Equality? Only If You Look Good

I'm not a huge fan of tennis. To be honest I find it a little boring.

Having said that, I recognise that the professional participants work hard at their sport and make many sacrifices in the pursuit of excellence within that field.

As with any sport, there always rages an argument as to whether the men's or the women's game is better. The argument is that the men's game lasts longer and is full of power, while the counter is that ladies' tennis has more fineness.

As I have little interest in the game, I'm not going to comment on either these arguments.

Whatever might be said, though, it takes a lot to win a championship such as Wimbledon, whatever sex you might be.

So I find it utterly galling that the main comments of Marion Bartoli's win weren't about how she blew away her higher ranked opponent, but on her looks.

I can't remember any commentators in the 70's and the 80's talking about Billy-Jean King's appearance or indeed any 80's sports pundit speculating that Martina Navratilova career was influenced by her father's comments on her looks.

Nor do I hear the social media buzzing about how well Andy Murray has done to beat the number one seed to win Wimbledon, but ain't it a shame that he's a bit of a munter?

 

No, in this day and age, in these so-called enlightened times, it would seem that gender equality has taken a dip.

It would seem that unless you look then your achievements mean nothing.

 

This is reflected in the workplace. I have seen a number of women in their 40's who feel that they have to dress and behave like their counterparts in their 20's otherwise they feel that they are ignored. And to be honest, they have a point...

 

So, even in the 21st century women feel that they have to try to dress to impress men and still society is controlled and shaped by men, albeit with more and more female influence, but I fear that this influence is getting less and less...