Net payments
Sir: Tears welled in my eyes as, reading The Spectator in a steam room after weight training, I encountered those cruel re- marks about women tennis players: femi- nine, weak and boring or muscular pretend men, equally boring (Dominic Lawson's Diary, 8 June).
In principle, surely, professional prize money should reflect the expected revenue from an event. Women should profit equally if their work is equally profitable. If there is at present a larger audience for five sets of the real men's monotonous serve-serve game, so be it. But why pre- tend that playing longer matches is intrinsi- cally superior?
Euripides' Medea was told that men's privileged position was justified because they fought in battle. Her answer is a firm rejection of irrelevant criteria. 'I would rather fight three battles than give birth at all.'
Incidentally, only those who have met me are in a suitable position to draw conclusions about my personal beauty, I don't wear dungarees and I reserve the title 'sister' for my female sibling.
My eyes brimmed with sadness that one so young displayed such advanced symp- toms of reflex misogyny.
Lucy Dean
District Audit, Room 35, Olive Morris House, Lambeth, London SE1
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