two former WWE wrestlers voicing the two fictitious wrestlers featured in the episode). The 2008 film The Wrestler, about a washed-up professional wrestler, garnered several Oscar nominations.
- The 1950 film noir Night and the City, directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney, told the story of a promoter in London trying to make it big, and featured a match involving real professional wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko.
- Wrestling has also gained a major following on YouTube with WWE being the being the most subscribed to Wrestling channel and sixth most subscribed to channel in the world. AEW also hosts it's AEW Dark show on YouTube.
- Study and analysis of professional wrestling [ edit ] With its growing popularity, professional wrestling has attracted attention as a subject of serious academic study and journalistic criticism. Many courses, theses, essays and dissertations have analyzed wrestling's conventions, content, and its role in modern society. It is often included as part of studies on theatre, sociology, performance, and media.[32][33] The Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a course of study on the cultural significance of professional wrestling,[34] and anthropologist Heather Levi has written an ethnography about the culture of lucha libre in Mexico[35]
- This was not always the case. In the early 20th century, once it became apparent that the "sport" was worked, pro wrestling was looked down on as a cheap entertainment for the uneducated working class,[27] an attitude that still exists to varying degrees today.[29] The French theorist Roland Barthes was among the first to propose that wrestling was worthy of deeper analysis, in his essay "The World of Wrestling" from his book Mythologies, first published in 1957.[4][27] Barthes argued that it should be looked at not as a scamming of the ignorant, but as spectacle; a mode of theatric performance for a willing, if bloodthirsty, audience. Wrestling is described as performed art which demands an immediate reading of the juxtaposed meanings. The logical conclusion is given least importance over the theatrical performers of the wrestlers and the referee. According to Barthes, the function of a wrestler is not to win: it is to go exactly through the motions which are expected of him and to give the audience a theatrical spectacle. This work is considered a foundation of all later study.[36]
- While pro wrestling is often described simplistically as a "soap opera for males", it has also been cited as filling the role of past forms of literature and theatre; a synthesis of classical heroics,[37] commedia dell'arte,[38] revenge tragedies,[39] morality plays,[39] and burlesque.[40] The characters and storylines portrayed by a successful promotion are seen to reflect the current mood, attitudes, and concerns of that promotion's society[29][31] and can in turn influence those same things.[41] Wrestling's high levels of violence and masculinity make it a vicarious outlet for aggression during peacetime.[42]
- Documentary filmmakers have studied the lives of wrestlers and the effects the profession has on them and their families. The 1999 theatrical documentary Beyond the Mat focused on Terry Funk, a wrestler nearing retirement; Mick Foley, a wrestler within his prime; Jake Roberts, a former star fallen from grace; and a school of wrestling student trying to break into the business. The 2005 release Lipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling chronicled the development of women's wrestling throughout the 20th century. Pro wrestling has been featured several times on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. MTV's documentary series True Life featured two episodes titled "I'm a Professional Wrestler" and "I Want to Be a Professional Wrestler." Other documentaries have been produced by The Learning Channel (The Secret World of Professional Wrestling) and A&E (Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows). Bloodstained Memoirs explored the careers of several pro wrestlers, including Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and Roddy Piper.[citation needed ]
- Injury and fatality [ edit ] Although professional wrestling is choreographed, there is a high chance of injury, and even death.[43] Strikes are often stiff, especially in Japan and in independent wrestling promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling and Ring of Honor. The ring is often made out of 2-by-8-inch (5 by 20 cm) timber planks. There have been many brutal accidents, hits and injuries.[44] Many of the injuries that occur in pro wrestling are shoulders, knee, back, neck, and rib injuries. Professional wrestler Davey Richards said in 2015, "We train to take damage, we know we are going to take damage and we accept that."[45]
- In April 2014, less than 25 years after the 1990 WrestleMania VI, one-third of its 36 competitors had died, including Andr(C) the Giant and main event winner The Ultimate Warrior, with none of the deceased having reached the age of 64.[46]
- See also [ edit ] History of professional wrestlingIndependent circuitProfessional wrestling moves (disambiguation)Terminology [ edit ] Foreign objects (e.g. folding chair)Glossary of professional wrestling termsProfessional wrestling match typesProfessional wrestling tag team match typesProfessional wrestling tournamentLists of wrestlers [ edit ] List of family relations in professional wrestlingList of professional wrestling rostersTypes of professional wrestling [ edit ] All-in professional wrestlingFantasy wrestlingHardcore wrestlingLucha librePuroresuSports entertainmentRadio programs [ edit ] Live Audio WrestlingTalksportWrestling Observer LiveIn fiction [ edit ] List of wrestling-based comic booksThe WrestlerReferences [ edit ] Citations [ edit ] ^ Chow et al. (2017). Performance and Professional Wrestling, p. 4: "Professional wrestling then sits simultaneously as performance and as theatre. The performers are actually doing the things we see them do, but their motivations for doing them are highly theatrical." ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". Entertainment.howstuffworks.com . Retrieved September 9, 2018 . The skills of the wrestlers do not determine the outcome of the match. Instead, writers (traditionally called "bookers") work on plots and storylines well in advance, and every match is another chapter in that particular character's or characters' story. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". Entertainment.howstuffworks.com . Retrieved June 10, 2012 . ^ a b c Barthes, Roland (1957). "The World Of Wrestling". Mythologies . Retrieved 2008-03-21 . ^ Weller, Chris (September 13, 2015). "Everything you think you know about professional wrestling is wrong". Business Insider. ^ Anon. "Roots and history of Olympic wrestling". International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles. FILA. