Morgan Ronda Rousey is a champion UFC fighter that has changed gender equality as well as American

societys traditional idea about women in sports.

Ronda Jean Rousey was born on February 1, 1987, in Riverside, California. She has a unique past that
has affected her life greatly. Ronda was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, she
nearly died from a lack of oxygen and sustained slight brain damage which prevented her ability to
speak an intelligible word until she was 6 years old.
A tragedy fell upon the family when Rondas dad, Ron, broke his back while sledding with his
daughters. A blood disorder prevented him from healing properly, and after learning he would be a
imobile in the few years he had left to live, he committed suicide when Rousey was 8.
Rousey struggled in class and was homeschooled for parts of elementary and high school, but she
found an outlet for her frustration when her mother persuaded her to learn judo.
At 16, she dropped out of school, left her family and moved to Boston to train to compete in judo at
the 2004 Olympics. She was thriving and unraveling, and began bingeing and purging to make weight.
From that point on, Ronda began building her martial arts career up to what we know her as today.

Genevie You should know what Ronda Rousey is doing for gender equality. More specifically, you need to
know how shes blazing a previously unchartered path down the middle of American societys
traditional ideals about women in sports.
In November of 2012, Rousey was the first woman to sign with the Ultimate Fighting Championship,
the worlds largest mixed martial arts league.
Her fight against Cat Zingano on February 28, 2015, ended quite quickly, thanks to her signature move,
the armbar. In an armbar, Rousey tackles her opponent to the ground, traps the other woman's arm
between her legs and bends it back at the elbow. If her opponent doesn't tap out to signal defeat, the
move could snap the arm. Zingano tapped out in just 14 seconds, the fastest submission in a UFC title
fight.

On that day, Rousey, a female, was the main attraction in a sport primarily attended and viewed by
men. Lets be clear: men werent just gathered to watch the UFC on a night where Rousey
happened
to
be fighting, men were gathered because they
wanted
to watch Rousey fight.
Rousey could easily become the most important person for gender equality in the year 2015. Shes not
just challenging social norms regarding women in sports, but shes challenging social norms regarding
females in general. In a world where societys traditional ideals have women being beautiful, small,
dainty, thin, and subordinate, Ronda Rousey stands beautiful, broad, strong, talented, aggressive, and
insubordinate.

Mayra -