Women and Sumo

Panic strikes as a woman invades the sumo wring. Not, as might sometimes be thought (at least in these days of the global obesity epidemic) because she was going to beat up on of the fighters:

A woman invaded a sumo ring -- a sacred arena from which females are banned -- in Tokyo during a major tournament, domestic media said on Thursday, then was pulled down by a referee and one of the sport's huge wrestlers.

The middle-aged woman dashed from the side of the Kokugikan sumo stadium on Wednesday and shoved away a female security guard before rolling onto the ring just as a bout was set to begin, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

The Japan Sumo Association insisted that though the woman did enter the raised platform around the batting ring, she did not set foot on the ring, or dohyo, itself.

No, it's rather that as a woman she's not supposed to have anything to do with getting anywhere near the ring at all.

And people call western society patriarchal!