I am a fan of Serena Williams, but I’m measured in my advocacy. I don’t believe she is infallible and can do no wrong, but I don’t expect perfection, either. I cannot deny her determination and what it represents for the little girls who look like and grew up like her and Venus, using the public courts in their beloved Compton to practice and grow up to ultimately dominate a sport globally. I cannot deny her dedication.
I – me – I cannot. That doesn’t mean the rest of the globe won’t try.
In fact, when The New York Times dropped an article titled “Tennis’ Top Women Balance Body Image With Quest for Success,” the article was rife with statements about why no one can dominate the sport like Serena. The insinuation was clear: she’d sacrificed certain things that no other competitor of hers were willing to sacrifice – particularly, her womanliness.
Don’t take my word for it, though:
“It’s our decision to keep her as the smallest player in the top 10,” said Tomasz Wiktorowski, the coach of Agnieszka Radwanska, who is listed at 5 feet 8 and 123 pounds. “Because, first of all she’s a woman, and she wants to be a woman.” [source]
This particular quote makes me sick to my stomach.
So much of what all women struggle with when it comes to the way they exercise, the way they train, and the overcrowding of the treadmills during peak lady hours at the gym is tied up into this quote. The idea of keeping her at 123lbs at 5’8″ is how they seek to keep her “a woman,” is connected to the idea that muscles are the arena of men. Women don’t belong there, they don’t thrive there, and they certainly don’t exist in that arena as women.
If Serena says she is comfortable with her muscular physique as a woman, and a journalist juxtaposes her comfort against another competitor’s and her male trainer saying that said competitor’s slim physique is what makes her a woman, what exactly is the takeaway? It’s almost as if “womanliness” is something bestowed upon you by others, instead of something you identify as your own on your own and in your own way.
[For more of this story, written by Erika Nicole Kendall, go to http://blackgirlsguidetoweight...-of-serena-williams/]
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