Battle of the Sexes, Essay Example on Gender Equality

Gender equality aims to bring about an authentic balance between women and men by ensuring human rights are respected. The "Battle of the Sexes" is the never-ending struggle between men and women. In a society where there is gender equality, women and men are provided with equal opportunities to participate in various activities at all levels voluntarily. This they should do as equal partners or players. They are therefore able to equally enjoy cultural, economic and social benefits that come with such opportunities (Gordon, 2017). The key to a stable, prosperous and successful society is gender equality where women are empowered and given equal opportunity to succeed

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The establishment of a sound social framework can help in realizing an affluent, successful society. This is because such a system allows people to engage in a variety of lifestyles in spite of gender role stereotypes. This debate about whether men are superior to women has been going on for a while (Fink, 2015). For example, there was a tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs forty-one years. This event was termed the "Battle of the Sexes." Riggs wished to show that women could not compete equally with men (World Tennis Association (WTA), 2017).

Riggs had been requesting for a competition with Billie Jean, but she had constantly refused. She finally accepted the challenge after Riggs won against Margaret Court. Surprisingly, Billie won the match (2017). This went a long way in disproving the bias many had against women's ability to perform in tasks that are culturally seen as reserved and fitting for men. Many philosophers and scholars have attempted to address this social dilemma but without success (Schulman, 2017).

The struggle for equal rights in the world of tennis has come a long way. Billie Jean King created the Virginia Slims Circuit in 1970. She was a member of The Original 9. They struggled hard to get equal prize money in matches and tournaments (Claus & Kroezen, 2016). She enlisted Rosie Casals and Nancy Richey to plan how they could boycott US Open competitions. Gladys Heldman encouraged the women to do a tennis tour of their own. This was despite the threats from the US Lawn Tennis Association to suspend the nine women who boycotted. Rosie Casals won the tournament in Texas while the others won in different tournaments elsewhere. In 1973 the women's world of sports changed when The Virginia Slims Circuit became the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

In conclusion, women have equal or even higher chances of succeeding at sports just like men. Even though most men are physically stronger than women, gender equality should be cultivated in the society. Women's world of sports has since seen the success of many women. As outlined in this paper the success of women's tennis sports is enough proof that gender equality can have many benefits in the society if it is embraced and implemented.

References

Claus, L., & Kroezen, J. (2016, January). How Do Institutional Paradoxes Evolve? The Gender Equality Paradox in Professional Tennis. In Academy of Management Proceedings(Vol. 2016, No. 1, p. 14026). Academy of Management.

Fink, J. S. (2015). Female athletes, women's sport, and the sport media commercial complex: Have we really "come a long way, baby"?. Sport Management Review, 18(3), 331-342.

Gordon, E. A. (2017). Battle of the sexes. Guardian (Sydney), (1800), 11.

Schulman, L. B. (2017). An Open Letter to Media Creators: History is a Noun. Women's History is a Verb.

World Tennis Association. Looking Back On The Original Nine. Retrieved from http://www.wtatennis.com/news/looking-back-original-nine [Accessed March 10, 2018]