As a twenty-six-year-old I have grown up watching Serena Williams compete at nearly every major title since I can remember. She has enraptured the world with her freak athleticism and on Saturday won her 22nd grand slam in stunning style. There is little doubt that Williams will go down in sports history as one of the greats. Not a female great. But a great, period.
But Williams’ true greatness transcends the tennis court. It stems from her fight for justice and promoting self-acceptance in an age where women are subjected to the fiercest social scrutiny. Indeed, Serena Williams must be recognised as the greatest feminist icon to ever emerge from tennis.
In recent times, she has become the spokesperson for equal pay across the board, shining a spotlight on the gap that continues to toxify tennis. While comparably women are compensated more equitably in tennis than other major sports, they still earn roughly twenty percent less than men. It’s a statistic that Williams isn’t willing to let slide and remarkably, her candid approach has allowed her to make headway.
At a recent press conference, Williams was queried by a journalist over her fight for equal pay and how she justified her position. Her response was so transparent, so categorical that it caused the journalist to slink back in his chair, uncomfortable with his own feeble interrogation:
“I think we deserve equal prize money. “Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if you happen to write a short article, you think you don’t deserve equal pay as your beautiful colleague behind you?’’
“Basically my whole life I’ve been doing this. I haven’t had a life. I don’t think I would deserve to be paid less because of my sex, or anyone else for that matter in my job.”
Indeed, Williams’ has reiterated this position and each time experienced similar break-through. Earlier in the year, world number one, Novak Djokovic expressed the view that men on the circuit deserved their higher salaries. Williams’ shot back, suggesting that he explain the gap to his future daughter.
“Novak is entitled to his opinion but if he has a daughter – I think he has a son right now – he should talk to her and tell her how his son deserves more money because he is a boy.”
Her comments caused Djokovic to retract his initial statement, proclaiming that euphoria and adrenalin (from a recent win) had gotten the better of him. In this instance, Williams’ measured reasoning and response prompted the most influential man in tennis to accept that his focus should have been on the “better and fairer distribution of funds across the board”, and yes, his future daughter deserved equal treatment.
It also prompted other influential men in tennis to chime in on the debate, siding with Williams. Andy Murray asserted that “there should be equal pay 100 per cent,” and Stan Warinka condemned Djokovic’s position expressing his unreserved support of gender equality.
And therein lies the power of Serena Williams, and why she is so critical to the equality debate today. While Murray’s and Warinka’s positions were no doubt sincere, it is hard to imagine that they would have come out so forcefully had Williams’ refrained from the debate.
Like most celebrities, Serena Williams understands the power she wields and her capacity to prompt change, but unlike most celebrities, Williams does not waste the privilege. She uses her influence to challenge systemic inequalities not merely because she can, but because she truly believes in the cause. This makes her a legend of the game in more ways than one.
