Why should women tennis players get paid the same as men?

[Reedybookworm]

It annoys me that women are demanding more money at Wimbledon - they don't play as many sets. Maybe if they played on equal standing versus men as well as other women they should then.

Thanks Buffy! Sorry to get so mad - it's just it really pisses me off this constant having to justify.... McEnroe was saying the other day how tennis should be proud of the fact that it is one of the only sports that really offers equal opportunity to women.

I wanted to jump through the tv screen and hug him - the thought of a man actually being happy that women are afforded the same dreams as men.

Tennis isn't a salaried profession so the argument around sets played makes no sense. Ultimately it comes down to economics, women should be paid according to the income they bring in for the tournament organisers. Whether that is more, less, or the same as men.

By what criteria should people be paid? If effort and skill were the criteria, top tennis players would all be due a big pay cut as other professions would be due a rise. If societal usefulness was the criteria, top tennis players would be due a big cut also. And applying the same worldwide we'd all be due big pay cuts here in the UK. In a capitalist system, paying people on merit means paying them according to their financial value, in the case of pro tennis players, this is how much they raise for the tournament organisers. The women's and men's tournaments are separate in many ways, so comparing the pay across each, you could argue, is not a useful comparison.

Of course if your problem is capitalism, that's a different and further reaching issue.

Also best of 5 sets is naturally going to have the capacity to provide more entertainment.

What is entertaining is also subjective and viewed through a lens of traditional misogyny. Women would always be starting on the back foot.

Yes women will always start off on the back foot and playing catch up.

Why is it that the only 2 jobs that women can do that men can't are either unpaid or come with a risk of being murdered?

Men can certainly do the second of those, if you mean what I think you do. It's a smaller but still thriving industry.