Happy but worried for Emma Raducanu

[JackieWeaverHandforthCouncil]

Maybe I’m getting old and jaded but although I’m so so happy for Emma I have a sinking feeling and worry for her.

She’s the nations darling today but my experience of the British press is that she should enjoy this phase while it lasts. The minute she falters, says anything socially positive a dodgy tweet the right wing press will call her ‘woke!’, there’ll be a ‘Twitter storm!’. She’ll suddenly no longer be British she’ll be Chinese, Canadian, Romanian.

On the Guardian side they will beat people over the head with articles about her being a minority and a woman.

All this alongside tabloids trying to get dodgy ‘Pwoar! Tennis beauty!’ shots. Digging up old boyfriends from school.

I have PMT which is probably why I’m feeling like this but her rise has been so quick and stratospheric and I don’t trust our media to treat her as the incredibly talented, professional and very young woman she is.

You only have to look at how Meghan Markle was treated to know that some of what I wrote may well be the case ?

Ah, the classic Meghan Markle whataboutery. No, I'm not going to look at Meghan Markle because I don't see the parallels and also because you don't seem to grasp the concept of facts.

a woman who is famous for marrying a prince.

Meghan Markle was famous in her own right long before she met Prince Harry, but some people can never resist the opportunity to minimise or ignore her achievements, can they?

Great example of the kind of regressive misogyny Emma Raducanu is going to have to wrestle with.

She’s lived in the U.K. for a few years?! She’s lived here since she was 2 and is British, or is she not British enough for you?

I'm already pissed off at seeing a comment the other day, presumably from an overweight ugly keyboard warrior that she is fat and needs to lose weight.
WTF!!

I'm sure she is also well aware, I agree that this generation having grown up with social media are probably more resilient.

She’s lived in the U.K. for a few years?! She’s lived here since she was 2 and is British, or is she not British enough for you?

My point is that, if we want to bathe in part of her glory because we have such a tiny thing in common with her, we also have a responsibility to consider how we can contribute to protecting her and others like her.

@Loopylobes

She’s lived in the U.K. for a few years?! She’s lived here since she was 2 and is British, or is she not British enough for you?

My point is that, if we want to bathe in part of her glory because we have such a tiny thing in common with her, we also have a responsibility to consider how we can contribute to protecting her and others like her.

It’s not tiny it’s her identity

If you move when you’re two you feel part of the country you like in. It’s your accent and background

@Loopylobes

She’s lived in the U.K. for a few years?! She’s lived here since she was 2 and is British, or is she not British enough for you?

My point is that, if we want to bathe in part of her glory because we have such a tiny thing in common with her, we also have a responsibility to consider how we can contribute to protecting her and others like her.

People pretending to most inclusive are always the ones that jump on to point out someone having a different ethnicity. All in the name of caring and sharing.

It’s not tiny it’s her identity

You're deliberately missing my point.

@Loopylobes

It’s not tiny it’s her identity

You're deliberately missing my point.

You said tiny what wise would you mean?

All this splitting it down to other nationalities undermines who she s

Also it’s typical mn depressing the hell out of stuff

It's a valid concern.
No doubt her parents and team are well aware of the scrutiny she'll now get, and she seems refreshingly unspoilt along with all that wonderful talent and single mindedness. But there's always someone waiting to have a go, sadly. I'd say being alert to it is all part of the package these days.

@Loopylobes

Why the need to dementor the crap out of everything?

Yeah. It's much more comfortable to pretend that the jealousy, racism and misogyny she's going to need to contend with don't really exist, stick our heads in the sand and get a bit of a kick out of being proud of a complete stranger winning a tennis tournament because she has lived in the UK for a few years.

We have no idea how vulnerable she will be to it. Getting good A'Levels isn't a particularly accurate indicator of mental health.

I hope everyone slating the OP for bringing this subject up will be protesting loudly and robustly against those who get their kicks from trying to bring Emma Raducanu down in the coming months.

We should be talking about the damage done to these young people, how the media builds them up and knocks them down for profit, and what we, as individuals, can do to avoid supporting the perpetrators.

I was also proud of the English mens football team, even though because im english, and the British olympians.

You said tiny what wise would you mean?

Being the same nationality as someone is a very small thing to have in common with them when you're trying to catch a ride and share their glory.

If you want to enjoy her successes in this way you should also consider your responsibility to protect her. Part of that is having an open dialogue about how the media will treat her.

This woman is amazing.

She experienced immense pressure from the media when she was ill at Wimbledon and had to withdraw with some awful comments on Twitter from Pierce Morgan. Even John McEnroe was criticised for his comments on her mental ability.

She answered her critics by winning 20 straight sets and being the first qualifier to EVER win a grand slam. This should be celebrated, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest she won't cope under pressure, quite the opposite.

For a person to even be able to compete a top level in tennis they have to have resilience that most spectators will never understand. Having had a child play at national level within the LTA system recently the training and competitions are immensely challenging for the players. Those who can't hack the pressure drop out ultimately. My child was talented but was not mentally as capable. He no longer competes.

I don't worry how she will handle the media pressure, her main issue at the moment will be managing her training whilst being the media darling. The demands on her time and the offer of lucrative contracts which will take away from training time will need to be managed.

Well done Emma, you deserve it!

@Loopylobes

You said tiny what wise would you mean?

Being the same nationality as someone is a very small thing to have in common with them when you're trying to catch a ride and share their glory.