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011 . Retrieved 2 August 2013 . Professional Wrestling [...] Professional wrestling began in France around 1830. Wrestlers who had no access to the wrestling elite, formed troupes that travelled around France showing their talent. Wrestlers thus frequented wild animals' exhibitors, tightrope walkers and bearded women. ^ Yoav (October 22, 2007). "Encuesta De Mitofsky Revela Que La Lucha No Es El Segundo Deporte Mas Popular En Mexico". Sºper Luchas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on January 11, 2020 . Retrieved September 5, 2009 . ^ Nicholas Sammond, ed., Steel Chair to the Head: The Pleasure and Pain of Professional Wrestling (Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2005). ISBN 9780822334385 ^ Billboard Recreational Sports Weekly Top 10 '' Billboard Sports Weekly DVD Sales Archived 2015-11-07 at the Wayback Machine ^ Hart, Bret (2007). Hitman: My Real Life In The Cartoon World of Wrestling. Ebury Press. p. 109. ISBN 9780091932862. ^ a b "States Grapple with [LM1] Professional Wrestling Regulations". knowledgecenter.csg.org . Retrieved 2019-05-07 . ^ [1] The New York State Athletic Commission (SAC), March 3, 2013 ^ Olderman, Murray (September 27, 1975). "Southpaws Shake Bias". Anchorage Daily Times. p. 15. ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 2013-11-08 . Retrieved 2014-01-05 . ^ "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. 2006-01-13 . Retrieved 2017-06-27 . ^ Grabianowski, Ed (2006-01-13). "Rules of professional wrestling". Entertainment.howstuffworks.com . Retrieved 2012-06-10 . ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wgcsIi1RBI World Champion Bully Ray vs. Samoa Joe '' Oct 3, 2013. ^ a b c Lundin, Leigh (2013-04-14). "Lords of the Ring". Orlando: SleuthSayers. ^ Storm, Lance (August 9, 2010). "Q&A Commentary". Storm Wrestling. ^ "CANOE '' SLAM! Sports '' Wrestling '' Lucha Libre 101". Slam.canoe.ca . Retrieved 2012-06-10 . ^ Bekman, Stas. "8.6. Lucha Libre confuses me, what are the rules?". Stason.org . Retrieved 2012-06-10 . ^ "Open Directory category description". Open Directory. 1995 . Retrieved 2009-07-15 . ^ "Puroresu Dojo Introduction". Puroresu.com. 1995 . Retrieved 2009-07-08 . ^ Grabianowski, Ed. "Wrestling School". How Professional Wrestling Works. HowStuffWorks.com . Retrieved 2008-03-21 . ^ Ryan, Derek (2007-08-11). "Discovery: Accidental Perfection". The Wrestling Oratory. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Dragon Gate is a unique promotion as they still follow many of wrestling's biggest traditions, one being that veterans get theirs first because rookies need to "pay their dues" like they did. ^ Gadd, Mitchell (2006-07-13). "Unions". Reading Between the Ropes. WrestleZone.com. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12 . Retrieved 2008-03-21 . ^ a b c d Kreit, Alex (1998). "Professional Wrestling and Its Fans: A Sociological Study of the Sport of Pro-Wrestling". Solie's Vintage Wrestling. Jump City Productions . Retrieved 2008-03-19 . ^ Kamchen, Richard (2008-02-05). "Retro review: Piper's tale scrappy as he is". SLAM! Wrestling. SLAM! Sports . Retrieved 2008-03-21 . ^ a b c Lipscomb, William (May 2005). "The Operational Aesthetic in the Performance of Professional Wrestling" (PDF) . Department of Communications Studies, Louisiana State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-24. ^ One large list of such shows, analog and online, exists at https://tunein.com/radio/Wrestling-c100002783/ ^ a b Bollom, Brandon W. (2004-05-07). "Professional Wrestling Migration: Puroresu in America" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-09 . Retrieved 2008-03-20 . ^ Ernesto Cruz, Caceres (2005). Monday Night Identity Wars: The Evolution of Performance Conventions in Professional Wrestling. 2005 Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference Program. Archived from the original on 2005-06-13 . Retrieved 2008-03-19 . CS1 maint: location (link) ^ Ledford, Brian. Grappling with Masculinity: Representation and Reception of Televised Professional Wrestling Imagery (PDF) . 2005 Spring Colloquium: Thinking About Masculinity: SIUE College of Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-09. CS1 maint: location (link) ^ Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Comparative Media Studies course on Professional Wrestling '' Official Course weblog ^ The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Identity '' The World of Lucha Libre ^ Lagorio, Christine (2005-01-04). "Wrestling With The Margins". Education Supplement 2005. The Village Voice . Retrieved 2008-03-21 . ^ Plank, Dr. William. "The Athlete as Buffoon: Cultural and Philosophical Considerations on Professional Wrestling". Montana State University-Billings. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. ^ Adams, Jonathan (2006-11-09). "Foreign Objects Included". The Scope magazine . Retrieved 2008-03-19 . There is a sense in which wrestling resembles nothing if not a kind of postmodern commedia dell'arte ^ a b Mazer, Sharon (1998). Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ^ Garvin, Diana (2005). "Et tu, Steve Austin?". The Harvard Crimson. Harvard University . Retrieved 2008-03-19 . ^ "Merchants of Cool". Frontline. Season 2001. 2001-02-27. ^ Farley, Frank. "CZW: Blood, Philadelphia and Fun". Rat Blood Soup magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-12-08 . Retrieved 2008-03-22 . ^ "Under the Edge 1999 results". Hoffco . Retrieved 2008-01-05 . ^ David, Shoemaker (2013-10-31). The squared circle : life, death, and professional wrestling. New York, New York. ISBN 9781101609743. OCLC 861696350. ^ Griffiths, Andrew (2015-02-12). "What it takes to become a pro wrestler". The Daily Telegraph. London: TMG. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006 . Retrieved 13 February 2015 . We train to take damage, we know we are going to take damage and we accept that," he says, adopting the air of a very muscular guru. "We know we are going to be slammed and we're going to be hit and we're going to be fallen on. We know we're going to dive onto concrete floors. We are tempting fate every time and it is a very tough sport. It is only for tough people who are brave enough and who can accept that pain. ^ The PostGameStaff (April 9, 2014). "Ultimate Warrior: One-Third Of WrestleMania VI Competitors Now Dead". ThePostGame . Retrieved October 20, 2014 . Sources [ edit ] Broderick Chow; Eero Laine; Claire Warden, eds. (2017). Performance and Professional Wrestling. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-93723-9. External links [ edit ] OnlineWorldofWrestling.com '' The Online World of WrestlingPro-Wrestling Title HistoriesProWrestlingHistory.com
