Take that! A cholita wrestler sprays her male opponent with foam in El Alto, Bolivia. Cholita is a term referring to an indigenous Aymara and Quechua woman wearing the typical velvet tiered skirts and with long braided hair. Mexican photographer Rodrigo Cruz, who snapped this moment, writes: ‘Bolivian wrestling has become very popular thanks to the cholita wrestlers. Bolivia is a majority indigenous country but its cholitas have long endured racism and high rates of domestic violence. Such wrestling matches began here around 2000 as a gimmick thought up by promoter Juan Mamani, but quickly became a way for the women to take out their frustrations on the indignities they were suffering and to show they were as strong as men. The wrestling shows may have comic theatrical elements, but they also require constant training to perform aerial flights from the ring’s ropes and to withstand painful falls.’ The cholitas have broken free from Mamani’s monopoly on the matches and formed their own association which now also arranges bouts.

rodrigocruz.com