“I remember when we got equal prize money; it was hard because I was still ready to fight" - Venus Williams reflects on Wimbledon and equal pay triumph in 2007
While most people know Venus Williams for her prowess and achievements on the tennis court, she has championed the equal pay initiative behind the scenes for a very long time. The 41-year-old is promoting the initiative through her lifestyle brand 'EleVen'.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the elder of the Williams sisters spoke at length on the issue and reflected on her on-court success as well.
Venus Williams reminisced about her Wimbledon 2007 campaign - which happened to be the first edition in the history of the championships that offered equal prize money for men and women. She recalled the effort that was put in to bring her dream to fruition.
“I remember when we got equal prize money. It finally happened. It was hard because I was still ready to fight. We’d been fighting so long, but it was time to put the picket sign away. I'll be really happy to have that feeling again," she said.
A five-time champion at SW19, Williams was questioned about the first time she lifted the Venus Rosewater dish trophy. The 41-year-old explained that she hadn't originally planned on winning the entire thing. But that at the same time, she didn't go out there wishing to lose.
"I hadn't planned to win Wimbledon...you always want to, but you don't go in saying, gosh I want to lose this year," Williams said.
In the 2007 edition, Venus Williams felt there was a bit of poetic justice in her emergence as the champion, for the campaign where she fought for equal pay in tennis. The seven-time singles Grand Slam champion also recalled the presence of Billie Jean King, whom she termed the "catalyst" for everything in women's tennis, in the audience on the day of the final.
"It was very interesting to say the least that the year that we finally got equal pay, I also won," Venus Williams continued. "And it was great to have Billie Jean King in the audience too, who was the catalyst for everything in women's tennis. So it was a really special moment. I'd love to go back to that."
EleVen by Venus Williams is leading the Privilege Tax initiative during the month of March
Recent findings in America have shown that the average full-time working woman earns 84 cents for every dollar the average full-time working man earns. Using that proportion, an Equal Pay Day has been declared by the National Committee on Pay Equity - which varies from year to year. According to the committee, "this date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year." In 2022, 15 March has been declared as Equal Pay Day across the United States.
The Privilege Tax is an initiative by EleVen, Venus Williams's lifestyle brand, to raise awareness about the pay inequalities. It also aims to raise funds for Girls Inc. - an organization dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged girls.
The American spoke positively about the progress of her campaign. She perceives it as an opportunity to help at the grassroots level. She also said this was her favorite time of the year as she gets to work for the cause as a team.
“It's our second year, and it's been a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness and to help at the grassroots level and has been extremely rewarding. It's our favorite time of the year as a team and my personal favorite because, of course, we're pro-woman,” Venus Williams said.
Speaking on the difference in outlook this year, Williams stressed on surpassing the goal they had set for the previous one. She said that the team has a clearer idea this time and expressed excitement for what lies ahead.
"This year we plan on really just surpassing the goal that we had last year.Last year was just our first year. I don't know if we quite knew exactly what we were doing, but this year we're going into it with our eyes wider and I'm really excited to see where we'll land," Williams said.