- Narcissistic personality disorder - Wikipedia
- This article is about the psychiatric condition. For information about the trait, see
- Personality disorder that involves an excessive preoccupation with personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity
- Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy toward other people.[2][3] People with NPD often spend much time thinking about achieving power and success, or on their appearance.[3] Typically, they also take advantage of the people around them.[3] Such narcissistic behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a broad range of situations.[3]
- The causes of narcissistic personality disorder are unknown.[4] The condition of NPD is included in the cluster B personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).[3] A diagnosis of NPD is made by a healthcare professional interviewing the person in question.[2] The condition of NPD should be differentiated from mania and substance use disorder.[3]
- Treatments for narcissistic personality disorder have not been well studied.[2] Therapy is difficult, because people with narcissistic personality disorder usually do not consider themselves to have a mental health problem.[2] About one percent of people are believed to be affected with NPD at some point in their lives.[4] It occurs more often in men than women, and typically affects younger as opposed to older people.[2][3] The narcissistic personality was first described by the psychoanalyst Robert Waelder, in 1925; furthermore, the term narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) was coined by Heinz Kohut in 1968.[5][6]
- Signs and symptoms [ edit ] People with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are characterized by the personality traits of persistent grandiosity, an excessive need for admiration, and a personal disdain and lack of empathy for other people.[7][8] As such, the person with NPD usually displays arrogance and a distorted sense of personal superiority, and seeks to establish abusive power and control over others.[9] Self-confidence (a strong sense of self) is a personality trait different from the traits of narcissistic personality disorder; thus, people with NPD typically value themselves over others, to the extent of openly disregarding the wishes and feelings of anyone else, and expect to be treated as superior, regardless of their actual status or achievements.[7][10] Socially, the person with narcissistic personality disorder usually exhibits a fragile ego (self-concept), intolerance of criticism, and a tendency to belittle other people, in order to validate their own superiority.[10]
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5, 2013) indicates that a person with NPD possesses at least five of the following nine criteria, typically without possessing the commensurate personal qualities or accomplishments for which they demand respect and status:
- Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g. exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).Requires excessive admiration.Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.[7][10]Narcissistic personality disorder usually develops either in adolescence or in early adulthood,[7] and it is common for children and adolescents to display personality traits that resemble NPD, but such occurrences are usually transient, and register below the clinical criteria for a formal diagnosis of NPD.[10] True symptoms of NPD are pervasive, apparent in varied social situations, and are rigidly consistent over time. Severe symptoms of NPD can significantly impair the person's mental capabilities to develop meaningful human relationships, such as friendship, kinship, and marriage. Generally, the symptoms of NPD also impair the person's psychological abilities to function socially, either at work, or at school, or within important societal settings. The DSM-5 indicates that, in order to qualify as symptomatic of NPD, the person's manifested personality traits must substantially differ from the cultural norms of society.[7]
- Associated features [ edit ] People with NPD exaggerate their skills, accomplishments, and their degree of intimacy with people they consider high-status. Such a sense of personal superiority may cause them to monopolize conversations,[10] or to become impatient and disdainful when other persons talk about themselves.[7] When wounded in the ego, either by a real or a perceived criticism, the narcissist's displays of anger can be disproportionate to the nature of the criticism suffered;[10] but typically, the actions and responses of the NPD person are deliberate and calculated.[7] Despite occasional flare-ups of personal insecurity, the inflated self-concept of the NPD person is primarily stable.[7]
- To the extent that people are pathologically narcissistic, the person with NPD can be a self-absorbed control freak who passes blame and is intolerant of contradictory views and opinions; is apathetic towards the emotional, mental, and psychological needs of other people; and is indifferent to the negative effects of his or her behaviors, whilst insisting that people should see him or her as an ideal person.[7] To protect their fragile self-concept, narcissists use psycho-social strategies, such as the tendency to devalue and derogate and to insult and blame other people, usually with anger and hostility towards people's responses to the narcissist's anti-social conduct.[11] Because their fragile egos are hypersensitive to perceived criticism or defeat, people with NPD are prone to feelings of shame, humiliation, and worthlessness over minor incidents of daily life and imagined, personal slights,[10] and usually mask such feelings from people, either by way of feigned humility, or by responding with outbursts of rage and defiance, or by seeking revenge.[7][8] The merging of the inflated self-concept and the actual self is evident in the grandiosity component of narcissistic personality disorder; also inherent to that psychological process are the defense mechanisms of idealization and devaluation and of denial.[12]
- The DSM-5 indicates that: "Many highly successful individuals display personality traits that might be considered narcissistic. Only when these traits are inflexible, maladaptive, and persisting, and cause significant functional impairment or subjective distress, do they constitute narcissistic personality disorder."[7] Given the high-function sociability associated with narcissism, some people with NPD might not view such a diagnosis as a functional impairment to their lives.[13] Although overconfidence tends to make people with NPD very ambitious, such a mindset does not necessarily lead to professional high achievement and success, because they refuse to take risks, in order to avoid failure or the appearance of failure.[7][8] Moreover, the psychological inability to tolerate disagreement, contradiction, and criticism, make it difficult for persons with NPD to work cooperatively or to maintain long-term, professional relationships with superiors and colleagues.[14]
