Sex/uality Artifacts

Hello, my name is Jordan Nell and I will be discussing my first artifact from 12-1-2015 in this post. Billie Jean King is a former top 10 national female tennis player. She made history by taking on Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” which took place as a match in 1973. Bobby Riggs is known for being an extremely sexist individual. Billie Jean King ended up winning the match fairly easily. The only reason she chose to have the match with Bobby Riggs was to fight for equal prize money for female athletes. In 1981, a court case took place between Billie Jean King and her former ex-girlfriend. This forced King to come out publicly about her sexuality. She feared this knowledge becoming public because of the possibility that it could damage her image and relationships. Her fears became true because she sadly lost all of her endorsements. This article related well to today’s class when discussing Adults and Sexuality: Marriage and Intimate Relationships. This is because she felt that she was forced to tell everyone about her sexuality due to her circumstances. No issues occurred during the presentation but I felt like everyone was interested in the topic because no one really covered a sports figure before in any artifacts. Her story was more challenging because people were more upset that she had a husband although that was just a cover up so no one would question her sexuality. This is linked to the class content due to her situation. Many people do not understand the issues that could arise from public figures speaking out about their sexuality. This was even more challenging when discussing this issue in the 1970’s-1980’s. I cannot begin to understand the level of pain and suffering she felt keeping this secret for such a long time. I can’t comprehend how difficult it must be to come out publicly due to being forced. Unfortunately for Billie Jean King the repercussions were big and she seemed to never recover but now she is considered a major public figure. She stuck up for her own personal life and for the rights of women during this difficult time period. Attached below is the video link that I played when presenting my artifact to the class. This video gives you a background on Billie Jean King and her famous tennis match.