Billie Jean King and his Book Pressure is a Priviledge

1045 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles and gender equality

The book I chose to read for this assignment was Pressure Is A Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes, by Billy Jean King. The book chronicles the lessons Billy Jean King, a tennis legend and advocate for gender equality, learned from family, friends, and mentors growing up, as well as her efforts to help the women’s movement in the 1960s and 1970s. King writes that the lessons she learned as a child and young adult really paved the way for her success on and off the tennis court. The advice and life tips Billy Jean provides not only give the reader insight as to what kind of person she is and why she has been so successful in her endeavors, but also serve as inspiration to live life to the fullest.
Billy Jean King was born on November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California. Billy Jean, along with her brother Randy, grew up in a middle class household with two loving, yet strict parents. King’s father was a Navy man turned firefighter and her mother was a homemaker. From an early age, Billy Jean can remember her parents instilling in her certain values, such as: be polite, show respect to yourself and others, show gratitude, help others in need, integrity, and perspective. Many of these values were taught and encouraged around the dinner table, a place the family met and talked every evening. She also talks about learning values from childhood friends, like taking advantage and trying every new opportunity that comes your way. For instance, when King was in 5th grade, her friend Susan Williams asked her to come along for a game of tennis. Billy Jean was unsure, considering she never played tennis in her life and thought of it as a country club activity. She deemed tennis to be out of her co...

... middle of paper ...

...in sports.
In conclusion, I found Pressure Is A Privilege: Lessons I’ve learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes to be informational as well as inspiring. I’m pleased that I had the opportunity to read about Billy Jean King’s endeavors to change the way women are looked at in sports, as well as society. Her actions were truly revolutionary, and she is deserving of all the recognition that comes her way. I also thoroughly enjoyed her life lessons and anecdotes; I look to use some of her tips in my day to day life as a way of accomplishing my goals. Therefore, it was a pleasure to read Billy Jean King’s book, and I recommend it to anybody wanting to learn from a strong leader in American society.
Works Cited
King, Billy Jean. Pressure Is A Privilege: Lessons I've Learned from Life and the Battle of the
Sexes. New York: LifeTime Media, Inc., 2008. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Janie and Hester: Dealt Unfair Hands But Played the Game

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Facing sexism and mistreatment at the hands of oppressive men is one of the biggest challenges a woman can face in contemporary and traditional societies. All challenges animate life, and we are given purpose when we deem it necessary to overcome said trials. Post-completion, life’s tests let us emerge with maturity and tenacity that we could not find elsewhere. Janie and Hester were dealt unfair hands in life, yet instead of folding and taking the easy way out, they played the game. They played, lost, and played again, and through this incessant perseverance grew exponentially as human beings.

    Read More

  • Oppression By Marilyn Frye

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marilyn Frye, a feminist philosopher, discusses the idea of oppression and how it conforms people into gender roles. She claims that it is based upon membership in a group which leads to shaping, pressing, and molding individuals, both women and men.

    Read More

  • Female Athletes Scrutinized for their Appearance

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ennis, basketball, soccer, and martial arts—have come from the days of cheerleading and synchronized swimming when she was growing up in the ’70s.” Disparities in media coverage and over-sexualized female athletes on magazine covers is something that needs to come to an end because of its effects on both male and female viewers, young and old, athletes and non-athletes. Both female and male athletics influence young people and shape their personality and morals as they mature. Retired WNBA player, Lisa Leslie credits her participation in basketball with shaping her character, as well as her career. “Sports can also help teenagers during an awkward time in their development.” (“Women’s Athletics: A Battle For Respect”). The solution is to come together as a society and identify how to balance the respect for female and male athletes in the media.

    Read More

  • The All American Girls Professional Baseball League

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before we told our daughters that they could be anyone, or anything they wanted to be, we told them that they could only be what was acceptable for women to be, and that they could only do things that were considered "ladylike." It was at this time, when the nation was frenzied with the business of war, that the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League decided that they could do and be whatever it was that they chose. These women broke free of the limitations that their family and society had set for them, and publicly broke into what had been an exclusively male sport up until that time.

    Read More

  • The Link between Sports and Success in Death of a Salesman and Fences

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.

    Read More

  • The All American Girls Professional Baseball League

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women don’t receive the spotlight in sports very often. Usually, the men in baseball, football, basketball, and soccer have higher salaries and are paid attention to more. This wasn’t the case with a special league of female baseball players. These ladies sparked a thought in peoples’ heads in the mid 20th-century. Could women really play a professional sport instead of staying home to do the housework? From 1943-1954, women in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League helped to change the rights women were believed to have in society and in the workplace as they began playing a professional sport as a form of entertainment. Men, who would usually fulfill this role, were drafted into the military with the responsibility to serve during the war. The AAGPBL quickly became a world-winning group of women athletes and kept baseball and peoples' hopes alive during a time of weakness in American history.

    Read More

  • Title IX

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1970 only 1 in 27 girls participated in high school sports, today that ratio is 1 in 3. Sports are a very important part of the American society. Within sports, heroes are made, goals are set and dreams are lived. The media makes all these things possible by creating publicity for the rising stars of today. Within society today, the media has downplayed the role of the woman within sports.

