Bolivia's Flying Cholitas are Fighting for Equality Monique Ross - ABC.net
go to original August 14, 2016

Wrestling Women - Bolivia (Journeyman Pictures)

The hugely popular spectacle of Bolivian wrestling was once the exclusive domain of men, but now women are donning colorful costumes and stepping into the ring as fighters - finding celebrity and rising above oppression in the process.

In Bolivia's bustling capital La Paz each Sunday, throngs of people clap and cheer as the Flying Cholitas unleash spectacular moves on their opponents - a combination of grace and brute force.

With stage names like "The Untouchable", the fighters wear elaborate con pollera - or traditional colourful skirts - with high bowler hats and braids that stretch down to their waists.

It is like a circus performance - a theatrical mix of acrobatic choreography and tongue-in-cheek violence - that draws on elements of America's WWF and Mexico's famous masked lucha libre.

Ten years ago women were not allowed into the ring, but a lot can change in a decade.

Read the rest and check out the photos at ABC.net

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