Women – Battle of the Sexes

The big question: Women are considered equal in all walks of life. So why not in sport?
Why don't men and women compete against each other? Is it just a case of physical mismatch? And if so, why don't women compete in sports such as motor racing, which rely on skill not strength?

Background
In 1973 Billy-Jean King played a one off tennis match against arch-sexist Bobby Riggs. The match was played against the background of a media frenzy and with much of the world watching. In this original Battle of the Sexes the woman won and King's victory was seen as a hugely significant moment for women in sport.

So why did the breakthrough never come?

In 1992 brilliant Algerian athlete Hassiba Boulmerka won an Olympic gold medal in the 1500 metres. Instead of a victorious homecoming, she was hounded from her homeland by death threats from Islamic fundamentalists. Her crime? Wearing the standard runner's outfit; considered too revealing and an affront to her religion.

Can women compete on an equal footing when parts of the world refuse to see them as equal?

Benjamin Zephaniah talks to Dr Germaine Greer and Denise Lewis
Germaine Greer is a legend in the world of feminism. Her revolutionary book 'The Female Eunuch' set the agenda for the fight for social equality for women throughout the 70s and beyond. Consistently at the forefront of academic debate for over 30 years, Germaine is also well known to younger viewers as a former Celebrity Big Brother housemate.

Denise Lewis is amongst the greatest athletes, male or female, that Britain has ever produced. She won Olympic gold in Sydney in the most gruelling and physically demanding event, the heptathlon, but a string of injuries led to almost three years out of competition. Denise was forced to abandon her defence of the Olympic title after five events in Athens and subsequently retired from athletics earlier this year.