The Sexism Debate in the Wake of Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Triumph

I have now heard too many people complain about Murray being called “the first British Wimbledon champion since 1936″. The argument goes “yes, he’s the first champion since 1936 IF YOU DON’T THINK WOMEN ARE PEOPLE. Virginia Wade won in 1977!” and they raise a good and true point. If we are to gain equality between genders, then we cannot ignore women in these matters. Personally, I think the point being made is a bit misinformed, so let’s get some more information.

The first thing we need to consider is that there are 9 separate competitions for able-bodied professional tennis players each year at Wimbledon, and a player of British citizenship who wins any of these competitions is a British Wimbledon champion. They are as follows:

–       Men’s singles

–       Women’s singles

–       Men’s doubles

–       Women’s doubles

–       Mixed doubles

–       Boys’ singles

–       Girls’ singles

–       Boys’ doubles

–       Girls’ doubles

Since 1936, the year Fred Perry won the men’s singles competition, there have been 31 trophies won by 29 different British athletes over these 9 competitions. They are as follows:

1937 – Dorothy Little (women’s singles)

1937 – Billie York (women’s doubles)

1950 – L.M. Cornell (girls’ singles)

1950 – J.A.T. Horn (boys’ singles)

1951 – L.M. Cornell (girls’ singles)

1952 – R.K. Wilson (boys’ singles)

1953 – W.A. Knight (boys’ singles)

1954 – V.A. Pitt (girls’ singles)

1955 – S.M. Armstrong (girls’ singles)

1955 – M.P. Hann (boys’ singles)

1955 – Angela Barrett and Ann Shilcock (women’s doubles)

1956 – A.S. Haydon (girls’ singles)

1956 – Angela Buxton (women’s doubles)

1957 – J.I. Tattersall (boys’ singles)

1961 – Angela Barrett (women’s Singles)

1962 – S.J. Matthews (boys’ singles)

1969 – Ann Jones (women’s and mixed doubles)

1977 – Virginia Wade (women’s singles)

1983 – John Lloyd (mixed doubles)

1984 – John Lloyd (mixed doubles)

1984 – A.N. Croft (girls’ singles)

1987 – Jeremy Bates and Jo Durie (mixed doubles)

1994 – E.E. Jelfs (girls’ doubles)

1995 – J. Lee and J.M. Trotman (boys’ doubles)

2007 – Jamie Murray (mixed doubles)

2008 – Laura Robson (girls’ singles)

2010 – Liam Broady and T. Farquharson (boys’ doubles)

2011 – G. Morgan (boys’ doubles)

2012 – Jonny Marray (men’s doubles)

2013 – Andy Murray (men’s singles)

So let’s break down this list. Those arguing that women are being ignored should know that this list comprises 15 female and 14 male tennis players. So yes, there is an imbalance in that we are ignoring women and girls more than we are ignoring the men and boys. But the male players have also not been mentioned!

Let us also consider that Virginia Wade has been singled out as the most recent champion before Andy Murray. Well since 1977 there have been 12 trophies by 14 different players, 4 of whom are female, the remaining 10 male. The difference between those 14 players and Virginia Wade is that Virginia won a senior event in the singles. Those who say that Virginia Wade is being marginalised are in fact marginalising all the junior and doubles champions. This isn’t as bad as sexism of course, but their achievements should not go unnoticed.

But enough about numbers.

I think the real crux of the issue comes down to the media aspect of Wimbledon, and public perception of the event. With the exception of Boris Becker and Tim Henman, I don’t think any of the commentators are very good. Andrew Castle shouldn’t be allowed to comment on his dinner, never mind a grand slam. The commentators are the ones who are saying “first British winner at Wimbledon since 1936”. Every newspaper article I’ve seen uses the much more accurate “first British winner of the Wimbledon men’s singles since 1936”. The fact is that commentators need to entertain, and breaking a 77-year drought is bigger than a 1-year drought. It could also be that the more accurate version of events reported in newspapers is simply too much of a mouthful when one is talking on live television, and they assume that anyone watching will know what they mean. It could just be that Andrew Castle is a complete moron and should stick to the injury lawyers 4U (ugh, text speak in company names makes me feel queasy).

In terms of public perception, there is no doubt that the men’s singles is the biggest event in Wimbledon and so it’s given the biggest emphasis. There are a few reasons why, and it would be fantastic if all were treated equal, but that is something that smarter people than I will have to tackle. I’ll watch any tennis if it’s on.

The 77-year drought between British men’s singles champions has been the longest out of all 9 competitions. We have won every trophy multiple times since then, and we should be happy about all of them. I don’t like that the female champions have been marginalised by this throwaway comment, but I also don’t like the marginalisation of junior tennis players and those who play in the doubles tournaments.

Since Fred Perry we have had 28 British champions at Wimbledon, now Andy Murray has made it 29. Let’s just be happy.

Oh, and could someone please fire Andrew Castle.