Catfight
Encyclopedia
Catfight is a term for an altercation between two women, typically involving scratching, slapping, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding as opposed to punching or wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

 (although this isn't always the case). However, the term is not exclusively used to indicate a fight between women, and many formal definitions do not invoke gender. Instead, it refers to any "vociferous fight." It can also be used to describe two human females insulting each other verbally or being otherwise nasty to each other. The many ways that women compare themselves to other women and compete with each other are also referred to as catfighting (or cattiness). Catfights are different from other kinds of fights involving women because they usually involve competition between two or more women, usually over men. Catfight is a term also used on occasion to describe a political campaign between two women candidates.

Catfighting has recently been on the rise in several fields of entertainment. The appeal of a catfight was facetiously explained by Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

, as "Men think if women are grabbing and clawing at each other, there's a chance they might somehow, you know... kiss." Catfights have been featured in cartoons, movies, and beer television commercials, frequently ending with the participants missing articles of clothing. Most infamous being the Miller Lite 'Catfight ads' featuring two beautiful women, Kitana Baker
Kitana Baker
Kitana Baker is an American model and actressBorn in Anaheim, California, and of Chinese, Hawaiian, German, and Irish ancestry, Baker has appeared in numerous films, videos and television shows, and has worked for both E! and Playboy...

 and Tanya Ballinger
Tanya Ballinger
Tanya Ballinger is a model and actress based in the Los Angeles area and best known for her series of Miller Lite Catfight commercials with fellow model Kitana Baker in 2002. She reprised her appearance in a sequel/homage to the Catfight ads in 2007 produced by iFilm.com...

; the two argue over what they prefer about Miller Lite beer, only to end up tearing each other's clothes, fighting in a large fountain suggestively in their bras and panties and fighting in wet cement. The scenario turns out to be a male fantasy told in a bar; an extended ending had Brunette girl, Baker saying to Blonde, Ballinger, "Let's make out", which they do, covered in the cement they engage in a lesbian kiss.

In the 1970s, interest in catfighting led to the popularity of the women in prison films
Women in prison films
Women in prison film is a subgenre of exploitation film that began in the late 1960s and continues to the present day.Their stories feature imprisoned women who are subjected to sexual and physical abuse, typically by sadistic male or female prison wardens and guards...

 and roller derby
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...

.

Etymology

The term catfight was recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...

 as the title and subject of a 1824 mock heroic poem by Ebenezer Mack. It is first recorded as being used to describe a fight between women in 1854, the word cat being long established slang for a spiteful person, particularly a woman.

Popular culture

Soap operas frequently incorporate catfights into their storylines; the altercations between Krystle Carrington
Krystle Carrington
Krystle Carrington is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty. The role was originated by Linda Evans in the first episode of the series in 1981; she left early in the final season but returned for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion.-Characterization:The character of Krystle...

 (Linda Evans
Linda Evans
Linda Evans is an American actress. She is known primarily for her roles on television, and rose to fame playing Audra Barkley in the 1960s Western TV series, The Big Valley...

) and Alexis Colby
Alexis Colby
Alexis Colby is a fictional character and the primary antagonist on the American TV series Dynasty....

 (Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...

) on the 1980s primetime soap Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...

are perhaps the most famous. Their best-known encounter occurred in 1983, when the Krystle and Alexis both ended up falling into a lily pond.

Catfights, both real and staged, have become a hallmark of The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...

, a television talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....

.

Catfights (along with lesbianism) are often commonly depicted in exploitation film
Exploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...

s, particularly those which fall under the Women in prison sub-genre.

Miller Lite
Miller Lite
Miller Lite is a 4.2% abv pale lager brand sold by MillerCoors of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Sibling beers include Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life.-History:...

's racy Catfight commercial in 2002 greatly raised the profile of catfights in recent pop culture. The careers of both actresses in the original commercial, Kitana Baker
Kitana Baker
Kitana Baker is an American model and actressBorn in Anaheim, California, and of Chinese, Hawaiian, German, and Irish ancestry, Baker has appeared in numerous films, videos and television shows, and has worked for both E! and Playboy...

 and Tanya Ballinger
Tanya Ballinger
Tanya Ballinger is a model and actress based in the Los Angeles area and best known for her series of Miller Lite Catfight commercials with fellow model Kitana Baker in 2002. She reprised her appearance in a sequel/homage to the Catfight ads in 2007 produced by iFilm.com...

