Feminism — or women's lib, as it was more commonly known at the time — was still little more than material for late-night jokes in 1973, when the 29-year-old tennis player Billie Jean King accepted Bobby Riggs' challenge to a "Battle of the Sexes." Then the nation's highest paid female athlete, King was a strong advocate for equalizing the standing (and pay) across genders, even risking the disapproval of the tennis establishment by helping to create the first women's tour, the Virginia Slims (named after its sponsor, the then-new cigarette for women).…
Feminism — or women's lib, as it was more commonly known at the time — was still little more than material for late-night jokes in 1973, when the 29-year-old tennis player Billie Jean King accepted Bobby Riggs' challenge to a "Battle of the Sexes." Then the nation's highest paid female athlete, King was a strong advocate for equalizing the standing (and pay) across genders, even risking the disapproval of the tennis establishment by helping to create the first women's tour, the Virginia Slims (named after its sponsor, the then-new cigarette for women).…