A female jockey has won the world’s most famous horse race, the
Melbourne Cup. Michelle Payne delivered her horse to renown, her team to victory, her punters to relative fortune; Prince of Penzance paid out at 100-1. She’s
the first woman in 155 years to win that race, and what she had to overcome to do so was, of course, not limited to a long course, a tricky track and a lot of other horses.
Nor was it surviving the death of her mother, killed in a car crash when Payne was but six months old and the youngest of 10 children. Or recovering from two serious falls – including one in 2004 that fractured her skull, caused bleeding on her brain and nearly killed her.
More than just the triumphs over elite competition, family tragedy and the kind of medical catastrophe that often destroys lives as it does careers, Payne also had to overcome the unconscionable reality that it is 2015 and still – still! – women are subjected to the inanity of sexism in sport, work and everyday life.
Doubters need only watch Payne’s first, sweaty interview after the victory. “It’s such a chauvinistic sport,” she panted, “I know some of the owners were keen to kick me off.”
The reason? “They think women aren’t strong enough,” she said. It’s clear what was dominating her thoughts in the moment of her victory. “They” also think that the kind of social fortitude and demanding self-belief required to overcome seemingly inexhaustible gender prejudice is an achievement undeserving of regard.
Payne’s historic victory as the first female winner went entirely unremarked in the congratulatory post-race speeches, which merely subbed her name into the blank spaces with no acknowledgement of just what was required of the woman to do what she had done.
The only surprising thing about Payne’s own statements was her restrained choice of vocabulary – that the chauvinists could “get stuffed”.
Goddamn it! How many of us have longed for an opportunity like hers to say the exact same thing?
http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...e-all-longed-to-celebrate-like-michelle-payne
