Women have come so far but still struggle.

Have you seen the interview by Melinda French Gates with Billie Jean King?

Wow, what a lot I learned about women in tennis and all sports. Do you remember in the seventies when women could not get a credit card without a man signing for her? She could not use her husband’s card unless he made her a signer. I remember my sister who was newly married telling me how she was embarrassed when she tried to use her husband’s credit card and was turned down.

I have really enjoyed Melinda Gates’ program of interviews with women. It is the best program I have seen to learn about the history of tennis and how Billie Jean changed the minds of people who watched her match with Bobbie Riggs and won in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. She earned the winner-take-all prize of $100,000.

People came to her and said that this match changed their ideas about women in sports. Men said it made them think about their daughters, their nieces, their sisters and the possibilities for them. She was a fantastic tennis player, but at the time, women did not get the attention or equal pay as men.

When Billie Jean was outed by someone and didn’t deny it, she lost all the money she had gained because those who had supported her athleticism dropped her. She was dropped because she told the truth and didn’t deny that she was gay. And her funds were taken from her.

She said that dads make the biggest difference when girls want to go into sports, and she hopes these men who can influence and support girls who love tennis or any sport make sure these girls have opportunities to follow their interests and learn all they can.

I remember my father said his oldest child, my sister, June, was the best baseball player in the family. She had four brothers. But, she was not allowed to play on the local team that my father managed. I don’t know if she wanted to play, but I know she was not allowed. And at that time, she would not have expected to be included.

King continues as a leader in the struggle for societal change. In her own words, she is fighting for equality and freedom and equal rights and opportunities for everyone. Not just girls, but everyone.

Young people today often take for granted that females have always had opportunities to become professional sports figures but people like Billie Jean King, now 80 years old, are still working diligently for equality of gender, and ethnicity, and she is teaching the business of tennis. She said the athletes need to know about who runs the tournaments, where their money comes from, and why it is important to know this organization they are a part of now. Like many people who become famous, if they don’t understand the business they are involved with and hire others to handle their finances, they could possibly lose everything.

I urge everyone, especially women, to watch Melinda Gates’ interviews with these women who are making a difference in the world. When we know our history, we know more about ourselves, and in today’s world when women’s rights are being threatened, young and old can make better decisions if they know about the past.

July 21

Four years ago, early morning, I awoke, exhausted, in a small sparse room in a hospice center where I had stayed round the clock for several days, realizing this would be the last day I'd have with my beloved husband who was transitioning to a better place, leaving me to make it on my own. I remember sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch afterward waiting for others in my family to come and wrap me in their love, take me home with them, and let me sleep.

Four years and still this day brings back such sorrow and so many memories. 

A BALMY DAY IN JANUARY

like none I've seen in years. In the park,
sunshine heals like days I waited urgently
to be free of walls, to tear across the pasture
on my mare, rushing toward fulfilling childhood dreams.

I stroll with Rocky this winter day, warm enough
to over-heat his black fur, his weakened bones.
His unconditional love fills a tiny part of that left empty now.

Women in tennis attire stride toward the courts,
new bags on their shoulders, swinging rackets,
tossing hair, wearing trendy shoes. Love – one.
Love-two, their happy voices sing on brisk air.

Tennis was once our game, long ago,
when a simple quarrel over a match seemed
the end of our world; a gentle world we did not
properly nurture, because we didn’t know
what we didn’t know.
                           --- Glenda C. Beall

Published by Wild Goose Poetry Review, Spring, 2013

http://wildgoosepoetryreview.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/glenda-beall-a-balmy-day-in-january/

Glenda on family tennis court