- Comorbidity [ edit ] The occurrence of narcissistic personality disorder presents a high rate of comorbidity with other mental disorders.[15] People with NPD are prone to bouts of psychological depression, often to the degree that meets the clinical criteria for a co-occurring depressive disorder.[16] Moreover, the occurrence of NPD is further associated with the occurrence of bipolar disorder, of anorexia, and of substance use disorders,[8] especially cocaine use disorder.[7] In that vein, NPD also might be comorbid with the occurrence of other mental disorders, such as histrionic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, or paranoid personality disorder.[7]
- Causes [ edit ] The causes of narcissistic personality disorder are unknown.[10][16] Researchers apply a biopsychosocial model of causation,[15] whereby the occurrence and the expression of NPD '' a pathological amplification of the traits of the narcissistic personality '' are consequent to a combination of nature and nurture, of environmental and social, genetic and neurobiological factors.[16][15]
- Genetic [ edit ] Narcissistic personality disorder is an inheritable psychological condition; research evidence indicates that a person is more likely to develop NPD if said personality disorder occurs in the medical history of his or her family.[15][17] The results reported in A Twin Study of Personality Disorders (2000) indicate that the rate of occurrence of personality disorders in twins determined that there is a moderate-to-high likelihood of the heritability of NPD;[17] and the research of The Genetic Epidemiology of Personality Disorders (2010) indicates that specific genes and genetic interactions (epistasis) contribute to the formation of NPD, and to the development of a narcissistic personality, yet how genetics influence the developmental and the physiologic processes underlying NPD remains undetermined.[18]
- Environment [ edit ] Environmental and social factors also exert significant influence upon the onset of NPD in a person.[15] In some people, pathological narcissism may develop from an impaired emotional attachment to the primary caregivers, usually the parents.[19] That lack of psychological and emotional attachment to a parental figure can result in the child's perception of himself or herself as unimportant and unconnected to other people, usually family, community, and society. Typically, the child comes to believe that they have a personality defect that makes him or her an unvalued and unwanted person;[20] in that vein, either overindulgent and permissive parenting or insensitive and over-controlling parenting are contributing factors towards the development of NPD in a child.[10][16]
- In Gabbard's Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders (2014), the following factors are identified as promoting the development of narcissistic personality disorder:[21]
- An oversensitive temperament (individual differences of behavior) at birth.Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic criticism of the child.Excessive praise for good behaviors, or excessive criticism for bad behaviors in childhood.Overindulgence and overvaluation by parents, family, and peers.Being praised by adults for perceived exceptional physical appearance or abilities.Severe emotional abuse in childhood.Unpredictable or unreliable care-giving by the parents.Learning the behaviors of psychological manipulation from parents or peers.[22]Moreover, the research reported in "Modernity and Narcissistic Personality Disorders" (2014) indicates that cultural elements also influence the prevalence of NPD, because narcissistic personality traits more commonly occur in modern societies than in traditional societies.[15]
- Pathophysiology [ edit ] Studies of the occurrence of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), such as Gray Matter Abnormalities in Patients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (2013) and Narcissists' Lack of Empathy Tied to Less Gray Matter (2016) identified structural abnormalities in the brains of people afflicted with NPD, specifically, a lesser volume of gray matter in the left, anterior insular cortex.[23][24] The results of the study Brain Structure in Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A VBM and DTI Pilot Study (2015) associated the condition of NPD with a reduced volume of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex.[25] The regions of the brain identified and studied '' the insular cortex and the prefrontal cortex '' are associated with the human emotions of empathy and compassion, and with the mental functions of cognition and emotional regulation. The neurologic findings of the studies suggest that narcissistic personality disorder may be related to a compromised (damaged) capacity for emotional empathy and emotional regulation.[26]
- Diagnosis [ edit ] DSM-5 [ edit ] The American Psychiatric Association's (APA) formulation, description, and definition of narcissistic personality disorder, as published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Ed., Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR, 2000), was criticised by clinicians as inadequately describing the range and complexity of the personality disorder that is NPD. That the APA's formulation, description, and definition is excessively focused upon "the narcissistic individual's external, symptomatic, or social interpersonal patterns '' at the expense of . . . internal complexity and individual suffering", which reduced the clinical utility of the NPD definition in the DSM-IV-TR.[13]
- In revising the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders, the work group for the list of "Personality and Personality Disorders" proposed the elimination of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) as a distinct entry in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Ed. (DSM-5, 2013), and thus replaced a categorical approach to NPD with a dimensional approach, which is based upon the severity of the dysfunctional-personality-trait domains.[27][28] Clinicians critical of the DSM-5 revision characterized the new diagnostic system as an "unwieldy conglomeration of disparate models that cannot happily coexist", which is of limited usefulness in clinical practice.[29] Despite the reintroduction of the NPD entry, the APA's re-formulation, re-description, and re-definition of NPD, towards a dimensional view based upon personality traits, remains in the list of personality disorders of the DSM-5.