, took off as a result of their exposure. The commercial featured two beautiful women discussing why they liked Miller Lite. One (the blonde Ballinger) preferred Great Taste and the other (the brunette Baker) preferred Less Filling. The two girls proceeded to fight and strip each other in a fountain, then wrestling in a mud pit. An uncensored version of the ad ended in the two girls kissing. It was derided by many as sexist while defended by Miller executives as "a lighthearted spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of guys' fantasies." The women later made a cameo appearance in a spoof version of the ad made for iFilm
IFilm
ifilm.com was an online archive of short films, movie trailers, and other video clips of interest. Ifilm.com was originally founded by independent filmmaker Raphael Raphael in 1997 as an independent film and media collective...

 featuring two large men having a "catfight".

In movies, Undercover Brother
Undercover Brother
Undercover Brother is a 2002 American comedy film starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley, who created the original internet animation characters. It spoofs blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a...

featured a catfight between Denise Richards
Denise Richards
Denise Lee Richards is an American actress and former fashion model of Croatian and Welsh descent. She has appeared in films including Starship Troopers, Wild Things, and The World Is Not Enough...

 and Aunjanue Ellis
Aunjanue Ellis
Aunjanue L. Ellis is an American actress known for her roles in Ray, in Undercover Brother, and on The Mentalist....

 that was both titillating and a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of titillation. Two Days in the Valley featured a catfight between Teri Hatcher
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress, writer, and presenter. She is known for her television roles as Susan Mayer on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and Lois Lane on the ABC comedy-drama series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...

 and Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...

. Other examples include Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Tejada , better known as Raquel Welch, is an American actress, author and sex symbol. Welch came to attention as a "new-star" on the 20th Century-Fox lot in the mid-1960s. She posed iconically in a animal skin bikini for the British-release One Million Years B.C. , for which she may be...

's catfights in Kansas City Bomber
Kansas City Bomber
Kansas City Bomber is a 1972 American drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Jerrold Freedman and starring Raquel Welch.- Plot summary :The film is an inside look at the world of co-ed Roller Derby, then a popular league sport....

and One Million Years B.C.
One Million Years B.C.
One Million Years B.C. is a 1966 British adventure/fantasy film starring Raquel Welch, set - loosely - in the time of cavemen. The film was made by Hammer Film Productions, and was a remake of the 1940 Hollywood film One Million B.C., and it recreates many of the scenes of that film...

, as well as the gypsy catfight in the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 film, From Russia With Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...

.

The fight between Alena Johnston and Sabine Sun in the 1973 film Le guerriere dal seno nudo (a.k.a. War Goddess and The Amazons), is a classic example of the eroticism involved in movie catfights. The film begins with the blonde Antiope (played by Johnston) and brunette Oretheia (played by Sun) in a topless wrestling match to crown the new Queen of the Amazons. Before the match, the women remove their robes and are covered in oil by servants as they stare at each other from a distance. The match involves full nelsons, a test of strength and a headscissors, with the women rolling around to try and gain an advantage. As this happens, the drums playing over the scene get faster and faster.

Antiope is victorious, and a theme throughout the film is Oretheia's hatred for Antiope and her desire to be the Queen. This leads to a second fight later in the film, with both women brawling in the nude in Antiope's bedroom. The scene begins with Antiope being awoken by the sound of thunder - naturally she is sleeping naked, and sees the shadow of Oretheia through her curtains. Oretheia's plan to kill Antiope in her sleep with a sword is foiled, and the two have a stand-off with weapons. Antiope then says "No, we'll settle this the way we did when we were children - with our bare hands". The two discard their weapons and undress, and Oretheia lunges at Antiope. They throw each other around the room and trade punches, with Antiope being flung across the bed and having her head bashed against the wall several times. As this takes place, the thunder booms and flashes of lightning light up the room. They have another test of strength before rolling around on the floor - their bodies remain extremely close during this part of the fight, as the two women exchange the top position. After a long struggle, Antiope ceases to resist and the two women embrace and kiss.

In song, catfights have been commemorated in "Girl Fight Tonight!
Girl Fight Tonight!
"Girl Fight Tonight" is the third single released by singer and comedian Julie Brown, the second from her only album Trapped in the Body of a White Girl. It was released in 12" and 7" vinyl formats as well as on a promotional-only CD. The song is a spoof of the traditional "call-and-response" R&B...

" (1987) by Julie Brown
Julie Brown
Julie Ann Brown is an American actress, comedienne, screen/television writer, singer-songwriter, television director. Brown is perhaps best known for her work in the 1980s, where she often played a quintessential valley girl character...

