High School Wrestling as Sexual Assault

A California high school student has been charged with sexual battery for his actions during a wrestling practice.  The Fresno Bee explains (here) that the accused boy  "intensely grab[ed] his opponent's butt cheek to obtain leverage and better positioning."  But this is not Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, or even Regis and Nicki Minaj.  The news story goes on to explain that the accused digitally penetrated his opponent's anus. Apparently that is not in dispute.

One wrestling coach interviewed by the press says (here): 

"To think I'd ever instruct my guys to get on the mat and practice sticking their fingers in their teammates' rear end, it's stupid and ridiculous," longtime Fresno State wrestling coach Dennis DeLiddo said. "A butt drag isn't sticking your finger up a guy's [rectum]. That'd be illegal. That'd be counterproductive. That's not the move.

"That's not a butt drag -- that's just perverted."

Others claim (here) that this so-called "drag" is permitted in wrestling.  Whether or not the move is allowed under wrestling rules, it is fair to say that wrestlers assume the risk of bodily contact that might appear sexual in a non-wrestling context.  A face to the groin?  Sure.  A gluteal grab?  Yes.  Sweat, friction and grunting?  Absolutely.  But intentional digital penetration is another matter entirely.

Even so, is it accurate to say, as one commentator has, that "the Fresno 'butt drag' controversy [is] just a bit of homophobia"?  Consider (however unrealistically) a co-ed  wrestling match between a male high school student and a female high school student.  If the female wrestler performed the move in question on the male wrestler, would it be any less objectionable?  No, in my view.  Would the male wrestler be less likely to acknowledge that he had been penetrated?  I'm not sure.  The genders of the penetrator and penetrated don't appear to make any difference, at least in my analysis.

Comments welcome.

Comments

[Darren Rosenblum]

Fascinating post. What's so interesting is that the positionality of the wrestlers' sex is leveled by anal-phobia. Given how sexed our society is, your comment is really a revelation that hadn't occurred to me. The question is whether there's a way to use this for some equalizing goals?

[holden magroin]

Equalizing goals????