Society expects females and males to fulfill, believe in, and embrace gender norms, roles, and stereotypes which have been in existence for a long period. In the western nations, males are anticipated to be athletic, independent and strong, whereas females are expected to be nurturers, attractive, obedient and quiet. Society demands compliance with the enforced gender norm order. If in the event that these labor norms are breached, the offenders are reprimanded or ridiculed. One particular area that traditional gender stereotypes have been analyzed and evaluated is the sport of tennis. Comparing traditional female gender pigeonholes with those of the twenty-first-century women in tennis, it is evident that women athletics have commenced to establish themselves in the tennis sports. The capability of challenging sexism norms and restrictive notions about the participation in sports, athletic ability, the physical appearance of women is evident since many women are involved in many sports especially those that were deemed as the sports of men. However, despite the tremendous steps that have been installed to combat discrimination of women in tennis which was a norm, there are stereotype individuals who still embrace discrimination of women in tennis. In this paper, gender norms in tennis and discrimination will be presented and discussed. Also, the paper will discuss what has been done to curb discrimination and if the measures are effective.
Timeo & Suitner (2017) observed, “Tennis may be the only high-profile sport that still has different rules for women than men.” This is evident in the famous tennis tournaments such as majors and grand slam championships. The organizers of this tournament have structured the tournament to favor the men; they are allowed to play best of five matches sets to decide who is the champion. Women are required to play best of three sets to decides who is the champion. Women are perceived as not robust enough to compete for the best of five sets. It is astonishing how women are treated in this tournament which is the most prestigious (Moore, Player, & Bouchard, 2016). In 1877 when the oldest tournament, i.e., Wimbledon was introduced, it was restricted to men. The organizers of the tournament tried to justify the exclusion of women to their fragile nature, and they could not compete similar to male. However, seven years after the inception of the tournament women’s Wimbledon tournament was introduced. However, the rules that were set for women who are to compete in the tournament was different compared to those of men. Also, the rules of the tennis game that women were to compete in were different.
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In 2016, high profile men in the history of tennis tried to demean the progress on equality in tennis which women have fought for decades. Raymond Moore, a former champion, said that women ride on coattails of men and they are supposed to go down on their knees when the sun sets and thank the almighty that Nadal and Feder were born to be an ambassador of the sport (Timeo & Suitner, 2017). As a repercussion for his utterances, he resigned because his comments were met with sheer bitterness by women and other tennis stakeholders. The second person who tried to demean women in tennis was Novak Djokovic; he was ranked world’s top seed. After winning India’s tournament, he commented that men are supposed to earn more money because they tend to attract huge spectators compared to women. Also, he commented that that did not worry him because he understands what women face. He later apologies to all female tennis players.
In the four major tennis tournaments, women are paid an equal amount of prize money compared to their male counterparts. This tremendous achievement can be traced back to 1943 when Billie Jean fought for equality in payments in the U.S open tournament ( Lake, 2016) . Though, in 2007 Venus Williams fought so hard in Wimbledon to ensure there is parity in payment. Despite all the progress made, the overall pay situation in tennis is still not that desirable. Prizes at women’s tournaments are lesser than the prizes at men’s tournament ( Aksit & Nalcakan, 2016) . The winner of men’s tournament still earns double the prize that women get paid. However, when compared to other sports such as golf, where the male winner of the tournament gets paid five times what women in tennis get paid.
Many chauvinists will argue that since tennis is a form of entertainment, players should be paid depending on the spectators they appeal to ( Wilde, 2015) . This argument is unfounded because women have not been provided an equal platform to train, attract sponsorship and media coverage. Since female athletes are not accorded the same investment, it is hard to determine how popular women tennis is and if it should be accorded the same treatment as “male” Treatment ( Rowe, Sherry, & Osborne, 2017) . Putting aside those disadvantages, contrary to what is being said about women’s tennis, it is more respectable, and the following are incidences that depict how women’s tennis are respected; in 2015 for instance, the Women’s US opens tournament sold faster compared to the men’s event. Also, in 2013 and 2014 statistics depicted that the tennis’s women final had high ratings compared the male tournament.
People will argue that female players deserved less pay since they are lesser athletes. Majority of men are stronger than women. Luckily, the majority of the sports do not entail grunting loudly or picking up boulders that are heavy. To be a good athlete a person is supposed to involve mental strength, leadership, agility, and skills. Instead, women’s tennis has become a famous sport peerlessly because of the aces and smashes which characterizes male the male matches. The ladies hold lasting, nerve-wracking rallies that make for more compelling TV.
The true cause of whichever justification for a return to unequal pay in tennis is sexism. This is evident in how men publicly speak about female athletes. Serena Williams is a robust black woman whose body is perceived to be a threat and not an asset to be cherished. Corcoran (2017) observed that one journalist authored that Serena Williams is a strong combative player who is built similar to one of the monster trucks that crushes Volkswagen at sports arenas. Since Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard is blonde and svelte, a male interviewer asked her to twirl her skirt immediately after she had won a match in January during the tournament of Australia Open ( Smith & Sanderson, 2015) .
The best theory that can explain the gender norms in tennis is the structural-functionalist theory; the theory emphasized the need for people to maintain a society that shares similar value of maintaining a cohesive society ( Richard, Joncheray & Dugas, 2017) . Since women have woken up from their slumber and have started to demand their rights, it is high time the male chauvinist in the society shelve the strong norms that diminished women in sports especially tennis. Structural functionalist theory advice the society to maintain the cohesiveness of the society, this is only attainable when the society shares similar values such as ensuring women in tennis are not discriminated and are paid equally as their male counterparts. Also, Conflict theory tries to denounce pre-existing gender norms which have been there for years and are hutting the structure of the society. The theory highlights the struggle of social classes to maintain poor and dominance in social systems. Presently, men in the society perceive that they are in different social classes compared to women. Since women have started demanding their rights, men have struggled to maintain dominance of their social system.
It is high time that ATP federation changes the rules in women tennis so that the best of five sets is an adopted. The present best of three sets gives weaker players cause to be more upset. A brief lapse in concentration can make someone lose a match. On the other hand, best of five rewards consistency. Also, best of five favors cerebral players who can alter their game plan to defeat opponents who give them a hard time. That is what makes best of five an interesting match to watch as well as harder for emerging a victor ( Bunnell, 2016) . It is evident that in the past five years close to 8 different men have emerged victorious in the major tournaments where best of three were plaid in the same period only 4 were victors. Although the element of chance is not solemnly unwelcomed in tennis, it exacerbates one of the present problems in the women’s tennis: the lack of a marketable star or a rivalry.
Four decades have passed since Billie Jean King assisted women in tennis to secure equal pay in U.S. Open, it is surprising that women until now do not receive equal treatment. It is a shame that men in tennis use twisted logic to ensure the status quo is maintained rather than to support the program made to ensure women achieve equal pay. Reforms will not be served to women is a silver plate, it is high time that women in tennis wake up and demand their rights. The leading players have remained silent on this issue, and it is astonishing. Women need to build upon the foundation that Billie Jean King had bestowed. The high ranked women in tennis should fight or equal opportunities and pay since women are competitive as well if the ground of competition between them and males are equal.
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