Serena Williams Inequality

As the article reveals the immense pay gap women are receiving compared to men when they achieve similar accomplishments. “Women players at Wimbledon, women's tennis has problems winning big sponsors. Golfer Juli Inkster won her sport's career grand slam last month, winning the Ladies Professional Golf Association Championship. She got $210,000. The same weekend, the Buick Classic paid its male winner $450,000” (Christian Science Monitor, 1999). As one can clearly infer women have been stripped of their equality in the realm of sports. Women work just as hard as men to achieve this success in their respected sport and should be rewarded for doing

Gender inequality in professional tennis is a real and alarming issue, from the pay gap between mens' and womens' tennis players to the low media coverage of women's professional tennis. This issue even goes as far as how differently tennis commentators discuss and analyze mens tennis as opposed to how they discuss and analyze womens tennis. When commentators discuss men's tennis they solely focus on the skill of the players, but when they discuss women's tennis they place more importance on the appearance of the female players, rather than their skill. This instance of gender inequality in professional tennis is further exacerbated by the differences in advertisements for male tennis players and female tennis players. The advertisements involving male tennis players display their athleticism and tennis abilities, whereas the advertisements including female tennis players are appearance-focused, with the females often wearing little clothing. This is corroborated by the popular belief that focusing on the physical appearance of female athletes is the only way in which generating money from women's professional sports is distinctly possible (Fink, 2015, p. 338). Female professional tennis players train just as hard as the men do, thus the gender inequality that exists in the sport is not necessarily a result of how women perform on the court. It is rather a result of how society perceives women playing in professional sports overall, which the mass media is partially to blame

The author of The Colonel, Michael Hogan, details how a certain Army Colonel influenced his life through the sport of tennis. Hogan begins by indicating how mainstreamed tennis is today, to the point an average adolescent could not imagine tennis as a ‘rich man’ sport. In the fifties, when Hogan was a child, tennis was a sport reserved for mostly men at country clubs and private resorts. Women had competed at international competitions such as Wimbledon for a several years, but many of them were amateurs (oftentimes paid little). Fortunately for female tennis players, Billie Jean King’s assertiveness, in 1967, and the Virginia Slim tournaments, in the seventies, influenced tennis to include women in professional tennis (such as Chris Everts

People pretend it doesn’t exist, but racism is still here and much alive.  Tennis prides itself on being innovators. That’s why tennis awards equal prize money, television and media coverage to both male and female tennis players. The fact remains that tennis wouldn’t be true innovators until it stops racism. Serena and Venus William’s two African American sisters began tennis when they were young and soon started having massive success. The success the two sisters had brought inspiration and influenced other young African Americans to join the game.

Althea Gibson (August 25, 1927- September 28, 2003), also known as the tennis Jackie Robinson, was the first African-American woman to not only play amateur tennis but also join the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Althea Gibson was one of the most influential and significant figures in African-American women’s sports history (Douglas). Althea was the figurehead that established that blacks were equal competitors in sports (Gould). On the streets of Harlem, New York City is where Althea got her start; Traveling the globe breaking racial barriers in different countries and winning their tennis tournaments is what Althea did. Although she did not receive any monetary gain from her winnings she did receive many awards and trophies, as well as the meeting of many important individuals.

Serena is more than just a tennis player. She is a fashionable athlete. During a match in 2002, Serena was wearing a black lycra catsuit at the US Open. This was a number one discussion topic among sports enthusiasts at the time.

History has referred to her as "the Jackie Robinson of tennis" for breaking the color barrier. On August 22, 1950, Althea Gibson, an American sportswoman, became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour. She was the first to win a 'grand slam' title in 1957. She was a pioneer in both amateur tennis and professional golf forging a road for future greats to include Tiger Woods and Venus Williams. She was also the first black woman on the LPGA tour.

The Williams sister’s have had to suffer under the oppression of the lily white sport of tennis. Throughout Serena’s very successful career there have been multiple cases where one of the judges, either a line judge or a head umpire, have cost her a championship based on the calls that they have made. In 2004, Mariana Alves, cost Serena a trip to the championship game after making five bad calls in a row in favor of Serena’s opponent. As

Althea Gibson had not only played sports professionally she had also achieved great things and even making history. Althea Gibson did this by winning competitions that white people had taken place in showing that African Americans were just as capable as white people. Gibson had even gone as far as to win the U.S National Championship, the top-ranked tennis player in the world, and female athlete of the year by the Associated Press. At this point, Althea had exterminated every bit of talk about how white people are superior to African Americans and that the African Americans were

Female athletes are discriminated against in modern sports because they have lower salaries than the male athletes. Over the years the wage gap between male and female athletes has increased tremendously. The wage gap that has been viewed as one of the most extraordinary is the gap between men and women basketball players. An article by David Berri talks about this outrageous money difference. Diana Taurasi plays a big part in the Women’s National Basketball Association, especially being the one that led the Phoenix Mercury to win the league championship in 2014. Taurasi was

Throughout the years, sports have become a major part of society. Sports, a large percentage of the time, are a part of peoples’ lives in one way or another. Whether they participate in them or just enjoy watching them, sports are a big deal to the majority of people. There are also some individuals who have redefined the expectations when it comes to certain sports. For instance, Babe Ruth redefined the way people think about baseball, or Michael Jordan completely changing the game of basketball. But Joe Louis and Venus and Serena Williams have changed their games in a way no one could have imagined. Although “Champion of the World” by Maya Angelou and “Woman Who Hit Very Hard and How They’ve Changed Tennis” by Michael Kimmelman are different, they are similar in the ways they show how the respected athletes, Joe Louis and the Williams sisters, changed the game and were seen using symbolism in racial and sexual progression.

Serena Williams is the number one women’s tennis player in the world. Her outstanding skills have earned her 50 million dollars through just prizes; that is more than any other athlete in the world (“Serena Williams Fast Facts”). Her fast reflexes, amazing skills, and outgoing personality have made her known as a powerful woman and an inspiration to many young girls. This African-American woman is almost six feet tall and is made of steel. With her long, muscular legs and her quick arms, no wonder she is number one!

Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer shows the dedication and drive that women had to have in order to be successful at sports in the twentieth contrary. Billie Jean King who came from a very athletic family first got her inspiration to succeed at sports from the athletic sermons she herd in church every Sunday as a young child. One of her friends was starting to play tenses and she wanted to start also. After working around the neighborhood to earn the money for her first racket, Billie Jean King overcame many obstacles along with great personal struggles to become the best professional tennis player of her time.

When women decide to participate in sports traditionally for men such as bodybuilding, they risk the chance of being socially stereotyped as lesbians, or simply viewed as "less feminine" then say women figure skaters. For example, Venus Williams is seen as criticized for being very masculine in build and judged on that by her performance. The media has commented on how well she plays, and has compared her to men in her sport. She receives fewer endorsements than many other tennis players do because of her looks (but mainly due to her race).

Tennis dates back many centuries ago, and is believed to be played by ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks. It has evolved over the years, and today the tennis style is tremendously different from previous centuries. Many different tennis styles have been adapted over the years, and today tennis has become a more aggressive sport. It is very different from when the players use to ding the ball back and forth across the net. Today tennis is played with a lot more force and it has become a more engaging sport from the sport it used to be just a century ago. The William Sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, have had a huge impact on the game of tennis. When they peaked to fame it changed the way everyone saw the game of tennis.