Wimbledon: Equality just isn't fair

In the news today is the announcement by the All England Club that Wimbledon's highly controversial prize money disparity between the men and women is going to remain in place for this year's tournament. Basically the men's champion will receive £655,000 while the women's champion will get a 'meagre' £625,000. Many of the top female players are understandably angered at the seeming discrimination against the female players, with Venus Williams leading the women in threatening proactive action in protest.

Equality in all areas is seen as essential in today's society, so whenever anyone is seemed to be treated unequally people react immediatley to criticise the actions, with no regard for the reasoning behind them. The fact is that last year at Wimbledon, the top 10 women earned more overall than the top 10 men. Who's discriminated against now? The women play best of three sets as opposed to the men's best of five, they are therefore on court for just over half the time that the men are, and yet receive 95% of the prize money. Is that fair? The women's game is dominated far more by an elite groups of players at the top of the rankings table, with the men's game far more competitive, meaning the money is shared around alot more with the top players receiving less prize money relatively to the women. Are you starting to see my point? By being on the court for much less time, they, unlike the men, are able to enter doubles events, sometimes both women's and mixed, meaning they often have the opportunity to win three times as many prizes as most of the men. Is that equal? Finally you have to look at where this prize money actually comes from- fans and spectators. The men's game is more popular than the women's and receives higher gate receipts and TV viewers. Men earn the All England Club more than the women, so isn't it fair that they should receive more of it back off them? Fair but not equal.

On the whole i sincerely believe people should be treated equally and not be discriminated against, but people have got equality confused with fairness. In most situations equal treatment is the only right course of action, but in others they need to be treated in proportions to other factors. Equallity isn't always fair.

To discern what is, we need to engage our brains a bit, and not make quick judgments leading to claims that decisions are 'morally indefensible'.