Speaking at all-access media hour at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, Venus Williams gave her opinions on equal pay in tennis, saying that it’s important for men to get involved in the movement.
Read all the Quotes from the WTA's All-Access Day via WTATennis.com Here
“I think it's important for men to get on board, because these same men have daughters, wives, sisters, and they should want those same opportunities for those people in their families,” Williams said, according to WTATennis.com. “They have women in their lives who are important to them and they need to realize that when they say these sorts of things that they are also saying these things about the women in their lives and they have to really come to grips with what that means.”
Williams was of course referring to the comments of BNP Paribas Open tournament director and CEO Raymond Moore. Moore, who claimed the women had been riding on the coattails of men, also said that they should get down on their knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had been born. The words ignited a firestorm of controversy and eventually led to Moore stopping down from his post.
Williams has a history with the movement for equal pay. In 2007 Williams played a pivotal role in finally getting Wimbledon to offer equal pay to women.
In the days that followed Moore's comments at Indian Wells, debate is once again raging about the concept of equal prize money for men and women in tennis. Though women are compensated equally at the majors and at some larger events, they are not compensated equally across the board. Economics play into those pay equations, as the men’s tour and women’s tour are operated by separate entities, further complicating the issue.
Those economic realities haven’t kept many women on the WTA Tour—another notable one being Nicole Gibbs—from responding with a call from something that was clearly lacking in Moore, and many others who have joined this debate—respect.
“At the end of the day, we're all human,” Williams said. “We really are. So can we just leave it at that? This is what I can't understand, why mankind has to dominate each other. I thought we were a little bit further along, but in a lot of ways I'm happy [the recent controversy] happened because it was a little bit of a wake-up call for me to not sit still and it's made me examine what I can do more across the board, not just for women's tennis but for women around the world. The next step is to really get men involved; we've rallied, fought for the right things and we've got women behind us, but that's the evolution that I see.”