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Women Who Arm Wrestle

WUNC | By Anita Rao,
Frank Stasio
Published October 12, 2016 at 12:17 PM EDT

​What happens when women get up on stage dressed to the nines and are judged not for their beauty, but for their strength? Groups of women around the country have been exploring just that with competitive arm wrestling leagues. Two of these leagues are based in North Carolina, theLeague of Upper Extremity Wrestling Women in Durham (LUEWWD)and theGreensboro Arm Wrestling League (GRAWL). The competitors create characters, don costumes, and compete to raise money for charities that support women and girls.Host Frank Stasio talks with two local arm wrestlers, Laura Eynon and Dawn Bland, and a board member for the Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers, Tonya VanDeinse.

Host FrankStasiotalks with two local arm wrestlers, LauraEynonand Dawn Bland, and TonyaVanDeinse, a Durham-based woman who sits on the board of theCollective of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLAW USA)that coordinates efforts around the country.LUEWWDhosts an event to raise money forPartners for Youth Opportunity Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. atThe Bar in Durham.

The CLAW (Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers) USA SuperCLAW 3 event in New Orleans.
Courtesy of CLAW USA /
The CLAW (Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers) USA SuperCLAW 3 event in New Orleans.
Dawn Bland as wrestling persona 'Dawn of the Dead' being awarded Madame Moneymaker award for raising the most money at a LUEWWD tournament.
Courtesy of LUEWWD /
Dawn Bland as wrestling persona 'Dawn of the Dead' being awarded Madame Moneymaker award for raising the most money at a LUEWWD tournament.

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio