The Sexy, Heterosexual-only Centre Court at Wimbledon
Published July 07, 2009 @ 08:02AM PT
One of the summer's hottest sports tickets, Wimbledon, just wrapped up this past weekend, drawing some of the largest television audiences that pro tennis has ever seen. Venus, Serena, Andy, Roger...the biggest names in the sport made their way to Centre Court to play in the championship rounds.
But one item overlooked during the course of the two-week tournament was an announcement by the All England Club that when it comes to deciding who plays on Centre Court, one of the major considerations is whether the player is (1) attractive, and (2) straight. Especially when it comes to women.
This piece over on NPR's Web site does a fantastic job of cutting through the sexist (and heterosexist) practices of tennis's grandest event. During the course of the tournament, according to writer Dave Zirin, less known but better looking players got to play in prime spots, while some of the best players in the league were relegated to the cheap seats because they didn't strike the same sex appeal to make them popular with the market that pro tennis wants to appeal to.
Funny, the more things seem to be different from thirty years ago, the more things stay the same.
According to Zirin, the Wimbledon policy is sexism at its worst in tennis:
[Wimbledon's policy shows] tolerance for sexism, an acceptance of the fact that no matter what their skills, women athletes should be prepared to be seen as objects first and athletes second....
Women athletes find themselves in the same vise they have been in for a century: with sexism on one side and homophobia on the other. Accepting this sexist construct has become conventional wisdom for how to market and sell women's sports: sex, and specifically hetero-sex, sells.
Sex sells in women's tennis. Could that be the reason why Anna Kournikova, who has never won a tournament at all (let alone even made it to the finals of a grand slam event) is the most popular player in the sport?
Dr. Mary Jo Kane, a sports sociologist from the University of Minnesota, added that homophobia also has a huge rule to play here. In choosing who gets prime playing space, pro tennis officials are mindful that at least when it comes to the women's game, there's a stigma that the sport is filled with too many lesbians. Here's Kane:
This is also about what runs in the bone marrow of women's sports, namely homophobia. They are very well-meaning but they also want to distance themselves from the lesbian label. How do you do that? You reassure the viewing audiences, the corporate sponsors, the TV networks, and the female athletes themselves, that, No, no, no— sports won't make your daughter gay. Women's sports will be more acceptable if you believe, even though it is stereotypical and inaccurate, that if you are pretty and feminine in a traditional sense then you are not gay.
Kind of ironic for a sport that has given us two of the most famous (and most successful) lesbian athletes in history, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova.
The real message that needs to be sent to the folks who run Wimbledon and pro tennis is that atypical sports stars - the ones who don't look like Maria Sharapova or who may cuddle with members of the same-sex in their bedroom at night - can be just as successful and popular as anyone else on the tour. Because what makes people popular in any given sport has a whole heck of a lot more to do with their ability than their prettiness. Trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator (sex, heterosexuality) only chepeans the sport, and disillusions fans who might otherwise tune in and watch.
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Comments (9)
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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.
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Hmm... "No one has won more tennis titles than out lesbian Martina Navratilova."
Posted by Luella - on 07/07/2009 @ 10:14AM PT
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Hmmm, let's see...you advance to Centre Court by winning matches (for those public education folks that means beating/out-scoring out your opponent). Now, just excactly how is this unjust? How is it unfair? You win, you advance. It is fairly simple. But then, in the liberal mind there are never winners and losers, we are all the same, so why even have a tournament at all?
Posted by n j on 07/07/2009 @ 10:18AM PT
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I think what this article was saying, is that people are promoted to center court on the basis of sex appeal and heterosexual orientation NOT because they're good tennis players, sounds like you might need a refund on that private school education.
Now I'm no liberal, but the point of competition is to see who is the better athlete, who has better athletic skills. Attractive people and straights are no better athletes than ugly people or gays, so that should play no part in deciding who plays. The whole point of a competition is to see who has better skills, not to give someone an unfair advantage. If that was the case, then I would agree: why have a competition at all?
Posted by Wicked BitchoftheW... on 07/07/2009 @ 11:19AM PT
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"Not perfect just wrong," is your reading comprehension that poor, or did you just not bother to read the post or follow the links?
Let's try this again:
Wimbledon officials have stated women's matches are scheduled in Centre Court based on physical attractiveness.
Naturally players are seeded in the tournament by their ability to win tennis matches. Those who win advance to the next round, and when the semi-finals and finals roll around they will all be played on Centre Court.
But the courts on which they play the preceding matched are determined by physical beauty, not physical ability. Better-looking players are assigned to the prime arena while the others are relegated to lesser side courts.
Please explain the fairness of that.
By the way, where did you go to school?
Posted by Jenifer Lewis on 07/07/2009 @ 11:37AM PT
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I guess I don't see the heterosexist issue as much as the sexist-- which is still absolutely unacceptable. And I plan on writing an email to the club to let them know that.
But I just wanted to point out that Martina and Billie Jean were present in the first couple of rows of the royal box on multiple occasions, and this is the case every year. Amelie Mauresmo played on centre court in the early rounds. As far as I know there aren't a bunch of top ranked/seeded singles players who are lesbians (besides Mauresmo). Most of the lesbians on the tour are doubles specialist (and doubles players rarely see centre court anyway).
I'm certainly not defending their actions...just another example of sex selling. But, as a lesbian myself, I don't see the rampant homophobia.
Posted by Brandi H. on 07/07/2009 @ 01:44PM PT
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Wimbledon shouldn't be supporting sexism and homophobia in their tennis matches. Since Wimbledon is a prominent tennis event which has many atlethes at the event, the ability of the atlethe must predominate. The All England Club, if they still keep their criteria of intolerance, must be kept out of the Wimbledon because the sports world is not without its beliefs for the ability of the player and not attractiveness or sexual orientation.
Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 07/07/2009 @ 02:45PM PT
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I have been watching Wimbledon since I was a teenager. I used to love watching Martina& Chris Evert battle it out on the court. I'm a gay man, but those two were fantastic to watch, as was Billie Jean. On the men's side, you couldn't really say that John McEnroe is handsome, but, what a player! It does seem to have changed to let the cuter people get more air time. It's really sad. I cringe whenever I see an Anna Kournakova stunt. What does she bring to the game, except looks? It's been frustrating to me, a tennis purist.
Posted by gilbert barrett on 07/07/2009 @ 05:36PM PT
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I've had no problem seeing the sexist view on this, but this is the first time I've been challenged to see the homophobic side of it. I think I can see it, though, maybe from a different angle: homosexuality as a joke. I may be wrong, but that has always grated me.
Posted by Lisa Smolen on 07/08/2009 @ 08:38AM PT
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It's unacceptable that gay cannot play tennis, it's a sexist view. Here in France, there's a lot of homophobic people (have seen on the gay pride). Please respect sexuality of the others.
Posted by Térésa MASIA PERALES on 07/17/2009 @ 01:41PM PT
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