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At the end of the day, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that John McEnroe, Tennis' infamous bad boy, probably just wanted to say something inflammatory to get attention, but he completely and utterly crossed the line in his comments to reporters. Not only does he speak with derision of female athletes, he condescendingly remarks upon the state of the female athlete today as if they are children in need of his advice.

Pathetic.

Even though McEnroe undoubtedly speaks for himself, I think his words speak volumes of the way female athletes are perceived in a larger context throughout our society. Said McEnroe:

They shouldn't be playing as many events as the me. The women have it better in tennis than in any other sport, thanks to Billie Jean King. But you shouldn't push them to play more than they're capable of.

Let us just forget for a moment that McEnroe is the speaker. There is general prejudice in those words that propagate common myths about women, female athletes in particular. The most prominent of which is the notion that women can't physically compete at the same level as men. McEnroe speaks as if women playing tennis have encroached on his turf, are threatening his sacred world. Ahem, Mr. McEnroe, your privilege is showing. And the pretentious and degrading suggestion that somehow women are equal enough bleeds through his commentary, as if he's telling female tennis players to be grateful for what they do have.

With the words, "you shouldn't push them to play more than they're capable of", McEnroe reasserts the common stereotype that top female athletes cant perform at the same level as men, aren't physically able to compete in the way men do, and can't physically match up with men. All of these stereotypes have been disproved, yet many (probably most) people still believe them to be true- certainly McEnroe does. The truth is, women are capable of doing many things and just because women have been excluded and prohibited from professionally competing at the level of John McEnroe, doesn't mean they are not capable of doing so. Indeed, if given the chance, there is no doubt female athletes can adapt their game to the level of their male counterparts and thrive.


"They shouldn't be playing as many events as me", said McEnroe. Well excuse "them", for "they" just want to play tennis; "they" just want to have the same opportunities you had. This sentence is particularly jarring because McEnroe believes he (as a representative of all great, male, tennis players) should be the gate keeper to what is and isn't okay in the world of tennis. To him, female athletes are a separate and lesser group that need to be kept far from the traditional male tennis world.

According to McEnroe, women have it good enough, better actually, than other, sexist, sports. Thus, they shouldn't complain- they should just take their lumps, follow his rules, and shut up . I can't stand this attitude- many men and women reflect this type of thinking. Women are not equal in sports, as in the larger context of society, as McEnroe's comments so clearly reveal. Yet, so many people think that just because things for female athletes are better than they were say, 25 years ago, that women should just be grateful and not complain.

This damages the ability of female athletes to earn the right to make the same amount of money as male athletes, compete at high level for lucrative contracts and recognition, and for businesses to invest in legitimate women's sports ventures. Whether John McEnroe believes it or not, his comments are reflective of common misconceptions of female athletes and their "place" in American sports culture.

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