What The "Serena Williams Rule" Says About Black Women In Sports
“It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place.”
By: Omar Cook
Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes in sports history, male or female. Having won multiple world titles, olympic medals, and consistently being ranked top in the world in her sport, she has more than paid her dues to the game. But even controversy finds the greatest of players.
Serena Williams took some time off from the game due to the birth of her child, and has been battling with her health and blood clots. Nike designed a special catsuit that was made to help her recover faster during competition, which she wore earlier this year in her return at the French Open. “Yeah, the catsuit, I had a lot of problems with my blood clots, and, God, I don’t know how many I have had in the past 12 months." Said Serena. “So it is definitely a little functionality to it. I have been wearing pants in general a lot when I play so I can keep, you know, the blood circulation going." She continued saying, “It’s a fun suit, but it’s also functional so I can be able to play without any problems.”
Serena Williams Wears Nike Catsuit at the French Open (TIM CLAYTON - CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES)
“It feels like this suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally, physically, with their body to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves,” Said Serena Williams this past June, after her major win in Paris following the birth of her daughter. “I feel like a warrior in it, like a warrior princess kind of, queen from Wakanda. I’m always living in a fantasy world. I always wanted to be a superhero, and it’s kind of my way of being a superhero. I feel like a superhero when I wear it.”
French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli told Tennis Magazine that there will be a new dress code at the French Open going forward stating "I think that sometimes we've gone too far." He continued by saying "It will no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place."
We all know that Serena Williams has a curvy figure, but to make a rule specifically because of the way her body looks in athletic gear is not only sexist, but it speaks volumes to how black women are viewed. If we're being real, if a non-black woman with less of a curvy figure had worn this outfit, would this be an issue? Here we have an athlete, the best athlete in women's tennis history, being shamed for wearing an outfit designed to give her a health benefit. Are we saying that having too much curves is a problem now? Serena has been criticized before for wearing beads in her hair so the hate is nothing new.
Women should be able to promote body positivity and love themselves for how they are naturally shaped. Serena said she wore the suit to represent "all the moms out there who had a tough pregnancy and had to come back and try to be fierce." What message is really being sent by trying to limit what this woman wears in competition? If a full body suit is unacceptable, than what is acceptable?
Black women tend to have naturally curvy bodies are often sexualized because of their figures, and this new rule just perpetuates the over sexualization. Being too "thick" is not something that women should have to deal with or even be ashamed of, specifically black women. Women should be able to embrace their bodies without being ridiculed for it being seen as over the top. Men in positions of power need to check themselves about how they deal with women, and what they say. This is rule is ridiculous, and if we have to call it for what it is, it's blatant racism.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
