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| This happens way too often, and that's a problem Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Obviously, if this ongoing feud existed against the backdrop of reality, I wouldn't have a problem with how it is playing out. A tapestry of relationship dynamics exists in the real world, and WWE has already established that Lee is not exactly sane in the membrane. However, WWE only exists in the real world insofar as said real world being a palette of references that the announcers can draw from. Within the closed, WWE Universe, men are heroes when they humiliate women in public upon breakup, even if they are just as awful in terms of character integrity. The best/worst example that springs to my mind is when Edge belittled Vickie Guerrero upon ending their relationship to the raucous cheers of a crowd hungry to see a widow reduced to tears for the crime of not looking like Trish Stratus and having a shrill voice.
For as much as I love the Vickie Guerrero character though, her concerto is one note played on repeat. Granted, that note is a stroke of Pavlovian genius with staying power, but no one ever accused her of having range of emotion or depth of character. She is set up to be a punchline from jump. I get that; not every female character needs to have complex agency. Of course, one female character with that kind of power would be a great start, but again, if we set up this imaginary atmosphere within the WWE Universe that mimics reality, then sure, Guerrero's character is valid. The way she's treated certainly isn't. Misogyny is misogyny, whether inflicted upon a caricature or an actress with the chops of a Meryl Streep. But hey, if WWE ever found out a way to make Guerrero the butt of a segment that didn't totally degrade her for her gender, then I would find it valid because that character is one-dimensional.
Lee, however, has been one of the most dynamic acting presences on the roster in recent memory. Her feud with Kaitlyn has reached peaks of quality that I can attribute solely to her presence on the microphone. Her facial expressions have been crucial to the entertainment factor of Team Ziggler over the last eight months. She is not only given complex motivations by the writing team, but she has the chops to give life to them and ingrain them into her character in ways that befit A-list cinema, let alone wrestling.
Because she has raised the bar so high, I can't help but feel disappointed by the last three weeks, and it has nothing to do with her as a performer. WWE has a track record for sorting women into two bins - sexy cattle and typical stereotype that involves crying and irrationality. More than just a couple of months of build that alternated between supporting character and short bursts of in-ring feuding is needed to reverse this trend that has existed ever since Alundra Blayze walked out of WWE with the Women's Championship. There are areas where I will give WWE a "wait and see" pass, but in the treatment of Lee and women in general, I cannot in good conscience be patient because they have given me no reason to do so.
And so arrives the conundrum of being a woman in professional wrestling. We all know how loathsome and despicable TNA treats its women in every facet of business. WWE at least provides a livable wage for the services required, even if genitalia seems to block them from male midcarder wages let alone the scrilla reserved for John Cena. For that money, however, WWE requires its women to give short shrift to the entire gender. The fact that they allowed the Bella Twins to do guest commentary just to run everyone other woman down in the company more than once speaks volumes about what they think in the front office, and it's depressingly sad. I can't imagine how frustrated one of the 35% of the fanbase that is female feels about their representation.
While that representation is disconcerting, it remains not surprising. Just because it has become old hat does not mean it should be met with indifference. AJ Lee brings more to the table than half the men on the roster at the very least. To reduce her to every other woman who has ever been dumped on WWE programming is not only shameful and sexist, but it's goddamn stupid as well. The most important part about treating women like people is that it's the absolute right thing to do, but that's not the language that speaks to WWE, sadly. Money, business, and fan reactions? Those are in the WWE's vocabulary. If they want potential spillover audience from a show like Total Divas to stick around for RAW and Smackdown, maybe they ought not to frame an entire gender as a mess of emotions whose worth is inherently tied to their looks.
AJ Lee is a phenomenal torchbearer for women in wrestling, at least in the mainstream. WWE would be wise to let her carry that torch without crying every five seconds because she got dumped.