Megan Rapinoe & Billie Jean King Think it's fair to allow Males into women's sports “There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind,” King said.

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[–][deleted] 34 insightful - 2 fun34 insightful - 1 fun35 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Meanwhile neither of these women would have had a career if they had had to compete with males growing up. More proof that athletes are stupid, I guess.

[–]SpatOuttheKoolaid 16 insightful - 2 fun16 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Why not put together an entire team of transwomen? Especially at the Olympic level. I bet the opinion might shift then!

[–]filbs111 30 insightful - 1 fun30 insightful - 0 fun31 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

By that logic, why have women's sports at all?

[–]TheBeefBenson 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Exactly. Even if you've totally bought in to the gender ideology crap you must admit you are discriminating players by gender.

[–]blackrainbow 21 insightful - 7 fun21 insightful - 6 fun22 insightful - 7 fun -  (4 children)

I want to compete with 10 years old kids. Why are you discriminating me?

[–]Jazman1867 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That great for them to say, neither will ever have to compete against men as one is retired and the other is near retirement.

[–]lumiosestone 12 insightful - 3 fun12 insightful - 2 fun13 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

I see they're fans of pulling up the ladder behind them.

[–]Monchichi 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Nobody's preventing trans women from doing sports, they just don't belong in the women's team. They would be very welcome to join men or form their own teams though.

Would have been nice to see women athletes support actual women though but I guesss it's more important to Rapinoe to pull up the ladder behind her.

[–]jkfinn 10 insightful - 2 fun10 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Well, there's Bille Jean King, and then there's Martina Navratilova. No one would have mistaken the two back then, and not now, I guess, either.

[–]Shesstealthy 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

We should stop having sexed sports categories then. Simple.

[–]forwardback 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/december-25-2020-qpxnyz/

BJK, who helped found the WTA, has some odd blind spot concerning men's tendency to colonize and diminish women. Note, Andy Murray stating some men would rather NOT see a raise at all, than have a raise equally for the sexes! Anyone see as much as a flicker on BJK's face? My impression is BJK is for herself first, then tennis. Women? (Nothing inherently wrong with that stance, if true, but people should be cautious.)

It was only the earliest of 1970s that elite women tennis players began to see prizes > 20% of men's.

https://www.wtatennis.com/about

https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/02/1970-womens-tour-begins/54184/

From the PBS transcript: (Amanpour to Andy Murray, his response)

  • On that cha-ching note, Andy Murray, certainly some in the male world in men's tennis are concerned that they wouldn't get as maybe as much cha-ching, so to speak.

Do you see any struggle from other men in your sport to try to get this done?

And except 'cause you want to see it done.

  • Yeah, I mean, yeah, definitely.

There's some some potential for that.

I mean, I've had some times conversations in the past, when there's been prize money increases within the sport where let's say the fresh round losers check has gone from the man that went from like 8,000 to $10,000.

And the women's went from $6,000 to $10,000.

And I spoke to some of the male players about that who were unhappy because the prize money was equal.

And I said, 'Well, would you rather, 'there was no increase at all?'

And, they said to me, 'Yeah, actually.'

And I was like, 'Well, that's some of the sort 'of the mentalities that you're working with 'in these discussions 'where someone would actually rather make less money 'just so they're not an on an equal footing 'with some of the female players.'

So there will be some challenges.

But look, I think, when you have, obviously a lot of the top male players now starting to discuss it and talk about it, that's definitely very promising.

But I think it's really important, I think, in these negotiations that when it comes to the sort of key decision makers right now in tennis, pretty much all of them are men.

And I think that when these discussions happen, it's quite important not just to see this merger through like a man's eyes and to bring more women into the decision making positions, so that everybody's voice gets heard and everybody gets protected in these discussions.

The dude is more sensitive to women's issues than BJK.

[–]MarkTwainiac 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Also, BJK is now trying to take away the parity/equal opportunity in scholastic sports, PE and academic programs that Title IX gave to girls and women attending educational institutions in the US that receive federal funding.

Born in 1943, BJK's athletic training and accomplishments were extra-curricular, occurring outside the context of school. She didn't need Title IX coz for the most part tennis is an individual sport whose players in the US have typically come up via clubs, associations and municipal programs rather than through the US publicly-funded school system. Though her family of origin was working class, BJK's athletic ambitions were supported and her tennis talents were nurtured her entire life from early childhood by her parents, her coaches, her various communities and a wide variety of established tennis associations and sporting bodies, and by the man she married in her early 20s.

Most girls and women weren't as lucky as King. For a huge number of girls and women who did not have family or community support for their athletic ambitions, and who desired to play sports other than tennis, Title IX made all the difference.

Also, the scholastic sports opportunities that Title IX opened up were/are not just about sex equality. Title IX was/is about racial and economic fair play, too. Many of the girls and women whose lives have been the most dramatically improved due to the sports programs that Title IX ushered in are black and other racial minorities from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. A good number came from troubled and "broken" homes as well.

BJK crusaded for women who play professional tennis to receive pay on par with men, and she helped found the professional Women's Tennis Association. And she deserves credit for that and for all her other accomplishments. But she did zilch for the cause of female equality within the US publicly funded educational system - which is what Title IX is all about. And she was too old to be affected by Title IX anyways, as it became law when she was nearly 30, and she retired from tennis when Title IX was still in its implementation period.

Now in her late 70s, BJK is seeking to reverse the landmark legislation that has given millions of girls and women less lucky than she their one and only chance to play school-related sports and to use school-related sports as a stepping stone to higher education and a far better shot at life opportunities than they otherwise would have had.

I graduated from HS the year Title IX was passed. As I attended college during the implementation period, there still was not parity for female students in athletics or academics - but Title IX is what gave us young women the teeth to demand that educational institutions start working towards providing fair play for female students in the field houses, on the playing fields and in the classroom. Also, in the course of my life I have had the privilege of knowing, working with and having my own views influenced by a number of women younger than I who would not have had a chance to go to college/uni (and then on to law, medical and other graduate schools) were it not for the athletic scholarships and opportunities made possible by Title IX.

[–]forwardback 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Vital information for youth to have. Thanks.

[–]FlippyKing 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's almost like the word "differentiate" doesn't exist. There's nthing discriminatory about keeping men out of women's sports. I don't think Billie Jean King believes herself though, she did not play against Bjon Borg and those guys for a reason. She literally played in a discriminatory manner herself if she is to be taken seriously. I also doubt she asked Ilana Kloss what gender identity Ilana chose before their relationship started.