    Read More

  • The History of Sports and African Americans

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    The history of sports goes back since ancient times. It has been a useful way for people to explore nature and their environment. Sports include different activities and games such as football, soccer, basketball, and etc. to express their skills and talents. Also, sports are a way to relax and have fun; but are sports all our African Americans rely on? The dream to become future sports stars. The reason why Gates begins his essay with an anecdote is to show and compare how many african-american athletes were at work today and how little the chances of African-Americans becoming athletes are compared to being a lawyer, dentist, or even a doctor. African-Americans assume that they are born athletes and it’s because the school system doesn’t teach them reality and educate them to undertake more realistic goals for careers.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In Sport Essay

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unintentionally, a lot of us have been boxed into institutions that promote gender inequality. Even though this was more prominent decades ago, we still see how prevalent it is in today’s world. According to the authors of the book, Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree define gendered institutions as “the one in which gender is used as an organizing principle” (Wade and Ferree, 167). A great example of such a gendered institution is the sports industry. Specifically in this industry, we see how men and women are separated and often differently valued into social spaces or activities and in return often unequal consequences. This paper will discuss the stigma of sports, how gender is used to separate athletes, and also what we can learn from sports at Iowa State.

    Read More

  • Girlfight - Overcoming Gender Stereotypes

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    Diana is an excellent illustration of the many struggles of women to find a place for themselves in sports. On an individual level, defying societal stereotypes is extremely difficult. The buriers that the first person must overcome are often extreme. However once the first person breaks down those buriers, it becomes increasingly easier for others to follow in their footsteps. Diana's struggle demonstrates both how far women have come and how far women still have to go.

    Read More

  • Burn The Ships: A Microcosm For Gender Based Inequalities In Sports

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Akron Racers are social agents combating the gender based inequalities, and the players are pioneers for advocating a much needed cultural shift in the institutional structure of softball. A large portion of eliminating these stereotypes and preconceptions surrounding softball will be changing the way we transform the children’s foundation of sport (Rauscher and Cooky, 2015; Buning, 2015). Rauscher and Cooky argue the cultural shift will only occur if adolescents develop leadership through an empowering and protective setting (Rauscher and Cooky, 2015). For example, Messner highlights that the “gender regimes of children’s sports may be increasingly challenged”, when post Title-IX women and, “heroic female athletes become more a part of the cultural landscape for children, (Dworkin and Messner 1999)” (Messner, 2015). In addition, Heaphy’s solution to combating the inequalities has high correlation with Rauscher and Messner’s ideology regarding a cultural shift through social agents (i.e. the Akron Racers) that empower children. The documentary displays the Akron Racers are activists towards the cultural shift of softball because, during

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination In Sport

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gender discrimination is prominent in every industry, but it is as though the sport industry is one of the worst. Women in the work force currently receive only 80 cents to every man’s dollar (Holmes, 2016). However, female athletes both in America and internationally receive a far lesser compensation for their attributes. The only difference of the sports being played is who plays them. There should be no reason why a male athlete receives better pay simply because he had a 50% chance of being born a man. At birth, no one controls the gender, but as they grow and mature, they control their personality and development. Payment should be on personal skills and not gender. As a female STHM student focusing on sport management and a former athlete,

    Read More

  • The Transformative Power of Sports In The American Civil Rights Movement

    2323 Words  | 5 Pages

    Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, but so Cassius Clay, Jackie Robinson, and Bill Russell. Long before King’s famous “I Had a Dream” speech or Rosa Parks famous stand came something much simpler: sports. Sports have always had the ability to open people’s eyes in a way that is more impactful than words or actions. The way that athletics can shape a persons mind, or open their eyes to something beyond what they already believe, is incredible. They can get everyone to root for a common purpose, a common goal. And for some, that was freedom. The integration of professional and collegiate athletics not only changed sports history, but helped shape American history.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On The Role Of Women In Sports

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first perspective is that women are disadvantaged at any sport. Some people reiterate the difference of men and women in sports. This is influenced by strength and the natural power men hold, comparable to women. Rodriguez questions “Is this because female athletes don’t have what it takes to make it in the world of sports or could it be more of a social issue?” This perspective seems to be a social issue based on the notable skills women acquire vs. the apparent judgments of gender issues. The second perspective is the idea that women deserve and inherently earn their right of equal attention and equal pay. “Sometimes, the secret to equality is not positive discrimination, it 's equal terms. It 's the shrug of the shoulders that says "what 's the difference?" The moment worth aspiring for is not seeing people celebrate the world-class female cricketer who competes at comparatively low-level male professional cricket, but the day when people are aware that she does, and don 't find it notable at all” (Lawson). Lawson makes it a point to confirm the biased notions against women in sports and relay an alternative worth working toward and fighting for. Both outlooks can be biased but only one has factual evidence to back it up. The second perspective reviews an ongoing gender issue. This problem is welcome for change depending on society’s

    Read More

  • How Sports Reflection And Influence On The History Of Sports

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, it is easy to recognize how African Americans have triumphed in sports. It is also enlightening and empowering to see and recognize the challenges that women faced in the past with achieving recognition in sports as compared to that of men.

    Read More

More about Billie Jean King and his Book Pressure is a Priviledge

Open Document