Resumen de Reading between the Lines: A Discursive Analysis of the Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs “Battle of the Sexes”
1998 marked the 25-year anniversary of the historic “Battle of the Sexes” between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. That match has been credited with enhancing the status of girls and women in sport (Frey, 1998: Hahn. 1998: Nelson, 1998). Although the match was staged during the conjunctural moment now referred to as second wave feminism, it was commemorated within the context of third wave feminism. In this paper. I revisit discourses written about the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. Although it continues to be articulated as a watershed moment in women’s sport, recent characterizations of the match reflect transformations from second to third wave feminist discourses.
