Susan Ware
Books
Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women's Sports
(University of North Carolina Press, 2011)
When Billie Jean King trounced Bobby Riggs in tennis's "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973, she placed sports squarely at the center of a national debate about gender equity. Combining biography and history, this book argues that Billie Jean King's spirited challenges to sexism on and off the court, the supportive climate of second-wave feminism, and the legislative clout of Title IX sparked a women's sports revolution in the 1970s that fundamentally reshaped American society. King's place in tennis history is secure, but now she can take her rightful place as a key player in the history of feminism as well.
"Game, Set, Match is the best political history of the ties between sports and feminism that I've read. It is a beautifully written, solidly researched book that captures – through the pivotal figure of Billie Jean King – the complicated relationships among Title IX, feminists, sports advocates, and ideas of gender equality."
Susan K. Cahn