- ICD-10 [ edit ] The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Edition (ICD-10), of the World Health Organization (WHO), lists narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) under the category of "Other specific personality disorders". The ICD-10 requires that any personality-disorder diagnosis also meet and satisfy the General diagnostic criteria 2 used for determining that a person has a diagnosable personality disorder.[30]
- Subtypes of NPD [ edit ] Although the DSM-5 indicates narcissistic personality disorder as a homogeneous syndrome, there is evidence of overt and covert subtypes in the expression of NPD.[2] The study Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic and Clinical Challenges (2015) indicates the existence of two subtypes of narcissism: (i) Grandiose narcissism, characterized by the personality traits of grandiosity, arrogance, and boldness; and (ii) Vulnerable narcissism, characterized by the personality traits of defensiveness and hypersensitivity.[2] The research indicates that people with grandiose narcissism express behavior "through interpersonally exploitative acts, lack of empathy, intense envy, aggression, and exhibitionism."[31]
- In an inventory of the types of NPD, the psychiatrist Glen Gabbard described the "oblivious" subtype of narcissist as being a grandiose, arrogant, and thick-skinned person; and described the "narcissistic vulnerability" of the subtype of person who consciously exhibits the personality traits of helplessness and emotional emptiness, and of low self-esteem and shame, which usually are expressed as socially avoidant behavior in situations where the narcissist's self-presentation is impossible; therefore, they withdraw from situations wherein the needed or expected social approval is not given.[31] Gabbard also described the "hypervigilant" subtype of narcissist whose feelings are easily hurt, has an oversensitive temperament, and ashamed; and described the "high-functioning" subtype of narcissist as a person less functionally impaired in the areas of life where narcissists with a severe expression of NPD usually have difficulties in functioning as a normally-socialized person.[2]
- In the study Disorders of Personality: DSM-IV-TM and Beyond (1996), Theodore Millon suggested five subtypes of narcissist;[32] however, there are few, pure subtypes of narcissist. Morever, Millon's five subtypes of narcissist are not recognized in either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.
- SubtypeDescriptionUnprincipled narcissistDeficient conscience; unscrupulous, amoral, disloyal, fraudulent, deceptive, arrogant, exploitive; a con artist and charlatan; dominating, contemptuous, vindictive.Amorous narcissistSexually seductive, enticing, beguiling, tantalizing; glib and clever; disinclined to real intimacy; indulges hedonistic desires; bewitches and inveigles others; pathological lying and swindling. Tends to have many affairs, often with exotic partners.Compensatory narcissistSeeks to counteract or cancel out deep feelings of inferiority and lack of self-esteem; offsets deficits by creating illusions of being superior, exceptional, admirable, noteworthy; self-worth results from self-enhancement.Elitist narcissistFeels privileged and empowered by virtue of special childhood status and pseudo-achievements; entitled fa§ade bears little relation to reality; seeks favored and good life; is upwardly mobile; cultivates special status and advantages by association.Normal narcissistLeast severe and most interpersonally concerned and empathetic, still entitled and deficient in reciprocity; bold in environments, self-confident, competitive, seeks high targets, feels unique; talent in leadership positions; expecting of recognition from others.Treatment [ edit ] Narcissistic personality disorder is rarely the primary reason for which people seek mental health treatment. When people with NPD enter treatment (psychologic or psychiatric), they usually are prompted by difficulties in their lives, or are seeking relief from some other disorder of their mental health, such as a major depressive disorder, a substance use disorder (drug addiction), a bipolar disorder (manic depression), or an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, rumination disorder, bulimia nervosa).[8] The reason for such an indirect path to psychotherapeutic treatment is partly because narcissists generally possess poor insight, and are unaware that their actions produced their mentally unhealthy circumstance, and so fail to recognize that their perceptions and behaviors are socially inappropriate and problematic, because of their very positive self-image (inflated self-concept).[2]
- In general, psychotherapy is the basis for treating narcissistic personality disorder.[33] In the 1960s, Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg challenged the conventional wisdom of the time with clinical strategies that applied psychoanalytic therapy to NPD clients, which, they claimed, effectively treated that personality disorder. Contemporary psychotherapy treatments include transference-focused therapy; metacognitive therapy; and schema therapy, to treat the client's particular subtype of NPD. Improvements to the mental health of patients with NPD are possible with psychopharmaceutical treatment of the symptoms of the comorbid disorders; despite such drug therapy, the psychologist Elsa Ronningstam said that "alliance-building and engaging the patient's sense of agency and reflective ability are essential for [achieving] change in pathological narcissism."[8] Psychiatric medications usually are not indicated for treating NPD, but can be used to treat the co-occurring symptoms of psychological depression, anxiety, and impulsiveness, when present in the NPD client.[33] In the field of relationship counseling mental health therapy is most beneficial when both partners participate in the treatments.[34]
- Prognosis [ edit ] The effectiveness of psychotherapeutic and pharmacological interventions in the treatment of narcissistic personality disorder has yet to be systematically and empirically investigated. Clinical practice guidelines for the disorder have not yet been created, and current treatment recommendations are largely based on theoretical psychodynamic models of NPD and the experiences of clinicians with afflicted individuals in clinical settings.[2]
- The presence of NPD in patients undergoing psychotherapy for the treatment of other mental disorders is associated with slower treatment progress and higher dropout rates.[2]
