Battle of the Sexes

By: Lauren Judy

Synopsis
Battle of the Sexes is a film based on the true story of Billie Jean King and her battle for women equality.

Billie Jean started playing tennis at age 11, she worked her way to the top when she became the United
States women’s champion in 1972.

In 1973 male chauvinist Bobby Riggs challenged Billie Jean to tennis match, Billie Jean King accepted
Bobby Rigg’s challenge not for the money but in her words “to put women’s tennis and women’s lib back
where it belongs.”
Insights
The 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs became the most watched televised sports event
of all time. After just two hours and four minutes Billie Jean King made history. That evening Billie Jean changed
not only tennis, but the country’s attitude toward women athletes and women’s equality in general.
Gender Stereotyping
Examples of gender stereotyping in the workplace consisted of many discriminatory and pessimistic comments
throughout.

Example such as:

“I love women in the bedroom and the kitchen, but these days they want to be everywhere. When is it going to
end?” -Bobby Riggs

“It’s not that women can’t play tennis, they just can’t handle the pressure, as we’ve seen today women are simply

just not in the same league. Let's face it in business, politics, sports, you name it whatever they like to think, at the

very top it is a man's game” - Jack Kramer

Wage Gap

● In the United States during the 1970s the concept of “comparable worth,” or “pay equity,” entered the
national conversation. Its proponents called attention to wage gaps between workers in jobs that, while not
identical, could be considered similar in terms of skills, responsibility, and value to the overall enterprise.
Often, they argued, those gaps were a legacy of past discrimination (Daugherty, 2021).
● In today’s society unequal pay between genders is still an issue. Overall, women who are full-time, year-
round employees make 82.3 cents for every dollar a man makes. That means women are paid 17.7% less than
men, earning $10,157 less than men (Sheth,Ward,Tyson,Hoff,2021).
Unequal Pay

Before Billie Jean’s victory against Bobby Riggs, male tennis players were
making eight times more than female players. The Pacific southwest
tournament offered male players 12,000 dollars to the winner and only 1,500
would go to the female winner. When questioned, the male directors of the
tournament responded with “ men are more exciting to watch because they are
faster, stronger and more competitive than women due to their biology”. -Jack
Kramer
A Legacy

Billie's win assured that girls who are inspired by her feat will finally get the same access to school sports as boys,
and enjoy the same lifelong benefits from participating in sports. (Dismore, 2020).

Billie Jean created a legacy for herself and proved to women everywhere that they are just as capable as a men.
Thank you Billie Jean King.
References

Daugherty, G. (2021, April 27). The History of the Gender Wage Gap in America. Retrieved from
https://www.investopedia.com/history-gender-wage-gap-america-5074898

Dismore, David M. “Today in Feminist History: Billie Jean King Shatters Stereotypes (September

20, 1973).” Ms. Magazine, 15 June 2020, msmagazine.com/2020/09/20/feminist-history-september-

20/.
Sonam Sheth, M. (2021, March 24). These 8 charts show the glaring gap between men's and
women's salaries in the US. Retrieved July 12, 2021, from
https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3