Billie Jean Kinghas no intention of slowing down in her fight for equality and empowerment for women.
The 39-time Grand Slam champion, who has been a staunch advocate for gender equality in sports for over five decades, is teaming up with Dove for theirBody Confident Sportprogram to continue pushing the movement forward.
“I think if you know me, you can see why I wanted to do this,” King, 81, tells PEOPLE about partnering with Dove and supporting the brand’s new Super Bowl ad aimed at raising awareness of the harmful effects negative body talk has on girls in sports. “Forty eight percent of girls drop out of sports because they’re told they don’t have the right body type. We’re socialized not to trust our bodies.”
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As a tennis icon, King faced her own share of criticism regarding her appearance. “I wore glasses at 13, and they all said, ‘You can’t be an athlete if you wear glasses’ and I said internally, ‘I’m going to wear glasses and I’m going to show ‘em,’” she recalls. “Growing up I was asked ‘Why are you in sports? Why do you bother?’ and I want to help give these other girls that feeling to go for it, even though you’re not always going to win, you just keep going.”
When it comes to the sports area, King says women influence each other more than they realize and hopes to help motivate young girls to send one another messages of strength.
“I got into tennis because a friend asked me to play, and I was so lucky that someone asked me. It just shows you how we influence each other and why it’s important to uplift kids and everyone, particularly young girls,” King tells PEOPLE.
She adds, “If you get told something when you’re young, it usually stays with you forever, and 11 to 17, those are really important years for girls. What I believe in and what I keep striving to do is to help girls believe in themselves.”
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The long fight for equality has sometimes left King exhausted, but never defeated.
Dove’s 30-second spot will air during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl and feature a re-recording of Bruce Springsteen’s iconic 1975 track “Born to Run,” 50 years after its original release.
King joins New York Liberty Guard, Sabrina Elaine Ionescu, Olympic tennis gold medalist Venus Williams, tennis star Emma Navarro, field hockey athlete and coach Kylie Kelce, Olympic long jump gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall and founder of the Women’s National Football Conference Odessa Jenkins as part of an all-star squad lending their voices and experiences to the Dove Body Confident Collective.
With Dove’s program — now reaching 114 million girls in 153 countries — King remains committed to making the world more equitable.
“We’re going to help more women not only love their bodies but become leaders along the way because women don’t realize the power they have,” she says. “Girls are always taught to say, ‘I’m not good enough.' Yeah, you are. We are good enough."
source: people.com
