If a British woman won ’77 Wimbledon, why is Murray first winner since ’36? [View all]
Is it sexist that Virginia Wade is being ignored by history?
Open a newspaper or visit any news site on Monday and you’ll find mention of Andy Murray becoming the first British champion of Wimbledon since 1936. But Great Britain has a more recent champion than that. Virginia Wade won the Wimbledon ladies championship in 1977. Is this a sexist whitewashing of history?
That’s what some believe, including Chloe Angyal, the editor of Feministing.
Murray is indeed the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years unless you think women are people.
— Chloe Angyal (@ChloeAngyal) July 7, 2013
Is the ignoring of Wade’s title a dark day for sports journalism, as the Guardian suggests? Do sites need to add corrections to their stories about Murray being the first winner in 77 years, like Slate did?
No, not unless you want to change the entire way we discuss major two-gender sports, like tennis, basketball, golf, swimming, track and gymnastics.
In those sports, we don’t cross-pollinate records. The sports and athletes are treated as equal, but separate. Roger Federer isn’t chasing Steffi Graf on the all-time Grand Slam list. When talking about where Missy Franklin could rank on the list of all-time great swimmers, it’s generally assumed you’re comparing her with Janet Evans, not Michael Phelps. After Serena Williams lost at Wimbledon, announcers didn’t need to specify that the top seed, but not the male top seed, was eliminated.
Think about it this way: When up-and-coming teen star Laura Robson wins Wimbledon in five years, should the headlines say “first Brit to win Wimbledon since Andy Murray” or “first Brit to win Wimbledon since Virginia Wade?” It will be the latter, as it should be. Then, in the copy, the fact that Robson is the first British woman to win will be specified.
Clarification like that is necessary. And most of this alleged bias comes from headlines, which is more about practicality than sexism. Headlines and soundbites can only be so long, so keeping them short and punchy is necessary. The body of the text is where the finer points are made.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/07/andy-murray-virginia-wade-first-brit-wimbledon/
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