AJ Lee has tweeted Stephanie McMahon about the WWE's failures in the Diva division. AJ pointed out that women performers earn substantially less than WWE male performers. She also criticised the lack of screen time assigned to the women. The tweets were in a public place and made Stephanie look like a hypocrite. Earlier in the week, Steph had tweeted about how great it was that a Hollywood actress was demanding the movie industry pay female performers equally to men. Hilariously, Steph used the hashtag #UseYourVoice, so AJ's response was quite simply doing as her boss had requested. "Your female wrestlers have record selling merchandise & have starred in the highest rated segment of the show several times," AJ tweeted, "And yet they receive a fraction of the wages & screen time of the majority of the male roster. #UseYourVoice." Stephanie probably never expected that reaction when originally tweeting "Thank You @PattyArquette for having the courage to fight for #WomensRights on such a grand platform. #UseYourVoice." It isn't like AJ could get in trouble for this, as Steph actively encouraged it. The 27 year old Diva is currently out with an injury and will be returning at some point. The WWE could hurt her in a roundabout way with the way they book her upon returning, but that remains to be seen. AJ is also in a difficult position because she's married to CM Punk, who is currently being sued for a million dollars by the WWE's doctor. "Thank you @WWEAJLee, I appreciate your opinion. #UseYourVoice" Steph tweeted back to AJ's remarks. No other Diva did a #UseYourVoice tweet. That could suggest that the internal perception is that Stephanie is angry at this public questioning of WWE's equality. On the other hand, maybe Steph is genuinely glad that AJ spoke up. Steph has always been an advocate for the divas and it is more likely to be Vince McMahon who is responsible for the male / female balance. Speaking of Vince, he tweeted "We hear you. Keep watching. #GiveDivasAChance." That was in relation to the #GiveDivasAChance that had been trending during the pitiful 30 second Divas match on Raw - but it was also likely a reaction to AJ Lee. The rights and wrongs of this situation are fairly complex. Yes, the divas deserve more screen time. They also deserve more money. But there are fundamental differences between the women and the men in the WWE. It isn't realistic to suggest that pay should just be equal across the board. The highest earners in WWE will always be the men, as they are what ultimately draws the most ticket sales. You can push a woman as hard as you like, she can have all the ring and mic talent in the world, but culturally the fans are always going to pay to see the male wrestlers. That's more about society than the WWE. This isn't like the UFC, where Ronda Rousey became a top drawing star based upon her fighting skill. The UFC helped her along with a promotional push, and her looks helped, but Rousey is a once in a lifetime star. It isn't like WWE could replicate that in a pro wrestling setting. Longer WWE matches would be nice for the more athletic girls, but it isn't like an increase in longer divas matches would be a good thing across the board. In some instances, more divas action would be a bad thing, because the main female roster is just so limited. Not everyone is a Charlotte or Sasha Banks. It is worth noting as well that the Divas are paid well by a working standard. It is also questionable when AJ states "record selling merchandise" and "highest rated segment" in her tweet. None of these girls are outperforming John Cena anytime soon. Part of this can also go back to the hypocrisy in Patricia Arquette's original speech. A millionaire complaining to a crowd of fellow millionaires about pay problems... it is something that is completely out of touch with the working public.
