The Battle of the Sexes and it's Lasting Effects

 

When I was in elementary school, me and my best friend at the time would sprint past the playground to the fields everyday after finally being let out for recess. We’d join in with the large group huddled around organizing teams for “two hand touch” football games. The crowd consisted of around twenty-five boys, with me and my friend being the only two girls. The two coolest boys in my grade were assumed captains, and took turns choosing players for their teams. Despite being taller, stronger, and more athletic than the majority of the boys in our grade, we were picked last every single time, and occasionally denied even being on a team at all. Even after one of the recess monitors scolded the boys, telling them they had to let us play, they would argue and debate over who would have to play on a team with the girls. Although I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to play a variety of town/school sports growing up, the sexist ideology that women are inherently less capable than men is still extremely prevalent today and adversely affects generations of girls. 

Ms. O'connell talked about the battle of the sexes; and how it became a turning point in women’s athletics. Bobby Riggs had originally challenged Margaret Court, a highly regarded female tennis player in her twenties. Before the match, Bobby presented Margaret with a bouquet of flowers, supposedly to mess with her performance. This apparently worked, because Bobby ended up crushing Margaret in the match. This initial loss perpetuated men’s ideas about female athletics, and further pushed the narrative that female athletics were unimportant and did not need to be prioritized. When Riggs then challenged Billie Jean King, she was not initially eager; either way felt like a lose-lose situation. However, she did not want the verdict of this debate to be settled by Riggs and Courts catastrophic match, so King reluctantly agreed. Billie Jean King was in her prime, and significantly younger than her opponent. Throughout the match, King remained calm, cool, and collected and proceeded to beat Riggs by a substantial margin. The victory was a win for women as a whole, showing that women are beyond capable at excelling in athletics. 

Although it can be argued that Billie Jean King’s triumph at the “battle of the sexes” opened numerous doors for girls and women in athletics, there are still evident inequalities between men and women within the sports industry. For example; there are ongoing disputes regarding the pay gap between male and female athletes. There are also lasting biases pertaining to women in athletics, who are less societally respected than their male counterparts.