Why Ronda Rousey has changed the world for women like Adeline Gray (2024)

American wrestler Adeline Gray sat at the Olympics the other day, thanking a fighter she’s never met for making her feel beautiful. Ronda Rousey, with her vicious scowl and balled-up fists, who rants about not being a “do-nothing bitch,” has changed the world for women like Gray, shattering the mirrors that say skinny only matters. For a girl who grew up wrestling boys, and the notion that doing so made her less feminine, Rousey’s words were a beacon; a punch in the air with a call to follow.

The hounding of Gabby Douglas: an unworthy end for a great American championRead more

“I think it takes someone to shine a spotlight, and I think she did that,” Gray said, laughing nervously about the unprintable words that fill Rousey’s soliloquies. “I don’t agree with how she went about it, that’s not how I would have done it, but I thought she did it well. I think there’s definitely a more tactful way she could have done it, but at the same time there’s a lot of bigotry that goes on in women’s sports and women’s combat sports.”

Until Rousey stormed from Olympic judo bronze to the top of the UFC, fighting women didn’t have a powerful mainstream voice. To the 25-year-old Gray, a 75kg medal hope who wrestles on Thursday, it felt like strong women didn’t have a forceful voice. Rousey gave the nod that said it was OK to be tough, to fight and be proud of the feminine identity that now comes with that notion. Until Rousey, she might not have come to Rio thrilled with the strength she feels in her shoulders. Before she wore her doubt everywhere. Did she look too muscular? Did she seem too big? What did people think?

Back in high school she wrestled boys. This is the path for any woman who wants to reach the elite level of wrestling. In order to get to the Olympics, they first have to be those girls who wrestle on a boy’s team. In many places where old-fashioned notions want to keep teenage girls off the same mats as boys, the idea of a young Adeline Gray is outrageous. But she was lucky to live in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado, where the coaches welcomed her and taught her and gave her a chance.

And yet even in that safe environment the idea of being a wrestler jarred. She was obsessed with being thin, because that’s what girls did in those days. Her influence, she said, was Britney Spears. But as a 5ft 8in wrestler, she couldn’t look like Britney Spears. She battled the notion of trying to be skinny when her sport demanded she have big shoulders and strong arms. She thought she fit in with her friends at school, but it was only later that she found that those same friends were scared of her. She had made herself so powerful they were afraid she’d hurt them.

“I was always afraid of people mistaking me for a boy,” she says. “I never really had high body fat. I had slim hips and I had, like, obviously not very big breasts, and so through childhood, my concern was that I put a singlet on and people thought I looked like a boy. And I know the opposite happens when you get to high school and you get hips and a chest, and things start to get a little fluffier where boys are getting muscles. And then you are concerned on the other side of it. You are concerned that your feminine curves and cellulite is so negative in our society. And it’s terrible.”

She sees what she calls “beautiful young girls” coming to her wrestling club and growing horrified at the sight of themselves in the wrestling singlets. She finds herself running to each one and telling them to ignore the negative thoughts.

“I’m like: ‘The singlets aren’t made for us!’” she said. “This is not fair! I mean, these girls are 16 and 17, and their bodies can’t be any more perfect for what they are. They have hard work and dedication, and they have such a negative connotation to seeing any sort of difference that’s not muscular, but it’s still in a range. The girls who are too buff have a lower body fat and big muscles, [they] have the concern that they are too masculine. And so it’s this constant kind of tethering that you are never really pleased with your body, and it’s a concern for all women, no matter if you are 16 and a non-athlete, all the way up to being an athlete. You have that kind of middle range that is perfection and never really reach it because it’s constantly changing, and depending on who looks at you it’s constantly changing,”

Which is why she thinks Rousey has changed everything. She sees it in the way women flock to weightlifting classes and proudly display their muscular backs. She feels that women are not judged as being too masculine if they are strong. Recently she has been mentoring a teenage wrestler from Nevada, a girl who she thinks could someday be good. A few weeks ago, the girl came to stay with her for a while. Until then, the girl had looked something like what Gray calls “a tomboy.” At first Gray thought that’s just how the girl wanted to be, but as they talked she realized that’s what the girl thought she had to be if she was going to wrestle.

The day after the girl returned home, she wore a skirt to school and her mother called Gray in tears, thrilled that her daughter had learned she didn’t have to look like a boy to be a wrestler.

“It was good for me to teach young girls that you don’t have to shy away from combat sports because you don’t want lose your femininity,” she said. “I don’t feel like I lost any of mine.”

This is why, when ESPN magazine asked Gray to pose naked in Body Issue, she agreed. The experience was unnerving. It’s not easy to stand with strangers while not wearing any clothes. At times she worried how she’d look. Would she have too much fat on her hips? Then she stopped. She has what she calls “an athletic female body” and that’s what she wanted to show. When the magazine came out she was thrilled. The photo they published made her appear strong and graceful and elegant, which is exactly the way she sees herself.

“I think it portrays all my hard work and the dedication, and what a real female body looks like,” she said. “I’m not a Greek god by any means, with 0% body fat, with unrealistic, I guess, female proportions from a Victoria’s Secret model. It’s just who I am in those pictures, and I love them. It’s never a bad thing when people tell you you are good at things and you look pretty.”

She laughed. She loves this world of Rousey, this world of powerful women who are free to be themselves and not feel self-conscious about their strength. And yet she always wonders about the double standard, this notion that women like her will never be fully accepted, that they will forever be trapped by surface judgments. As she sat there, in a room, at the Olympic park, she thought about the US’s male wrestlers, who had been in the room only a few minutes before, doing interviews behind a big table. She watched them sitting there regal in their Team USA jackets, and marveled at how easy it was for them to look purposeful and dominant, with their stoic expressions. They appeared deep in thought.

