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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
informative
reflective
Billie Jean fought for diversity, equity, inclusion on and off the court. She had an incredible tennis career with 39 Grand Slam titles (12 singles, 16 doubles, 11 mixed) and she paved the way for others to follow. She played a hand in the passing of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in all federally funded school programs, including sports, and she made a racket fighting for equal pay.
“Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing, and the cherry on top too.”
Some highlights:
- BJK got an abortion in 1971, before it was legal to do so. She needed approval from a hospital committee and her then-husband's signature before the procedure.
- Renée Richards is one of the first professional athletes to identify as transgender. BJK and her played together in one doubles tournament.
- BJK, at age 29, defeated Bobby “No-Broad-Can-Beat-Me” Riggs in the “Battle Of The Sexes” tennis match.
- In 1981, BJK was outed by her ex-lover and live-in assistant Marilyn Barnett, and this severely affected her career and her endorsements.
- BJK openly discussed her binge eating disorder, the prevalence of EDs in athletes, and how this opens the conversation for what athletes go through when they stop competing.
Other favorite quotes:
“As a kid growing up in the 1950s, I accepted the concept of women athletes as freaks. I had been taught that to want to become an athlete of any kind was unacceptable. Girls were passive, non-competitive, dependent.”
“I guess the clearest way I can say it is I didn’t end up a lesbian because of the sex alone—it was a whole constellation of feelings that had to do with connectedness, tenderness, how you experience everything besides sex with another human being. Sometimes sex is the least of it.”
On the Arthur Ashe statue in Richmond, VA — “When Arthur’s statue was originally placed on that boulevard in 1996, opponents argued that he didn’t belong there amid the existing memorials of Confederate icons. Now look. Arthur may outlast them all.”
Random sports fact that blew my mind:
In 2005, Gian Franco Kasper, head of the International Ski Federation, was still saying that women should be banned from Olympic ski jumping because the hard landings might impact their ability to have children. The IOC finally accepted women's ski jumping into the Olympics in 2014. For reference, ski jumping became an Olympic sport in 1924.
“Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs, and I want women to have the cake, the icing, and the cherry on top too.”
Some highlights:
- BJK got an abortion in 1971, before it was legal to do so. She needed approval from a hospital committee and her then-husband's signature before the procedure.
- Renée Richards is one of the first professional athletes to identify as transgender. BJK and her played together in one doubles tournament.
- BJK, at age 29, defeated Bobby “No-Broad-Can-Beat-Me” Riggs in the “Battle Of The Sexes” tennis match.
- In 1981, BJK was outed by her ex-lover and live-in assistant Marilyn Barnett, and this severely affected her career and her endorsements.
- BJK openly discussed her binge eating disorder, the prevalence of EDs in athletes, and how this opens the conversation for what athletes go through when they stop competing.
Other favorite quotes:
“As a kid growing up in the 1950s, I accepted the concept of women athletes as freaks. I had been taught that to want to become an athlete of any kind was unacceptable. Girls were passive, non-competitive, dependent.”
“I guess the clearest way I can say it is I didn’t end up a lesbian because of the sex alone—it was a whole constellation of feelings that had to do with connectedness, tenderness, how you experience everything besides sex with another human being. Sometimes sex is the least of it.”
On the Arthur Ashe statue in Richmond, VA — “When Arthur’s statue was originally placed on that boulevard in 1996, opponents argued that he didn’t belong there amid the existing memorials of Confederate icons. Now look. Arthur may outlast them all.”
Random sports fact that blew my mind:
In 2005, Gian Franco Kasper, head of the International Ski Federation, was still saying that women should be banned from Olympic ski jumping because the hard landings might impact their ability to have children. The IOC finally accepted women's ski jumping into the Olympics in 2014. For reference, ski jumping became an Olympic sport in 1924.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Outing
Moderate: Eating disorder
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Billie Jean King is an iconic champion both on and off the tennis court. She is an inspiring woman who’s fights hard for everything she takes on. I listened to the audiobook version of her autobiography and she narrated it herself - which was nice. She’s a very relatable woman and I’m glad I was able to hear about her story though her eyes.
She fought for gender equality and equal pay in the tennis world and went so far as to help create the Virginia Slims Tour and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She talks about all of that and more in her autobiography. She talks about the epic tennis match with Bobby Riggs, her life, her relationships, her sexuality, and her efforts in the name of equality.
She fought for gender equality and equal pay in the tennis world and went so far as to help create the Virginia Slims Tour and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She talks about all of that and more in her autobiography. She talks about the epic tennis match with Bobby Riggs, her life, her relationships, her sexuality, and her efforts in the name of equality.
inspiring
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
I’ll start by saying I love Billie Jean King. I love her advocacy for multiple different groups, I love how she’s helped shape sports for women, I love how she won’t stop advocating for what is fair. I wouldn’t have been a student-athlete without King’s advocacy.
With that being said, this book was difficult to get through. It wasn’t reader friendly in the sense of the content being so clunky, but the content itself was worth reading! It was a large book filled with what felt like monotone commentary.
The first half was more of her upbringing with the last half more focusing on her life after tennis. The last half was easier to get through!
Again, I love Billie Jean King and everything she’s done for this world. I can’t say thank you enough.
Big thank you to Knopf Publishing Group for the gifted copy!
I was liking this book, but King makes TERFy comments about trans people.