I'm not calling this "equal pay for equal work" because it isn't. It's more like if I worked 30 hours a week and a man worked 40 hours a week and we both got the same thing. Is that equal pay?
Most people would say no, unless they were the one getting more money for less work. But such is the complex world afforded feminists and others making this rather silly argument about female athletic pay.
The grey heads at Wimbledon finally bowed to the pressure and have decided to pay the female contenders the same as the male ones, even though they don't play the same number of sets.
Wimbledon chiefs announced Thursday that they will pay men and women equal prize money for the first time at the prestigious tennis championships this year.
The decision overturns more than a century of deliberate inequality in pay and brings the tournament more into line with the other three annual grand slam tennis events.
"We will be paying equal prize money this year at Wimbledon, through all the rounds in both singles and doubles," said Tim Phillips, the chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which runs Wimbledon.
He said the club's committee unanimously agreed that "the time is right to bring this subject to a logical conclusion and eliminate the difference."
Phillips said that social and marketing factors had made Wimbledon chiefs decide to do a U-turn to end the anomaly and hoped it would send out a positive message about tennis to young sportswomen.
Last year, the men's champion made $655,000 and the female champion made $625,000. If it were me, that would be a positive enough message about tennis. But is it really fair for women to make the same amount when they aren't doing the same work? It seems to me that this sends the wrong message: complain, complain, complain and eventually you will wear down opposition without having to improve your performance.
Frankly, I've wondered for years why the women don't play the same number of sets as the men. This isn't 1930 when male athletes were in significantly better shape than female ones. With conditioning and weight training, there's no reason women don't play five sets. Are they saying women are too weak to play five sets? The double standard, in my opinion, is still in place. It's just weighted in a direction some people like this time.
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