- Epidemiology [ edit ] The lifetime rates of narcissistic personality disorder are estimated at 1% in the general population; and between 2% to 16% in the clinical population.[35] A 2010 review found rates of NPD of up to 6% in community samples,[36] and that the yearly number of new cases of NPD in men is slightly greater than in women.[37] A 2015 review found that the rates of NPD have been relatively stable for men and women throughout the thirty-year period in which data were collected.[37]
- History [ edit ] The historical use of the term narcissism, to describe a person's excessive vanity and self-centeredness, predates the modern medical classification of NPD (narcissistic personality disorder). The mental condition of narcissism is named after the Greek, mythological character Narcissus, a beautiful boy, born of a nymph, who became infatuated with his own reflection in a pool of water. At first, Narcissus did not understand that the image he saw in the pool of water was a reflection of himself; when he did understand that fact, he pined for the unattainable image and died of grief, for having fallen in love with someone who did not exist outside of himself.[38]
- Further conceptual developments and refinements of the mental condition of Narcissism produced the term narcissistic personality structure, which was introduced by Otto Friedmann Kernberg, in 1967;[39] and the term narcissistic personality disorder, which was proposed by Heinz Kohut, in 1968.[40]
- Early Freudianism [ edit ] Regarding the adult neurotic's sense of omnipotence, Sigmund Freud said that "this belief is a frank acknowledgement of a relic of the old megalomania of infancy";[41] and concluded that: "we can detect an element of megalomania in most other forms of paranoic disorder. We are justified in assuming that this megalomania is essentially of an infantile nature, and that, as development proceeds, it is sacrificed to social considerations."[42]
- In The Psychology of Gambling (1957), Edmund Bergler considered megalomania to be a normal occurrence in the psychology of a child,[43] a condition later reactivated in adult life, if the individual takes up the vice of gambling.[44] In The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946), Otto Fenichel said that people who, in their later lives, respond with denial to their own narcissistic rage and narcissistic injury, usually undergo a similar regression to the megalomania of childhood.[45]
- Object relations [ edit ] In the second half of the 20th century, in contrast to Freud's perspective that megalomania is an obstacle to psychoanalysis, in the U.S. and in Britain, Kleinian psychologists used the object relations theory to re-evaluate megalomania as a defence mechanism, a circumstance that offered the psychotherapist access to the patient for treatment.[46] Such a Kleinian therapeutic approach built upon Heinz Kohut's view of narcissistic megalomania as an aspect of normal mental development, by contrast with Otto Kernberg's consideration of such grandiosity as a pathological distortion of normal psychologic development.[47]
- Society and culture [ edit ] In popular culture, narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is also known as megalomania.[35][48]
- Criticism [ edit ] The Norwegian study, Validity Aspects of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Narcissistic Personality Disorder Construct (2011) concluded that narcissism should be conceived as personality dimensions pertinent to the entire range of personality disorders, rather than as a distinct diagnostic category.[49] In the study Debates on the Narcissism Conundrum: Trait, Domain, Dimension, Type, or Disorder? (2012) examining the past literature about NPD, the researchers Renato Alarc"n and Silvana Sarabia concluded that narcissistic personality disorder "shows nosological inconsistency, and that its consideration as a trait domain needed further research would be strongly beneficial to the field."[50]
- See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] ^ Breedlove, S. Marc (2015). Principles of Psychology. Oxford University Press. p. 709. ISBN 9780199329366. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017 . Retrieved 17 July 2016 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Caligor, Eve; Levy, Kenneth N.; Yeomans, Frank E. (May 2015). "Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic and Clinical Challenges". The American Journal of Psychiatry. Washington, D.C.volume=172: American Psychiatric Association (5): 415''22. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14060723. PMID 25930131. CS1 maint: location (link) ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing. 2013. pp. 645, 669''72. ISBN 9780890425558. ^ a b c d Sederer, Lloyd I. (2009). Blueprints Psychiatry (Fifth ed.). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 29. ISBN 9780781782531. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017 '' via Google Books. ^ O'Donohue, William (2007). Personality Disorders: Toward the DSM-V. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. p. 235. ISBN 9781412904223. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017 . Retrieved 17 July 2016 '' via Google Books. ^ Kohut, Heinz (1968). "The Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic Personality Disorders: Outline of a Systematic Approach". The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. London, England: Taylor & Francis. 23: 86''113. doi:10.1080/00797308.1968.11822951. PMID 5759031. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing. 2013. pp. 669''72. ISBN 978-0890425558. ^ a b c d e f Ronningstam, Elsa (2016). "New Insights Into Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Psychiatric Times. New York City: MJH Associates. 33 (2): 11. ^ Ronningstam, Elsa (2011). "Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A Clinical Perspective". Journal of Psychiatric Practice. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 17 (2): 89''99. doi:10.1097/01.pra.0000396060.67150.40. PMID 21430487. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Narcissistic personality disorder - Symptoms & causes". Mayo Clinic. Phoenix, Arizona: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 18 November 2017 . Retrieved 28 June 2018 . ^ Ronningstam, Elsa (2005). Identifying and Understanding the Narcissistic Personality. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 22''27. ISBN 978-0198033967. ^ Siegel, Judith P. (October 2006). "Dyadic Splitting in Partner Relational Disorders". Journal of Family Psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. 20 (3): 418''22. