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Billie Jean King Is Back

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Billie Jean King: A Tennis Legend and Body Confidence Advocate

A Tennis Great with a Message to Share

Still, King has never been a tennis player, though she has enough personal accomplishments on the court to make her one of the sport’s all-time greats: With 39 major titles to her name (including one Australian Open, one French Open, six Wimbledon, and four US Open singles titles), she has the third most wins of any female tennis player in history. But King’s impact extends beyond her own life and career. Named one of magazine’s “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century,” she had a heavy hand in transforming women’s tennis into the sport we know and love today. Not only did she help found the Women’s Tennis Association, she also successfully campaigned for equal prize money for men and women and defeated Bobby Riggs in the infamous “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973.

Continuing the Crusade

In her eyes, though, more progress needs to be made. “Girls are behind. We haven’t had as much attention given to us, in this area particularly,” she says. “And I know it because I’ve lived it forever.”

Partnering with Dove

That continuing crusade is one reason why King has partnered with personal care brand Dove to raise awareness of the body confidence issues that affect a significant percentage of girls in sports. Based on research conducted by Dove and Nike, nearly half of teen girls who quit sports do so because they were told their body isn’t right for it.

The Importance of Body Confidence

“I’m so glad I’ve lived long enough to see changes, but we still have so much work to do,” King says. “We – women and girls – really are socialized not to trust our bodies.” And, she adds, “body image, body talk, how you think and feel about yourself, is so important in life, not just in sports.”

A Personal Experience

King’s Dove partnership meshes well with her history of advocacy for women, but it’s also informed by her personal experience. She doesn’t specifically say if she faced any criticism about how her body looked as a young, talented, ambitious tennis player, but she came of age in the 1950s and ’60s – an era now widely viewed as a heyday of sexism. “Every girl my age in those days got the message, ‘Why are you trying to do this?'” she says. “It was considered very masculine to play a sport.”

A Lesson in Confidence

Whether you’re eight or 80, a figure skater or a tennis player, confidence is a big factor in success – a lesson King learned long ago. “It’s really important to have strong self-talk, believe in yourself, even if others do not,” King says. Her own life is an excellent case study. “A lot of people never thought I’d be number one in the world, and I didn’t care what they said – I knew I had to. Well, I did care, but I didn’t take it to heart. My self-talk was strong enough to overcome that.”

Conclusion

King’s message is clear: girls in sports need to believe in their bodies and trust their abilities. She wants them to learn to have strong self-talk, to believe in themselves, and to overcome the negative messages they may receive.

Frequently Asked Questions

* What is Billie Jean King’s tennis record?
+ King has 39 major titles, including one Australian Open, one French Open, six Wimbledon, and four US Open singles titles.
* What is King’s impact on women’s tennis?
+ King helped found the Women’s Tennis Association and successfully campaigned for equal prize money for men and women. She also defeated Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973.
* What is King’s message to girls in sports?
+ King’s message is clear: girls in sports need to believe in their bodies and trust their abilities. She wants them to learn to have strong self-talk, to believe in themselves, and to overcome the negative messages they may receive.

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