Baton Rouge Arm Wrestling Ladies (BRAWL) is out to prove women are just as tough as men.
The local chapter of Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLAW) USA held its first event Saturday at Spanish Moon.
In keeping with CLAW’s practices, Blunt Force BRAWL gathered students, alumni and other community members to raise money for the Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR) Center through theatrical performance.
National nonprofit organization CLAW USA spawned from a grassroots movement dating back to 2008 in an effort to raise new arm wrestling leagues more easily, according to its website. BRAWL organizer and film studies senior Rebecca Stewart got the idea for a Baton Rouge chapter from a friend involved in the New Orleans chapter.
“Women of Baton Rouge deserve outlets to showcase their unique strengths as well as have access to resources that will improve their health, financial security and overall experience in this city,” Stewart said.
Stewart served as referee in Saturday’s event. Stewart said BRAWL depended on word-of-mouth to gather participants, whether they were wrestlers, crowd hustlers or entourages.
Apparel design junior Brooke Salter wrestled as the character Minnie Mayhem, complete with polka dots, mouse ears and corpse face paint. Salter, a professional face painter for Lafayette-based party entertainment company Jingles & Friends, said she loves costumed events.
“Who doesn’t want to get brutal for a cause?” Salter said.
Salter has worked for several haunted houses since taking up face painting her sophomore year in high school, and she transformed her entourage into a troop of corpse-like mice.
University alumna Kelsi Dougherty served as one of the hype girls for Minnie Mayhem.
“Lady issues are near and dear to my heart, so I’m glad this is all benefitting STAR,” Dougherty said.
Racheal Hebert, executive director of STAR, wrestled under the name Stigma Stomper.
“Because we’re the beneficiary, we wanted the character to have something to do with STAR. Sexual assault has a lot of stigma and we want to let people know it’s not something to be ashamed about,” Hebert said.
Hebert said she had a bet with the Captain of the Sister Ship, a guest wrestler from the New Orleans chapter of CLAW. In the event of Hebert winning, the other wrestler would have to volunteer for STAR; if the captain won, Hebert would join her entourage.
The Captain of the Sister Ship beat all her opponents and won the trophy donated by STAR.
No matter how competitive an air the night took on — international studies sophomore and University track team member Andi Aguilar, who has a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, said she would “secondhand it to ‘em” as wrestler One Dollar Baby — BRAWL’s main focus was acceptance for all participants.
“If anyone picks on you for being you, for what you’re identifying as, for what you’re wearing, for how you’re dancing, we’re going to kick them out,” Stewart announced before the bouts began.
