This page was created by Collin Hardwick.
Billie Jean King
Unhappy with the politics of tennis King and eight others joined and created the Virginia Slims tour in 1970. The tour was for women only and was essentially a protest against the pay discrepancies in bigger tournaments such as the Pacific Southwest Open (Ware 32). Not long after, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was created with King as the president (Lincoln). Women started to challenge society instead of simply conforming to it.
September 20, 1973, King played Bobby Riggs in a tennis match deemed “The Battle of the Sexes” (Ware 1). That day, King proved to the world that women were capable and not just weak house wives. In winning, she managed to upend stereotypes and be the exception. King’s decision to accept the challenge that Riggs proposed inspired women to follow their aspirations and dreams whether athletically inclined or not (Ware 2). At the time, Briggs vs King symbolized “a revolution in women’s sports” (Ware 8).
As a successful female athlete King did not let spectators forget that women too had rights and did not need to be forced to conform to men’s needs.
(Top Photo) Billie Jean King https://www.billiejeanking.com
