Rhea Ripley has hit out at the sexist stereotype that she hates, while commenting on being an inspiration to young women around the world.
When Rea Ripley first appeared on WWE television as part of the 2017 Mae Young Classic she was sporting long blonde hair and styled herself as a typical WWE female performer.
However, by the time she returned to the same competition a year later, her long hair was gone and she was leaning more heavily into being an alternative heel character. This transformation has continued over the following years, recently earning the star comparisons with WWE legend Chyna as she acts as the enforcer for a male dominated faction in Judgment Day.
Speaking in a new interview with Fox Sports Australia the star hit back at critics who claim she is “too masculine” before slamming the sexist view that she needs to go back to having long hair.
“The whole thing is women should have long hair. I hate that stereotype,” said Ripley. “I hate when men say grow your hair out. No. This is my body, this is my choice. I do whatever the hell I want with my body and you can’t tell me what to do because I love myself. I don’t really care if you don’t love me.”
Ripley went on to explain that she is proud of serving as an inspiration to young women around the world who love their short hair because of they’ve seen her on TV.
“That’s so strong and I love when I get tagged in photos of women and they’ve cut their hair in the same way because ‘Rhea I found the confidence to cut my hair,’ that’s just insane to me,”
The former Raw Women’s Champion went on to break down how she had looked up to WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix in a similar way when she was younger.
“Growing up, I looked at people like Beth Phoenix. She was different, she was built different, big beefy and she had muscles and she was going out there and obliterating anyone in her path. That’s someone I looked up to.”
Rhea Ripley currently makes up one quarter of Judgment Day alongside Finn Balor, Damian Priest and new recruit Dominik Mysterio. Speaking elsewhere, the star recently opened up about how her confidence has developed as her WWE career has progressed.