She's Not Just Good "For a Girl."
Billie Jean King understood that symbolism mattered on that hot September day when she stepped up to match against Bobby Riggs in 1970. She knew that she needed to win. The match she faced had been hyped for months, with Riggs sneering misogynistic comments such as: “I’ll tell you why I’ll win. She’s a woman and they don’t have the emotional stability,” and “ Women play about 25 percent as good as men, so they should get about 25 percent of the money men get.” The sexism and frustrated anger surrounding the conflict built to the point that people would refer back to the match as the “Battle of the Sexes.” Fortunately, Riggs’s venom was kicked back in his face when King defeated him handily in all three sets, proving that women could, in fact, stand toe-to-toe with male athletes. Women in sports were jubilant after King’s win, and her victory is often pointed to as the spark for a sudden increase in women’s athletics. But under the joy and excitement of the victory, an unwel