UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey has come out swinging against feminists who complain about wage gaps, saying pay doesn’t have anything to do with your sex—it’s about results.
“How much you get paid should have something to do with how much money you bring in,” Rousey said at a press conference. “I’m the highest-paid fighter not because Dana and Lorenzo wanted to do something nice for the ladies—they do it because I bring in the highest numbers.”
Here’s the video of her feminist smackdown:
Before you get too excited about Rousey’s blow to pay inequality, check this out. She supports the only self-confessed socialist in the presidential race—Bernie Sanders. As it turns out, Rousey doesn’t think much of the two-party system or political insiders. Like a lot of voters in this election season, Rousey is looking to an outsider.
“I’m voting for Bernie Sanders, because he doesn’t take any corporate money,” Rousey told Maxim. “I don’t think politicians should be allowed to take money for their campaigns from outside interests.”
If Sanders doesn’t win the primary, Rousey said she’ll go third-party: “To be honest, in 2012 I was against both candidates and so I just picked any third party because I thought if more people voted for third parties then they’d have to take third parties seriously.”
I’ll Vote Third-Party If I Have To
She has a point. But who was that third-party candidate in 2012? Rosanne Barr!
“Mostly I went in to vote for all the state and local things,” Rousey said. “I was so unimpressed with the whole presidential campaign that I picked whatever third party I saw, and I saw Roseanne and thought, ‘That’s awesome.’ But I’m really pulling for Sanders this time. I hope it works out.”
Since Rousey likes outsider candidates, you’d think she’d go for Donald Trump, but she’s not a fan. In an interview with CNN, she said, “I mean, I wouldn’t vote for him. I just really wouldn’t trust the guy with running my country, that’s all. I’m not really going to get into specifics of it, but, I mean, I don’t want a reality TV star to be running my country.”
Obviously there’s some bad blood between the two. After Rousey’s brutal knockout loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, Trump sent out this nasty tweet:
He’s definitely not going to get her vote. She’s going with the socialist instead.
This Sort of Makes Sense?
Trump feuds aside, this isn’t a complete surprise. Artist, entertainers, musicians, and athletes, who have created their own wealth from their talents instead of building a corporation through business prowess, look at their wealth differently than those in the corporate world. Their wealth is more organic, and it’s not based on bottom lines and business deals. As creative types, they have a strong sense of social responsibility. So it’s not unusual for Rousey to be a fierce defender of her own financial success yet support a candidate like Sanders.
It’s also not surprising that an independent spirit like Rousey would want to buck the two-party system. A lot of people feel the same way she does about politics as usual. It would just be nice if she thought through the implications of socialism and stuck with her down-to-earth common sense—such as that you eventually run out of other people’s money, and who wants big government to tell us how we should spend our own money?
Still, Rousey’s voice on feminist belly-aching over wage gaps is refreshing. A lot of us hardworking women are tired of hearing women who make millions complain about how unfairly they’re treated in Hollywood. Like actor Jeremy Renner said, if they don’t like what they’re making, they should hire better lawyers to work out a deal.
How much you make shouldn’t have anything to do with your sex, race, creed, or sexual orientation. It should be about merit. Hopefully, Rousey will think about that before she pulls the lever for Bernie Sanders.
