Venus Williams Never Planned on Being an Activist for Equal Pay
Tennis - Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams is known for her work on equal pay for women in tennis but says she never planned on being an activist and only wanted to be a tennis player.
In a column for Glamour Magazine, which named her Woman of the Year in 2005, the 39-year-old Williams says, "When I was named Woman of the Year in 2005, I had just won Wimbledon for the third time. But off the court I was fighting a different battle: The day before my final match, I attended a meeting to discuss the gap in prize money for men and women at the tournament. I asked everyone at the meeting to close their eyes and try to feel the person next to them. I asked, “Can you tell if that person is a man or a woman?” I wanted to illustrate that all of our hearts beat the same rhythm, regardless of gender. It took another two years of my working with the Women’s Tennis Association—and writing an op-ed for the Times of London that went viral —before the organizers agreed to close the gap. When I won Wimbledon again in 2007, I became the first woman to receive equal prize money there. I was the first woman who could go into the finals focusing entirely on her game instead of thinking, Hey, I’m not equal here."
Williams says she did face a lot of criticism from people who wanted her to focus only on her tennis and not on things like equal pay but she believes her efforts have paid off in the long run. "People who wanted me to just be quiet and play? Sure. But I let my racket do the talking, which is what we’re now seeing with the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Their World Cup win this summer made women’s soccer incredibly popular—and visible. They’re making the right moves to stand up, fight, and prove their worth by excelling at their sport. To me, that’s the only way to do it. Growing up, I was taught that if I saw something that wasn’t right, I had to do something, say something, and not censor myself. There’s still a lot of progress to be made in women’s sports—and it’s going slowly. Now, 14 years after I began my crusade for equal pay, what makes me the happiest is that I’ve been able to inspire other women to do the same. I never planned on being an activist; I just planned on being a tennis player. But it’s exciting to see female athletes fight for change. It’s what I love about sports."
Williams continues to push boundaries for players in tennis as well. At 39, she has no signs of slowing down and plans to return to the circuit in 2020.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36eYnG0
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