If you want to enjoy her successes in this way you should also consider your responsibility to protect her. Part of that is having an open dialogue about how the media will treat her.

Blimey you are dour post someone’s incredible success.

And no it’s not about catching a ride it’s recognising what will be important to her

Why break it down to other nationalities? She is an excellent tennis player who grew up in London

And protect? Yes I want people to stop dividing her up into her nationalities that will mean something but not as much as where she has lived since she was two

Do people really not think women in sport can come under additional pressures from media commentators?

Piers Morgan prattling on about resilience?

It's not denigrating ER's extraordinary talent and achievement to express concern about how we treat her.

It was a bloody brilliant to watch last night - both women were amazing.

@lifeturnsonadime

This woman is amazing.

She experienced immense pressure from the media when she was ill at Wimbledon and had to withdraw with some awful comments on Twitter from Pierce Morgan. Even John McEnroe was criticised for his comments on her mental ability.

She answered her critics by winning 20 straight sets and being the first qualifier to EVER win a grand slam. This should be celebrated, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest she won't cope under pressure, quite the opposite.

For a person to even be able to compete a top level in tennis they have to have resilience that most spectators will never understand. Having had a child play at national level within the LTA system recently the training and competitions are immensely challenging for the players. Those who can't hack the pressure drop out ultimately. My child was talented but was not mentally as capable. He no longer competes.

I don't worry how she will handle the media pressure, her main issue at the moment will be managing her training whilst being the media darling. The demands on her time and the offer of lucrative contracts which will take away from training time will need to be managed.

Well done Emma, you deserve it!

Well said!

I think she's better placed to handle it that most. She apparently avoids SM for these exact reasons. She claims to have a strong core self confidence from her mother's Chinese family. And if Britain bitches, she can go and lob balls across a net for Canada or Romania or China.

She was gracious about the open preference of the crowd for Fernandez, gracious when Fernandez milked the crowd before Raduscanu was given her trophy. She's rich, stunningly beautiful, healthy, talented, well-educated clever with coaches, mentors and supportive parents. There are other people I worry for far more.

Why break it down to other nationalities?

I didn't. I pointed out that sharing a nationality is a tiny thing to have in common with her. It's quite a tenuous link to have with anyone.

If we are going to be excited about someone's success because we share a nationality, we have a moral duty to keep an open dialogue about how our actions can contribute to the harm that comes their way as a result of our adulation.

@lifeturnsonadime

This woman is amazing.

She experienced immense pressure from the media when she was ill at Wimbledon and had to withdraw with some awful comments on Twitter from Pierce Morgan. Even John McEnroe was criticised for his comments on her mental ability.

She answered her critics by winning 20 straight sets and being the first qualifier to EVER win a grand slam. This should be celebrated, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest she won't cope under pressure, quite the opposite.

For a person to even be able to compete a top level in tennis they have to have resilience that most spectators will never understand. Having had a child play at national level within the LTA system recently the training and competitions are immensely challenging for the players. Those who can't hack the pressure drop out ultimately. My child was talented but was not mentally as capable. He no longer competes.

I don't worry how she will handle the media pressure, her main issue at the moment will be managing her training whilst being the media darling. The demands on her time and the offer of lucrative contracts which will take away from training time will need to be managed.

Well done Emma, you deserve it!

Well said And who cares what Piers Morgan says. He's an attention seeking hack

It won't be us or the op sucking the joy out of her success at such a young age , but she will receive a lot more hatred than somebody like Boris Becker who won a major grand slam aged 17, purely because she is female and mixed heritage.
Those are facts , sadly .

They aren't 'facts'.

They're hypothetical scenarios which exist only in your head.

@Blankspace4

She’s very clearly an extremely talented and intelligent (recent A* at A level maths case in point!) young woman. In the interviews I’ve seen of her she’s come across as very level headed and seems to have really good people around her. I also don’t think the British press are anywhere near as vicious any more (mail probably an exception).

If you think that, google Meghan Markle. I don't read that stuff but you just the headlines on Apple News Feed are bad enough. Or Ben Stokes, hero to persecuted on a regular basis.

Read about Naomi Osaka and the speculation about her, again I haven't read them but the headlines are bad enough. Or criticism about Jo Konta because she didn't Tweet congratulations to Emma. Or because she bakes cup cakes, so isn't dedicated enough to tennis to win anything (she has a serious knee injury).

I am worried about Emma but I think she has already had excellent media training. She answers all the questions put to her without really saying anything at all. She thanks the crowd and all her team, winningly.
She's a very bright girl and very well protected.

If she continues like that, picks future partners very carefully and doesn't read any newspapers, she's got a good chance of avoiding being crushed by the media. Although I just wish the British public would stop buying tabloid crap then they'd stop persecuting people.

@Loopylobes

Why break it down to other nationalities?

I didn't. I pointed out that sharing a nationality is a tiny thing to have in common with her. It's quite a tenuous link to have with anyone.

If we are going to be excited about someone's success because we share a nationality, we have a moral duty to keep an open dialogue about how our actions can contribute to the harm that comes their way as a result of our adulation.

What a load of old blether. You'll have forgotten all about her by next week.

The Mardy Fish docu on Netflix is very interesting.
I think she's incredible, and will have had so much support following Wimbledon but how does anyone deal with everything gays being flung about at 18.

You'll have forgotten all about her by next week.

Lots of people will forget about her quickly but they will still have contributed to the harm that occurs as the media tries to draw their attention back to her in less supportive ways.