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.20.3.418. PMID 16937998. ^ a b Ronningstam, Elsa (2010). "Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A Current Review". Current Psychiatry Reports. 12 (1): 68''75. doi:10.1007/s11920-009-0084-z. PMID 20425313. ^ Golomb, Elan (1992). Trapped in the Mirror: Adult Children of Narcissists in their Struggle for Self. New York City: Morrow. p. 22. ISBN 978-0688094713. ^ a b c d e f Paris, Joel (April 2014). "Modernity and Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. 5 (2): 220''226. doi:10.1037/a0028580. PMID 22800179. ^ a b c d "Narcissistic personality disorder", MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8 July 2018 ^ a b Torgersen, Svenn; Lygren, Sissel; ien, Per Anders; Skre, Ingunn; Onstad, Sidsel; Edvardsen, Jack; Tambs, Kristian; Kringlen, Einar (December 2000). "A Twin Study of Personality Disorders". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 41 (6): 416''25. doi:10.1053/comp.2000.16560. PMID 11086146. ^ Reichborn-Kjennerud, Ted (1 March 2010). "The Genetic Epidemiology of Personality Disorders". Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 12 (1): 103''14. ISSN 1294-8322. PMC 3181941 . PMID 20373672. ^ Magid, Ken (1987). High Risk Children without a Conscience. Bantam. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-553-05290-9 . Retrieved 17 November 2012 . ^ Johnson, Stephen M. (1 May 1987). Humanizing the Narcissistic Style. W.W. Norton. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-393-70037-4. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014 . Retrieved 29 October 2013 . ^ Ronningstam, Elsa (5 May 2014), "Narcissistic Personality Disorder", Gabbard's Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders, American Psychiatric Publishing, doi:10.1176/appi.books.9781585625048.gg72, ISBN 978-1585624423 ^ Groopman, Leonard C.; Cooper, Arnold M. (2006). "Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Personality Disorders '' Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Armenian Medical Network. Archived from the original on 15 May 2007 . Retrieved 14 February 2007 . ^ Schulze, Lars; Dziobek, Isabel; Vater, Aline; Heekeren, Hauke R.; Bajbouj, Malek; Renneberg, Babette; Heuser, Isabella; Roepke, Stefan (2013). "Gray Matter Abnormalities in Patients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Journal of Psychiatric Research. 47 (10): 1363''69. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.05.017. PMID 23777939. ^ Pedersen, Traci (6 October 2015). "Narcissists' Lack of Empathy Tied to Less Gray Matter". PsychCentral. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014 . Retrieved 24 April 2014 . ^ Nenadic, Igor; G¼llmar, Daniel; Dietzek, Maren; Langbein, Kerstin; Steinke, Johanna; Gader, Christian (February 2015). "Brain Structure in Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A VBM and DTI Pilot Study". Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. Elsevier Ireland. 231 (2): 184''86. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.11.001. PMID 25492857. ^ Ronningstam, Elsa (19 January 2016). "Pathological Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Recent Research and Clinical Implications" (PDF) . Current Behavioral Neuroscience Reports. 3 (1): 34''42. doi:10.1007/s40473-016-0060-y. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 August 2018. ^ "DSM-5: Proposed Revisions: Personality and Personality Disorders". American Psychiatric Association. 13 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. ^ Holden, Constance (12 March 2010). "APA Seeks to Overhaul Personality Disorder Diagnoses". Science. 327 (5971): 1314. doi:10.1126/science.327.5971.1314. PMID 20223959. ^ Shedler, Jonathan; Beck, Aaron; Fonagy, Peter; Gabbard, Glen O.; Gunderson, John; Kernberg, Otto; Michels, Robert; Westen, Drew (September 2010). "Personality Disorders in DSM-5". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 167 (9): 1026''1028. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10050746. PMID 20826853. ^ WHO (2010) ICD-10: Specific Personality Disorders ^ a b Pincus, Aaron L.; Emily B., Ansell; Pimentel, Claudia A.; Cain, Nicole M.; Wright, Aidan G. C.; Levy, Kenneth N. (2009). "Initial Construction and Validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory". Psychological Assessment. 21 (3): 365''79. doi:10.1037/a0016530. PMID 19719348. ^ Millon, Theodore (1996). Disorders of Personality: DSM-IV-TM and Beyond. New York: John Wiley and Sons. p. 393. ISBN 978-0-471-01186-6. ^ a b "Narcissistic personality diorder - Diagnosis and treatment". mayoclinic.org. 18 November 2017 . Retrieved 28 June 2018 . ^ Sperry, Lynn (1999), Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Cognitive Behavior Therapy of DSM-IV Personality Disorders: Highly Effective Interventions for the Most Common Personality Disorders, Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, pp. 131''38 ^ a b "Megalomaniacs Abound in Politics/Medicine/Finance". Business Day Live. 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016 . Retrieved 17 July 2016 . ^ Dhawan, Nikhil; Kunik, Mark E.; Oldham, John; Coverdale, John (July''August 2010). "Prevalence and Treatment of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the Community: A Systematic Review". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 51 (4): 333''39. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2009.09.003. PMID 20579503. ^ a b Grijalva, Emily; Newman, Daniel A.; Tay, Louis; Donnellan, M. Brent; Harms, Peter D. (2015). "Gender Differences in Narcissism: A Meta-analytic Review". Psychological Bulletin. 141 (2): 261''310. doi:10.1037/a0038231. PMID 25546498. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. ^ Radice, betty Who's Who in the Ancient World: A Handbook to the Survivors of the Greek and Roman Classics (1973) p. 169. ^ Kernberg, Otto Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism (1967) ^ Kohut, Heinz The Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic Personality Disorders: Outline of a Systematic Approach (1968) ^ Freud, Sigmund Case Histories II (PFL 9) p. 113 ^ Freud, p. 203. ^ Bergler, Edmund, "The Psychology of Gambling", in J. Halliday/P. Fuller eds., The Psychology of Gambling (London 1974) pp. 176, 182. ^ Robert M. Lindner, "The Psychodynamics of Gambling", in Halliday/Fuller eds., p. 220. ^ Fenichel, Otto, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1946) p. 420. ^ Hughes, Judith M., From Obstacle to Ally (2004) p. 175. ^ Hughes, Judith M., From Obstacle to Ally (2004) p. 149. ^ Parens, Henri (2014). War is Not Inevitable: On the Psychology of War and Aggression. Lexington Books. p. 63. ISBN 9780739195291. