Men and Ladies on the Internet 3: Good Advice from a smart fellow

As a big fan of SHIMMER Women Athletes I was, yesterday, spending some time at the website of fellow SHIMMER fan, John Hyperion. His blog is really good, and he dedicates a lot of time to reviewing SHIMMER matches, feuds and angles in depth, so I'd suggest hopping over to check it out, if you ever get the chance, and if you like what he says (and if you trust me about what is downright awesome) then mosey right on over to the SHIMMER site and buy yourself a couple of DVDs. John is also a fellow commenter on the awesome Sara Del Rey blog and offers some really great advice on his blog for fellow fans of American joshi.

His advice, basically, boils down to his first point: don't be weird and perverted. When you look at Taylor Wilde, do you just see a hot chick, or do you see a slightly large-headed, rather nerdy Canadian with awesome technical wrestling skills? When you see Daffney, is it just a hot, somewhat Goth chick, or is it a goofy, funny, genuinely nice (and insanely profane) girl from Atlanta (as an ODF gotta holler at a GA home girl, there), with some of the best promo skills in the business today? Is Sara just a statuesque Amazon, or is she the dreaded Death Rey, master of the Royal Butterfly Suplex (that move looks badass)? I'm not trying to say that these women are not completely beautiful, because all three of them are, but you lose so much when you look at a woman--any woman, famous-ish or not--as a prop instead of a person. I know that the Internet's dominant philosophy, Objectivism, which proclaims that Ayn Rand is God and Rorschach is her prophet, sort of lends itself to this kind of thing, but you should feel some kind of moral compass inside telling you that it's not right, whether you're interacting with one of these young workers or with Rebekah the Pretty Barista from Barnes and Nobles. Don't be that guy.

I was also going to include a ramble (another ramble) about the posters at a particular message board and their treatment of Amy "Lita" Dumas, but it seems that the thread in question has disappeared. It had plenty of great examples of the kind of stuff that Mr. Hyperion is talking about--and also some great, if misguided, snaps back by the original poster who is getting to work with Miss Dumas in a professional sense, right now. Such a great opportunity to make a point and all wasted, now! Alas!