Serena Williams has dealt with increased scrutiny during her career. Graham Denholm/Getty Images Serena Williams announced that she would soon be retiring from tennis, ending a legendary career. As a Black champion in a predominantly white sport, Williams has endured racist attacks for decades.
The media and tennis officials often judged Williams more harshly than some of her competitors. When she retires later this year, Serena Williams will be remembered as the greatest tennis player of all time. Yet, during the course of her career, she endured frequent racist and sexist attacks by the media.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion stood out in the tennis world as a Black woman in a predominantly white sport, first as a teenager entering the court with beaded braids, and then, as she grew and rose up the tennis ranks, becoming known for having a more muscular silhouette than many of her peers. Subject to racist tropesMedia attacks on Williams’ appearance have often played upon racist tropes. In 2001, sports radio commentator Sid Rosenberg said Serena and her sister Venus were more likely to pose nude for National Geographic than for Playboy.
Rosenberg was fired from his position on Don Imus’ radio show for his comments. Serena Williams at the 2006 US Open. Mike Ehrmann/WireImage/Getty ImagesEighteen years later, a Romanian TV show host was fined by the National Council for Combating Discrimination after comparing Williams to a monkey.
In 2006, The National Post ran a column discussing Williams’ weight, including her butt size. The column included a comment that occupants in the hotel room below hers must have “spent the night dodging plaster” after the tennis player said she intended to celebrate a victory by dancing. That same year, The Telegraph’s Matthew Norman made a vile comment about the size of Williams’ breasts; three years later, in a Fox Sports column, Jason Whitlock described William’ physique as “thick, muscled blubber.
“Fellow tennis players have also gotten in on the act. In 2012, Caroline Wozniacki imitated Williams at an exhibition by stuffing a towel into her shirt and skirt. Caroline Wozniacki said she was imitating Serena Williams during a 2012 exhibition.
Andre Penner/AP ImagesWilliams, for her part, said she didn’t find Wozniacki’s joke racist — as some had said — but that she thought Wozniacki would do the impression “differently” next time. Some of these body critiques have come in the form of questioning Williams’ gender. In 2014, Shamil Tarpischev, then president of the Russian Tennis Federation, was suspended for a year and fined $25,000 for referring to the Williams’ sisters as “brothers.
“These comments haven’t been limited to tennis officials and media members. After Williams’ 2012 Wimbledon victory, one writer pulled dozens of tweets calling Williams a “man” or “gorilla. “After a contentious US Open final in 2018, in which Williams received three code violations and lost a game, the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun printed a cartoon that depicted Williams as an angry baby stomping on the ground.
The cartoon drew criticism for what some thought were racist depictions — the size of Williams’ nose and lips were exaggerated while Naomi Osaka — who is also Black — was portrayed as a white woman. In a 2018 interview, Williams addressed the critical comments about her appearance, saying that while hearing the criticism had taken a toll, she had grown to love her body. “It was hard for me,” Williams told Harpers Bazaar.
“People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms, or because I’m strong. I was different to Venus: she was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular — and beautiful, but, you know, it was just totally different. “Williams has also said she faced “discrimination” in drug-testing because she was tested far more frequently than her competitors.
In a 2018 tweet, she referred to the frequent testing as “#BeingSerena. “Catsuits and coded languageIn her book, “On Racial Icons: Blackness and the Public Imagination,” author and New York University professor Nicole Fleetwood writes about Williams’ style as a perceived form of racial excess, “specifically the Black female body as excess. “Williams kisses the 1999 US Open title.
Getty/Jamie SquireWhile tennis outfits are traditionally “restrained and dainty, color coordinated and flirtatious, but not overtly sexual,” any change Williams made to those expectations — from beads and braids, to denim mini skirts on court, to “booty shorts” — became treated as a scandal among sports media. “With Serena’s body type, every outfit she wore became a conversation,” Lori Latrice Martin, professor of African American Studies at Louisiana State University, told Insider. In 2018, Williams wore a black catsuit to the French Open, saying she felt like a “warrior princess … queen from Wakanda,” referring to the universe in “Black Panther.
