# Required Reading: Sandy Parker/The Watermelon Woman (1996) [Free Patreon Show] Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lgbt-in-the-ring-6075064/required-reading-sandy-parker-the-watermelon-woman-1996-free-patreon-show Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/lgbt-in-the-ring-6075064/required-reading-sandy-parker-the-watermelon-woman-1996-free-patreon-show.md Podcast: [LGBT In The Ring](https://stenobird.com/podcast/lgbt-in-the-ring-6075064) Published: 2026-02-06T16:00:47+00:00 Episode link: https://patreon.com/lgbtringpod Audio file: https://audio3.redcircle.com/episodes/44c77b96-bafc-4867-b8c9-8460e8fc9db0/stream.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lgbt-in-the-ring-6075064/episodes/required-reading-sandy-parker-the-watermelon-woman-1996-free-patreon-show Duration seconds: 8224 ## Resource Hello, Lovelies! With Winter Olympic prep and coverage taking over my work week, this week is a great time to drop a free look at Required Reading, our Patreon-exclusive series all about conversations in media, particularly pro wrestling and cinema. Every episode, I pick a wrestling match and my close friend and collaborator Hollis picks a film for discussion with one another, with both fitting our personal definition of the show's title. This one is an all Brian selection special as they present a media relationship that has been bouncing around their head for years: historic pro wrestler Sandy Parker and Cheryl Dunye's groundbreaking feature film debut, The Watermelon Woman. We discuss Sandy Parker & Paulla Kaye vs. Chiyo Obata & Terumi Sakura from 1974 and Parker's trailblazing career as a Black lesbian in pro wrestling alongside Dunye's 1996 film focused on discovering Black lesbian history in film, preservation of culture and how the power structures that have been historically in charge of said preservation forget about marginalized people and their stories. As always, spoliers aplenty in our discussion. Follow Brian Bell on Twitter, Instagram & Bluesky: @WonderboyOTM Follow LGBT In The Ring on Twitter, Instagram & Bluesky: @LGBTRingPod Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/lgbtringpod Grab LGBT In The Ring merch on Brainbuster Tees Big thank you to Edith Surreal ( @edithsurreal ) for the LGBT In The Ring logo Huge thanks to Sarah & The Safe Word for the show’s theme, Formula 666 from the album Red, Hot and Holy. Find them on Twitter, @STSWBand , and check out their music on Spotify and Bandcamp . Check out IndependentWrestling.tv for the best in current and classic independent pro wrestling, including live events from top independent promo… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/lgbt-in-the-ring-6075064/episodes/required-reading-sandy-parker-the-watermelon-woman-1996-free-patreon-show/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/lgbt-in-the-ring-6075064/required-reading-sandy-parker-the-watermelon-woman-1996-free-patreon-show.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.