Leadership Quote by John Lindsay

Lindsay’s line is a master class in the breezy, transactional sexism that used to pass for common sense in public life. On the surface, he’s doing the polite thing: affirming that women athletes “play tennis first and foremost.” That opening clause functions like a legal disclaimer, a pre-emptive nod to merit so he can immediately pivot to what he actually wants to discuss: marketability, and specifically the marketability of women’s bodies.

The phrase “major bonus” is the tell. It reframes “glamorous” not as incidental but as surplus value layered on top of athletic labor, the kind of value promoters can monetize without having to pay the women more or take their sport more seriously. By making glamour a “bonus for any promoter,” Lindsay quietly relocates the center of gravity away from competition and toward commerce. The imagined audience isn’t fans or players; it’s the men selling tickets, booking endorsements, and deciding who gets coverage.

Context matters: Lindsay comes out of an era when tennis was one of the few women’s sports allowed mainstream visibility, but that visibility often came with a dress code, a comportment code, and an unspoken bargain: you can be celebrated if you’re also pleasing to look at. His wording is smooth enough to sound supportive, yet it reveals the hierarchy underneath. Talent is acknowledged; desirability is leveraged. The real intent is to reassure the gatekeepers that women’s sport can be “serious” without stopping being a spectacle.