, "Cat Fight" (1999) by Dance Hall Crashers
Dance Hall Crashers
Dance Hall Crashers is an American ska punk band formed in 1989 in Berkeley, California.-Early years:The original incarnation of the Dance Hall Crashers was formed in 1989 by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong, formerly of the seminal Bay Area ska-punk band Operation Ivy, after both musicians...

, and "Girlfight
Girlfight (song)
"Girlfight" is the first single recorded by R&B singer Brooke Valentine. It was her first single from her debut album Chain Letter. The song features Lil Jon and Big Boi from OutKast. The song is about a tension between two girls who end up in a catfight and was a minor Top 30 hit, peaking at #23...

" (2005) by Brooke Valentine
Brooke Valentine
Kanesha Nichole Brookes , better known by her stage name Brooke Valentine, is an American R&B singer and former member of the group Best Kept Secret. In 2005, her single "Girlfight" was a hit on the United States single charts....

.

Wrestling announcer Joey Styles
Joey Styles
Joseph Carmine Bonsignore better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator and former professional in the field of advertising sales...

 is known for shrieking "Catfight!" whenever two females begin brawling. The exclamation has become one of his trademarks.

Commercial catfights

There are several distributors of catfight videos on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 or as downloads from the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 like Catfightfilms.com or real-catfights.com. Most of these videos feature women who are topless or completely nude
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

. The fights are carried out in improvised boxing rings, outdoors, in gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

s or in apartments. Just like Foxy boxing
Foxy boxing
Foxy boxing is a sports entertainment which involves two or more women boxing in a sexualized context as a form of erotic entertainment. The participants are typically dressed in revealing clothing such as bikinis or skintight leotards, while the actual fight usually focuses on the beauty of the...

 these catfights appear to be more for erotic entertainment than real fights. Techniques of beating and kicking that can cause pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...

 to the opponent are often merely faked and not really carried out. Sometimes it is the goal of the fight to rip the clothing off the opponent or to rip off the last garment (the slip
Slip (clothing)
Slip is a woman's undergarment worn beneath a dress or skirt to help it hang smoothly and to prevent chafing of the skin from coarse fabrics such as wool...

 or thong
Thong (clothing)
The thong is a garment generally worn as either underwear or as a swimsuit in many industrialized societies around the world. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions such as sumo wrestling...

). For nude catfighting sometimes the participants cover their bodies with baby oil.

Jeanne "Hollywood" Bassone, Lisa Comshaw ('Tori Sinclair'), Belinda Belle, and porn stars like Devon Michaels
Devon Michaels
Devon Michaels is an American pornographic actress. Michaels was raised with her two brothers near Peoria, Illinois....

, Tanya Danielle, Tylene Buck
Tylene Buck
Tylene Buck is an American Pornographic actress & model and a former wrestler and valet under the name of Major Gunns.-Professional Wrestler:...

, Krystal Summers
Kristal Summers
Kristal Summers is an American pornographic actress.-Career:In 2000, Summers began performing in non-fetish adult productions.She is also working for DTWrestling productions as a bikini/topless wrestler....

, Blake Mitchell, Kaylynn
Kaylynn
-Biography:Kaylynn was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Before working in the adult industry she worked a number of jobs, including those of a security guard, cashier, bagger and stripper....

, Lexi Lamour
Lexi Lamour
Lexi Lamour is an American pornographic actress. She was a finalist for The FAME Award's Hottest Body category in 2006. Lexi Lamour has made many mainstream appearances on television such as Sexcetera, Real Sex, Spice Network, and was a radio host on channel KSEX- External links :**...

 and Kianna Dior are some of the women that fight each other on video. Bondage models like Diana Knight and Stacy Burke have also fought for videos.

Use of dirty talk is standard fare in catfighting videos. Calling each other "bitch", "whore", "slut" and "skank" is common vernacular in catfight videos. The ripping off of clothes and lingerie usually gives way to the twisting of nipples, grabbing of breasts, and pulling of pubic hair. Some catfights turn into sexfights when the two combatants try to dominate each other sexually by forcibly kissing each other and then having aggressive sex. Typical catfighting/sexfighting scenes involve lots of hard body-to-body contact with slapping and grabbing of breasts and pubic hair. Another popular catfight move is to 'facesit' the other woman and force her to lick her.

Competitive submission catfights consist of two girls, usually dressed in bikinis or sportswear, who line up and fight until one gives. This is usually a submission wrestling format with hairpulling and choking. These fights can get quite aggressive and heated, but are more of a sport than a fantasy fight. These fights rarely end in serious injury.

Japanese catfight & pro-style wrestling productions.

Equivalent terms

Scragfight has the same or similar meaning to Catfight in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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