” The next year, however, the catsuit was banned. “I think we sometimes went too far,” French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli told Tennis Magazine. “The [outfit] of Serena this year, for example, it will no longer be accepted.
One must respect the game and the place. “Serena Williams at the 2018 French Open. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty ImagesMany critics saw the ban as one that was rooted in racism, and many fans pointed out that a white tennis player had been allowed to wear a catsuit in the past.
The language that is sometimes used to describe Williams’ body is also often coded in common racial stereotypes, where Black women are framed as more powerful or masculine than their white peers. In a 2013 profile for Rolling Stone, Stephen Rodrick compared Williams to her competitor, Maria Sharapova: “Sharapova is tall, white and blond, and, because of that, makes more money in endorsements than Serena, who is black, beautiful and built like one of those monster trucks that crushes Volkswagens at sports arenas. “”In the case of gender,” Martin said, “we center white women, and attributing all these positive attributes to white women, and negative qualities to Black women.
“A critical lensSerena Williams hugs Richard and Venus Williams at the BNP Paribas Open in 2001. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty ImagesWilliams, perhaps more so than her peers, has also been more harshly investigated and criticized for her behavior on and off the court. In 2001, tennis fans accused Serena, Venus, and their father and manager, Richard, of match-fixing after Venus dropped out of a semifinal against Serena at Indian Wells moments before the match was scheduled to begin.
The WTA said they found no evidence of match-fixing — and the Williams’ sisters denied the allegations — but that didn’t stop the Indian Wells crowd from treating the family with hostility. In the now-infamous incident, Richard and Venus entered the arena for Serena’s match and were met with raucous boos and racial jeers. Richard said one fan called him the N-word.
The treatment caused the Williams sisters to skip playing the tournament until 2015. Upon returning to the tournament, Serena wrote for Time that the allegations of match-fixing “ripped into us deeply,” adding, “the undercurrent of racism was painful, confusing and unfair. “In the mid-2000s, Williams played fewer matches while also expanding her celebrity, dipping her toes into fashion and acting.
These off-court pursuits led to widespread commentary that Williams didn’t care enough about tennis. Notably, tennis analyst and 18-time Grand Slam Chris Evert questioned Williams’ desire in a letter in Tennis Magazine, writing, “whether you want to admit it or not, these distractions are tarnishing your legacy. “Reactions to the letter were split among tennis fans, between those who agreed with Evert and those who thought she had little business commenting on what Williams did with her time off the court.
Some wondered if other players’ off-court interests would have drawn the same scrutiny. Serena Williams in 2021. Graham Denholm/Getty ImagesIn 2006, Williams brushed off the letter while speaking to reporters.
“I didn’t read any of that stuff,” she said. “You don’t know what happens behind closed doors and what people are really going through . .
. I don’t dwell on other people. I know what I have to do.
You have to be happy with what you’re doing. “A reflection of societyWilliams’ treatment by the media is similar to how Black women are treated in other sports, and other industries. “Whatever you see in society, it’s going to show up in sports,” Martin told Insider.
Through all the challenges she’s faced, Williams will be remembered for changing the sport of tennis forever. Many Black female athletes have followed in her and her sister’s footsteps, from Naomi Osaka to Sloane Stephens. According to an analysis by Sports Marketing Surveys, participation among Black tennis players increased by 44% between 2019 and 2021, and a record number of Black women participated in the US Open in 2020.
“Her legacy is more than her being Serena. I started playing because of her,” Naomi Osaka told HBO’s “The Shop. ” “I’m sure there’s so many other girls that started playing because of her, so she literally built champions.
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From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/serena-williams-endured-racism-sexism-media-throughout-career-2022-8
