Should Women be paid the same prize money as Men for ALL sports?

The equal pay in tennis grand slams is a big bugbear for me. The prize money is the same, yet men are expected to play 2 more sets? I don't buy the argument that women aren't capable of 5 sets. Serena Williams would probably slap you for suggesting she couldn't manage 5 sets because she's not as physically able as a man. The prize money should reflect the amount of sport played, in my opinion.

Their teams like in male cycling

So in 2010 should John Isner and Nicolas Mahut received more prize money than Rafael Nadal and Tomáš Berdych?

I presume Isner and Mahut played 5 sets whilst Nadal and Berdych played 3? I think in that case it's irrelevant how many sets were played because Nadal and Berdych could have played 5 sets if it came to it. In women's tennis, 5 sets isn't even possible. And as I said in my previous post, I believe women should and can play 5 sets, just like men.

I presume Isner and Mahut played 5 sets whilst Nadal and Berdych played 3? I think in that case it's irrelevant how many sets were played because Nadal and Berdych could have played 5 sets if it came to it. In women's tennis, 5 sets isn't even possible. And as I said in my previous post, I believe women should and can play 5 sets, just like men.

No, they played over 150 games in their first round match, although they were knocked out in the first and second rounds so they're being somewhat pedantic.

That isn't what you said though, you stated that "The prize money should reflect the amount of sport played" you didn't say that 'the prize money should reflect the potential amount of sport played'.

Okay that's different.

Most women are naturally, of a lesser physical ability in general. The whole point of creating a women's competition was to cater for that.

What you're suggesting is like allowing able bodied people to compete in the paralympics because it's only fair, though as we saw with Oscar Pistorius the disabled were allowed to compete in the able bodied olympics.

It kind of defeats the object.

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Only if they are doing the same amount of work. The same pay in tennis, for example, is a farce because they only do 3 sets compared to the 5 that men do.

Ahh I see.



Indeed I did. And so I would now like to revise my statement and say instead that I think the prize money should reflect the potential amount of sport that can be played. If women are able to play 5 sets and it's financially viable for them to be paid as much as men (which has to work on the assumption they can bring in a similar level of interest and sponsorship), then that is the point at which I think they should be paid equally.

How are you measuring potential amount of sport that can be played? The number of sets required to win doesn't necessarily reflect the amount of time spent on the court or the number of points played.

There have been quite a few matches where women playing best of 3 sets has lasted a lot longer in both time and points played than men playing best of 5 sets.

Imo, if they work just as hard and achieve the same standard they should be given the oppurtunity to play on the same field as the blokes. But they must meet the standards that the men have to live up to.

I think what people forget about most sports is that there is more to the sports than just the matches and tournaments, even if that's what ultimately matters. If a male player and a female player are both, say, training 10 hours a day 6 days a week all year, does the fact that one may play for half an hour less per match really matter that much?
Of course, you get that economically the woman is worth less, but that's a different argument, although not totally unrelated, to how long they're playing for.

If the women bring in more revenue then they should be paid accordingly. However with some sports the athletes don't even have a min wage which is ridiculous. For example in cycling many of the women have to work part time jobs and train and race. How can they realistically be expected to pull in more sponsors if they can't race as well due to their disrupted training?

No because they're not doing the same job. It's like working for two seperate companies, one which works you way harder but is more successful and expecting the same amount of money.

However I do think women who have the ability should be able to compete in mens sport.

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And should men who don't quite have the ability for mens be able to compete in women's sport? If not, it is unfair that women get two divisions to play in and men do not.