Humanities

Eminent Person Introduction

Billie Jean King

“I have a lot to say, and if I’m not number one, I can’t say it.”

The person that I chose for my Eminent Person project is tennis icon and long-time gender equality activist Billie Jean King. I was originally drawn to King because of her key role in the expansion and recognition of women’s sports, and all she has done for gender equality over the years. We are both athletes, which was partially which drew me to her, and I also wanted to do someone who worked towards gender or racial equality, or other topics surrounding social justice. As well as being a female athlete, a trait that I believe I have in common with her is stubbornness, though I admire how she used this for good to accomplish what she wanted, and I hope to develop that skill someday as well. One of my goals for TALONS this year was to stay a consistent, hard worker, and Billie Jean King prominently displayed this quality in her tennis career and with how hard she has worked to obtain equal pay for women athletes. The situation she was in did not allow her room to falter, and this leadership and drive she showed is very admirable. However, though I am an athlete, I’ve never been interested in going very high level or professional, so I couldn’t really connect with her journey on that level. She also had to go through her later career as an openly gay woman, facing the endorsements that were lost and the public scorn, which I can’t relate to. To help me further understand her, I want to better educate myself on how gay people were treated by society at that time, and the effects of this on her career and her future. The last thing I would want to do is poorly represent that aspect of her and all she did for LGBTQ+ rights. The other side of this post is her eminence and impact on the world. King has formed the WTA, WTT, and the Women’s Sports Foundation, as well as being named to the International Tennis Hall of Fame and awarded a Presidential medal of freedom. She has put forth massive contributions to equal prizes for women in sports and has advocated her whole life for women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights. She is still alive to this day, though I strongly believe her impact will be felt long past her years. Throughout her career, she has faced many difficulties including the frustration of not getting the pay and recognition male athletes received, and powering through the loss of sponsors and overall respect. She didn’t let this phase her from the long-term goal of equality, and instead continued her road of success. King has inspired millions of girls around the world to chase after their dreams no matter what others may think. She is definitely someone worth learning about, as many people don’t really know her full story and impact. There were other women in her time who also supported these ideas and helped found some of the organizations I mentioned, but none were as influential and eminent as King. Hers is an important story of hard work, dedication, and change that should be recognized far past her famed “Battle of the Sexes”. Billie Jean King has changed the world of sports as we knew it and continues to make the world a better place.

Billie Jean King | Billie Jean King Biography | American Masters | PBSHow Billie Jean King Made Women's Sports History During the 'Battle of the Sexes' - Biography

Mrs. Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs

 

 

My goal for the next phase of my research is to better understand her mindset, feelings, and perspective on everything that has happened in her life.

5 comments

  1. Hi Bridget! I really enjoyed learning about your eminent person and I love the pictures you chose to represent your eminent person. I thought that stubbornness and the fact you are both female athletes were both great personal connections to your eminent person! You seem very passionate about her, so I think this person was a great choice for you! Two things I would suggest for next time are to write who said the quote right after it as well as spacing out your paragraph a bit so it isn’t just a large block of text. Other than those, it was really great seeing how passionate you are about Billy Jean King!
    Thanks!
    Natalie

  2. Hi Bridget. I really enjoyed reading your introduction to Billy Jean King. I really liked how you put lots of detail into your work and I could tell that you put lots of effort into your work. Your personal connection about being a consistent, hard worker is very clear and I think that is a great trait to have! A few things that you could improve for next time would be to put the sources that you used, break up your text so it’s easier to read, and put some pictures at the top and in the text instead of at the bottom. But other than that you did a great job and I can’t wait to see what your final presentation will look like.
    Matthias

  3. Hi Bridget,
    Reading your post was a really enjoyable experience! I could definitely see your interest in your chosen person and your personal connections. You clearly proved Billie Jean King’s eminence through your descriptions of her impacts on the world. My two reccomendations are to split up the text in some way and to use more specific examples of Billy Jean King’s past experiences that contributed towards gender equality. Otherwise, the post was interesting and I can clearly see your passion.

    Colin

  4. Hey Bridge,
    I love how detailed your post is and how passionate you are about Billie Jean King. Your personal connection was very well written and I enjoyed reading how much you relate to her. I think that learning more about her will bring you closer to your TALONS goal. One thing to improve on would be to maybe add some text/media into your paragraph to make it more spread out and easier to read. Other than that, I really enjoyed you post and look forward to seeing the final result!
    -Rian

  5. Hey Bridget,
    I enjoyed reading your post on your eminent person. One thing I liked was how you expressed not only the challenges King faced on her road to eminence, but also your own in properly representing those challenges. One critique I have is to scatter the images throughout the text to break it up rather than clumping them all up at the bottom. One other thing I like is how much information you included; you made sure to mention tangible accomplishments as well as personal connections and the value of researching your person, in addition to much more. Your post is well researched and crafted; I’m excited to see your final presentation.
    Kaiwen

Comments are closed.