Posts filed under 'battle of the sexes'
35 YEARS AGO, WHEN BILLIE RULED THE COURT
September 20, 1973. It was at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Over 30,000 came to watch a tennis match unlike any other. It was a best three-out-of-five set singles tennis match. On one side of the court was a man. And on the other a woman. Both had won Wimbledon, the Super Bowl of its sport. Both had boasted they’d beat the other. But only one of them was going to come out on top. Who was going to win? Bobby Riggs? Or Billie Jean King? All the men rooted for Bobby. Except for one, that is, (Lawrence W. King) who cheered along with the women for their King. For Bobby, it was just another tennis match. For Billie, it meant the rest of her life. And the legacies of all the other women in sports. As well as other professions. This tennis match would decide whether or not women could be capable of being a doctor, instead of a being a nurse. Just one example of a long list of professions that women before had been denied of practicing in. Billie Jean King was representing half of the human race inside the Dome. And she knew it more than any person at the staduim, as well as those watching at home. And she did not disappoint. This was the evening Bobby Riggs had to stop talking, and back up his words. Words that, in the end, were useless. It only took three sets for the 29-year-old native of Long Beach, California to fling her racket in triumph. 35 years later, women have advanced further in society than ever before. For the second time in American history this year, a woman in a major political party is on a Presidential ticket. Imagine what might happen 35 years from now! Though the Battle of the Sexes may not have single-handedly changed society’s attitudes towards women it has most certainly played a part in getting women closer to social equality. And we take this time to thank Billie Jean King for her contribution to the American Experience! We all love you, Billie!
1 comment September 20, 2008
