Is this the most homoerotic sport?
Pull on a spandex singlet and let's wrestle!
I'm here to make the case that wrestling is the most homoerotic sport. I'm serious. I'm prepared to fight about it – if, by fighting, you mean we pull on a spandex onesie and rub up against each other, right?
What is wrestling?
The style of wrestling known as Greco-Roman was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
The rules are fairly simple — two wrestlers are scored for their performance during two three-minute periods. The bout can be terminated early by a pin. The emphasis is on throws, as holds below the waist are forbidden.
Taking its name from the ancient Mediterranean civilisations from which this style of wrestling emerged, this is a sport that’s popular across Europe and North America.
What makes wrestling homoerotic?
Young, fit guys, wearing a lycra singlet that leaves nothing to the imagination, grappling and grinding with each other, until one submits to the other. It's kind of obvious, isn't it?
Watching actual college wrestlers go at it on the mat is a total turn-on in itself, but when we get to sex it up with some porn action, then things go next-level.
There’s a lot to love about Greco-Roman wrestling.
What do wrestlers wear?
Wrestlers compete in a wrestling singlet — a one-piece spandex or lycra item that clings tightly to every curve of the body, leaving nothing for the opponent to grab onto.
What’s the history of the wrestling singlet?
Given the long history of the sport of wrestling, the wearing of the wrestling singlet is a relatively recent development.
It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that wrestling’s governing authority in the US banned wrestlers competing shirtless. At that time, they brought in a 3-piece uniform – tight-fitting trunks made of nylon or wool, full-length tights and a sleeveless shirt that came down to the crotch. That era didn’t last long, by the early 1970s the standard uniform that was adopted was the one-piece singlet. The singlet was designed to prevent uniform malfunctions and unseemly exposure.
Critics of the wrestling singlet suggest that it’s a barrier for high school students entering the sport who may be self-conscious about their bodies.
Wrestlers in the US actually can wear a two-piece piece of kit, if they want to, but no one actually does – wrestling teams at all levels of the sport are sticking with the singlet.
