Billie Jean King announced to the United States, “ I have often been asked whether I am a woman or an athlete. The question is absurd. Men are not asked that. I am an athlete. I am a woman.” She spoke those words in 1982 when women were continuing to challenge traditional gender roles. Billie Jean King, an American female tennis player, has never been one to back away from controversy. She is a powerful voice for the advancement of women’s rights, equal pay, and the acceptance of sexual orientation. King is probably best known for accepting a challenge from Bobby Riggs, a former number one male tennis player in the world, to a “Battle of the Sexes.” She beat Bobby in straight sets. (The Official Website of Billie Jean King). But what …show more content…
Women were pictured as the ones who stayed at home, cleaned the house, and took care of the kids. But, King was about to help reshape this image. It all changed when she won a tournament in Rome. The male winner won $7,500 while King only received $600. From then on forward, she wanted to prove that women were worth just as much as men were (Billie Jean King - In search of Equality). Not shy of speaking her mind, she pushed The National Tennis Association for equal prize money for men and women. Still fighting, King played the infamous ‘Battle of the Sexes’ where she defeated Bobby Riggs 6-4 6-3 6-3 further proving that women were just as good as men. In 1973, when the unequal prize money was still not being addressed, she once again jeopardized herself by threatening to boycott the U.S. Open unless they offered equal pay for both genders (Billie Jean King Biography). The U.S Open became the first major tennis tournament to offer equal prize money (Billie Jean King Biography). It took many years of hard work and still more to come, but Billie Jean King helped form the Women 's Tennis Tour and became known as a major figure in the growth of women’s professional tennis (Edward