Ronda Rousey unlikely to fight until next year, UFC president saysRead more

She wondered about her own expressions, and lamented that she, too, couldn’t look the same. And she thought of the phrase “resting bitch face” and how this is too often how women are judged. It annoys her that she has to be conscious of her expressions when she is sitting before people, knowing that if people see her staring seriously that she must somehow be angry. Why does it have to be like that, she wondered.

For this, too, she admires Rousey, because Rousey doesn’t worry about how her face looks. Rousey’s serious face is her powerful face and she seems not to care what people think of it.

“We aren’t used to seeing a strong confident female like Ronda Rousey,” Gray said. “And she gets this negative connotation. She always has this bitch face on when it’s probably just her normal face.”

But now they are used to the strength. Thanks to a Olympic judo medalist turned MMA superstar there is a place for Adeline Gray, a place for the girl from Nevada, and a place for the other American women wrestlers who sit in this room beside her.

Why Ronda Rousey has changed the world for women like Adeline Gray (2024)

FAQs

What is Ronda Rousey known for? ›

Ronda Jean Rousey (/ˈraʊzi/; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her tenure in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE.

What happened to Ronda Rousey? ›

Rousey had a quiet departure from WWE after losing an "MMA Rules" match to her longtime friend and fellow UFC alum Shayna Baszler at SummerSlam in 2023. She subsequently wrestled two matches elsewhere -- including one in Ring of Honor -- teaming with MMA fighter-turned-pro wrestler Marina Shafir.

How many children does Ronda Rousey have? ›

Ronda Rousey's kids

Rousey gave birth to a daughter on 27th September 2021. The child is named La'akea Makalapuaokalanipō Browne. While the child is the only biological kid, the couple has between them. However, Travis Browne has two sons from his previous relationship With Erin Browne.

Why is Ronda Rousey an inspiration? ›

[Ronda] is an inspiration to people that don't do the sport as well because people look up to her and say 'hey you know you're not the stereotypical kind of woman, you are strong, you protect yourself, you know how to fight'. Women like fighting. We genuinely like it. It is fun.

What are some interesting facts about Ronda Rousey? ›

Fast Facts
  • Began training in judo when she was 8, training under her mother, a former World Champion.
  • Became the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in Judo, earning the bronze at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
  • Retired from judo after the Olympics at 21, and worked as a bartender before started her MMA career.

Does Ronda Rousey eat once a day? ›

With Ronda, she only eats one meal a day, but she says she eats until she gets full, which is an interesting concept. How many calories is that in a given day, and what does that do to the body's performance, digestion, insulin level regulation?

How much money does Ronda Rousey make in a fight? ›

How Much Did The UFC Pay Ronda Rousey?
CompensationOpponent
$1,063,688Alexis Davis
$1,458,282Cat Zingano
$2,642,204Bethe Correia
$4,476,662 or $4,536,932Holly Holm
4 more rows
Nov 3, 2023

Why did Ronda Rousey retire? ›

Ronda Rousey, one of the most influential stars in UFC history, revealed this week that she retired from mixed martial arts primarily because of a history of concussions. Rousey retired from MMA at age 29 in 2016 after back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.

Did Ronda Rousey retire? ›

This week, she said concussions suffered during her judo career contributed to her retirement from UFC in 2016 after knockout defeats to Amanda Nunes and Holly Holm. “I'd like people to understand my reasons and motivations behind things,” Rousey said in an Instagram Live appearance to promote her upcoming memoir.

How rich is Ronda Rousey? ›

Ronda Rousey's 2024 net worth is estimated at $14 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

What did Ronda Rousey do in her childhood? ›

Because of her mother, a 7th degree black belt and 1984 World Judo Champion, Ronda took up the sport. She had a hard time socializing with other kids and found that Judo gave her confidence. She holds a 4th degree black belt in the martial art.

When did Ronda Rousey become famous? ›

In 2011, she turned professional and proved dominant, winning matches by submission, often in less than a minute. She took the Bantamweight title from Miesha Tate, becoming champion of Strikeforce. In 2012, Rousey signed with UFC and became the first ever female UFC champion.

What did Ronda Rousey do before the WWE? ›

Ronda Rousey: Facts & Related Content

American mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey began her sports career in judo competitions, making her Olympic debut in 2004 on the U.S. judo team in Athens and later winning a bronze medal in the women's middleweight judo event at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Why is Ronda Rousey the best? ›

Rousey won the honours of Senior Bronze Medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the sport of Judo, and went to to achieve tremendous success in the world of Mixed Martial Arts -- winning the Women's Bantamweight Championship in both Strikeforce and the UFC, besides also making history by notching up 6 successful UFC ...

Why did Ronda Rousey quit the WWE? ›

"To fight over 100 times a year, make all those towns, still be able to train, still be able to do all the media, it's an exhausting industry.” Rollins suggested Rousey's departure from the WWE was triggered by her inability to keep up with the hectic schedule he and other professional wrestlers have to contend with.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Jamar Nader

Last Updated:

Views: 5255

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (55 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jamar Nader

Birthday: 1995-02-28

Address: Apt. 536 6162 Reichel Greens, Port Zackaryside, CT 22682-9804

Phone: +9958384818317

Job: IT Representative

Hobby: Scrapbooking, Hiking, Hunting, Kite flying, Blacksmithing, Video gaming, Foraging

Introduction: My name is Jamar Nader, I am a fine, shiny, colorful, bright, nice, perfect, curious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.