‘WE'RE CELEBRATING EQUALITY, NOT JUST WINS'

Tennis-great venus williams on the ongoing fight for pay parity and trying to live her best life

- VENUS WILLIAMS

TITLE IX HAS IMPACTED so many women, but it was a movement in life as well as in sports at the time. Because of laws like Title IX, more opportunities and more openings were created for women in all aspects of life. In sports generally, in colleges and in professional sports, Title IX opened doors.

Early on in my career there were definitely moments that opened my eyes to inequality between men and women, like disproportionate court times. I saw how many women’s matches were on center courts at combined events for women and men. When you’re relegated to a side court, you notice that.

Experiencing prize money that wasn’t equal was incredibly significant. No man had to experience that, but every woman did. That was pretty glaring until I became the first woman to receive equal prize money at Wimbledon in 2007.

Female Power and Role Models

I DON’T THINK I EVER HAD THIS IDEA to disrupt female power, it was about embracing it and creating opportunities that help other women to embrace their power. A lot of that impact can be created just by doing something positive with your own life.

I was always of the opinion that it didn’t matter what people thought of me as an elite female athlete. What matters is that women keep going, keep excelling and keep improving. When we have a platform to do that, no one can stop us.

I think it’s important for women to embrace our femininity as it fully is. That’s anything from how you feel or how you dress to how you express yourself. I don’t think we have to hide, we can fully embrace our femininity and let it shine.