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017 '' via Google Books. ^ Karterud, Sigmund; ien, Maria; Pedersen, Geir (September''October 2011). "Validity Aspects of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Narcissistic Personality Disorder Construct". Comprehensive Psychiatry. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. 52 (5): 517''26. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.11.001. PMID 21193181. ^ Alarc"n, Renato D.; Sarabia, Silvana (January 2012). "Debates on the Narcissism Conundrum: Trait, Domain, Dimension, Type, or Disorder?". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. 200 (1): 16''25. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e31823e6795. PMID 22210358. Further reading [ edit ] Behary, Wendy T. (2013). Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the Self-Absorbed (Second ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. ISBN 978-1608827602. LCCN 2013014290. (first edition available on the Internet Archive)Brown, Nina W. (2008). Children of the Self-Absorbed: A Grownup's Guide to Getting Over Narcissistic Parents (Second ed.). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. ISBN 978-1572245617. LCCN 2008002242. (first edition available on the Internet Archive)Hotchkiss, Sandy (2003). Why Is It Always About You?: The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0743214285. LCCN 2001054516. Masterson, James F. (1981). The Narcissistic and Borderline Disorders: An Integrated Developmental Approach. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203776148. ISBN 978-0876302927. LCCN 81038540. Twenge, Jean M.; Campbell, W. Keith (2009). The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement . New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-1416575986. LCCN 2008044705. External links [ edit ] Narcissistic personality disorder Mayo ClinicNarcissistic Personality Disorder Cleveland ClinicWhy Nothing Is Simple Around A Narcissist PsychCentral
- Narcissistic personality disorder - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
- OverviewNarcissistic personality disorder '-- one of several types of personality disorders '-- is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.
- A narcissistic personality disorder causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial affairs. People with narcissistic personality disorder may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they're not given the special favors or admiration they believe they deserve. They may find their relationships unfulfilling, and others may not enjoy being around them.
- Treatment for narcissistic personality disorder centers around talk therapy (psychotherapy).
- SymptomsSigns and symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder and the severity of symptoms vary. People with the disorder can:
- Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it Exaggerate achievements and talents Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior Expect special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations Take advantage of others to get what they want Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others Be envious of others and believe others envy them Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious Insist on having the best of everything '-- for instance, the best car or officeAt the same time, people with narcissistic personality disorder have trouble handling anything they perceive as criticism, and they can:
- Become impatient or angry when they don't receive special treatment Have significant interpersonal problems and easily feel slighted React with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other person to make themselves appear superior Have difficulty regulating emotions and behavior Experience major problems dealing with stress and adapting to change Feel depressed and moody because they fall short of perfection Have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and humiliation When to see a doctorPeople with narcissistic personality disorder may not want to think that anything could be wrong, so they may be unlikely to seek treatment. If they do seek treatment, it's more likely to be for symptoms of depression, drug or alcohol use, or another mental health problem. But perceived insults to self-esteem may make it difficult to accept and follow through with treatment.
- If you recognize aspects of your personality that are common to narcissistic personality disorder or you're feeling overwhelmed by sadness, consider reaching out to a trusted doctor or mental health provider. Getting the right treatment can help make your life more rewarding and enjoyable.
- CausesIt's not known what causes narcissistic personality disorder. As with personality development and with other mental health disorders, the cause of narcissistic personality disorder is likely complex. Narcissistic personality disorder may be linked to:
- Environment ' mismatches in parent-child relationships with either excessive adoration or excessive criticism that is poorly attuned to the child's experience Genetics ' inherited characteristics Neurobiology '-- the connection between the brain and behavior and thinking Risk factorsNarcissistic personality disorder affects more males than females, and it often begins in the teens or early adulthood. Keep in mind that, although some children may show traits of narcissism, this may simply be typical of their age and doesn't mean they'll go on to develop narcissistic personality disorder.
- Although the cause of narcissistic personality disorder isn't known, some researchers think that in biologically vulnerable children, parenting styles that are overprotective or neglectful may have an impact. Genetics and neurobiology also may play a role in development of narcissistic personality disorder.
- ComplicationsComplications of narcissistic personality disorder, and other conditions that can occur along with it, can include:
- Relationship difficulties Problems at work or school Depression and anxiety Physical health problems Drug or alcohol misuse Suicidal thoughts or behavior PreventionBecause the cause of narcissistic personality disorder is unknown, there's no known way to prevent the condition. However, it may help to:
- Get treatment as soon as possible for childhood mental health problems Participate in family therapy to learn healthy ways to communicate or to cope with conflicts or emotional distress Attend parenting classes and seek guidance from therapists or social workers if needed Nov. 18, 2017
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