No, this is not about porn.

This is about PhD chicks who kick ass.

Like Rosi Sexton, 5′4″, 121 lbs, with a PhD in theoretical computer science, who stepped into the MMA ring last week.  Now, she got beat, but her competition goes by the stage/fighting name “Warrior Princess,” so we guess we like her too.

Jezebel (one of our fave blogs) makes some interesting points about how these women seem to keep having to assert their femininity outside the ring  just because they kick each other in the face a lot, and that got us thinking: Why?

Fighting is actually as much a female activity as a male one in pop culture today–sure, warriors were male most of the time in ancient cultures, but nowadays a movie is more likely to feature a cat fight than two dudes brawling.  Women-battling-each-other plots have abounded in your multiplex: Bride Wars, anyone?  Whereas the last dudes-fighting movie we can come up with off the top of our heads might be Fight Club, though we’re sure we’re missing some.

Women fighting each other is a cultural trope for better or worse– and MMA is part of the better.  Stand proud, ladies!