'Should Tennis girls be paid the same as men?' says the front page of the Daily Mail. And the clue is in the question. Of course 'girls' should not be paid the same as men. But should 'women'?
The paper pitches this quite subtly but there it is: women are less than men, why should they get paid more? From the 'Femail' section (which implies women don't read the real news) to this, women are put in their place and expected to put up and shut up. If we don't- if we drink or have sex for example, we are binge-drinking slatterns and if we play sport we shouldn't expect to get paid like men because we're worth less. In business we're worth less, and in every other aspect of life.
The tennis issue has bothered me for a while. Vocally in the past I have said women should be paid less, as they only play 3 sets to men's 5. However, I've changed my mind, and it's for exactly the reason of us being called 'girls' on the front of the paper and 99% of people probably not batting an eyelid. Well, I am. Because if society continues to treat women in this way, we'll keep getting valued less and we will never progress as sports-people, or in the army, or anywhere . And if the balance is now unfair, i.e. women are getting paid MORE than men at Wimbledon, because they are getting the same for less, then why the raised eyebrows? It's been the other way for hundreds of years. Deal with it. Maybe the balance needs to go back that way before true equality can be achieved.
6 comments:
This is all so true. Boys and Girls, Men and Women, thats how it should be, yet this article is subtely taking the piss.
You know I think a lot of men love the rhetoric of equal rights because it appeals to their common sense, yet many feel immediately threatened when it becomes a reality, especially if this involves women getting paid more than men.
This very same paper has published reports on the problems facing relationships where the woman out-earns the man and how this often leads to men feeling "de-masculised" and I think this is because society has taught them that they are not a man unless they are the leader at all times.
A game is a game, men and women both train the same and it means the same in terms of their career to win. Therefor there should be no argument as to whether they are paid the same.
The one thing I would say is why is it that women play less sets? Should this not also be ammended?
I think women should play 5 sets. Why not? The games are sometimes over before they begin.
NB. I've been playing Wii Tennis lately and I've been kicking arse.
Maybe because we are only little piss-weak girls, we cant keep up with the MEN.
i don't think they should play 5 sets, but i don't know why. i'm just a boy.
why dont you think they should? Cos it's too borin' and screechy? ;-)
actually, that howling is now very off-putting. it's only a few years since there was only one who did it and now they all seem to. it's like footballers gobbing every time they turn around, just so unnecessary and revolting. no?
as long as those little skirts keep kicking up, i don't care. and the mystery of how the tennis ball stays up there is worthy of...something.
i just think that the men should only play 3 sets really. 5 sets is too much like the old bare-knuckle boxing when men used to fight to the death. the number of rounds has been decreasing steadily.
no to five sets. they'll all end up looking like that one who looks like Schwarzenegger.
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