T Boy Wrestling Gives Oregonians Their Moment on the Mat

Wrestling’s widespread popularity as a sport and performance art creates space for different forms of transmasculine expression, Miller says. They liken enthusiasm for this event with drag’s popularity. That’s not surprising since, especially on the performance side of things, wrestling is pretty much indistinguishable from drag. Pro wrestlers don an exaggerated, campy persona and self-styled costumes that reinforce their personas. Even those competing in the traditional matches take stage names and personas, playing with gender by performing hypermasculinity in the ring.