Serena Williams - why did she enter Wimbledon?

[deedee176]

Surely not for the money. For the love of tennis and the winning buzz? Or was she being a bit delusional or arrogant to think she could be a top class sportsperson at 44. She was one of the worlds best and highest achieving athletes - her tennis legacy is unmatched.
AIBU to think she should not have entered Wimbledon?

Ego probably. It's annoying that she probably took the place of a younger up and coming player.

I was there too and your support, and my less vocal one, for Maya Joint, were very much in the minority. I found the increasingly partisan crowd - aka baying mob - particularly distasteful by the end of the second set. They certainly weren't cheering on the better player on the day,who was obviously nervous to begin with but got into her stride quickly.

Usually it's the lesser known underdog that gets the crowd going, but this time it was the Serena Show despite being the inferior competitor.

She was pretty unsporting really and I think the wildcard could have been better used.

I agree with you @Armorlux

I was sorry to see Maya was beaten in her second round match today by Alexandra Eala. The Serena match must have taken so much out of her mentally, emotionally and physically.

Hopefully her career will go from strength to strength in the future.

The oversensitivity of individuals to imagining they are being called racist really obstructs conversation about ways of thinking and speaking that used to be normalised. And old style, good faith, consciousness raising about what sisterhood with Black women asks of the rest of us.

Any version of "She is very strong, but uppity" is not a neutral judgment.

Wimbledon is bigger than any individual player. It doesn't need Serena Williams to raise it's profile. It's accepted as the greatest tennis tournament in the world.

Whatever Serena does I am sure is done for the benefit of Serena. I don't see altruism as being one of her strong points.

Some posters here absolutely were being called racist !!

Yes, I was being called racist. For absolutely no reason. It was offensive and hurtful and I will be wary of expressing an opinion in future. And I wasn’t imagining it and I’m not over sensitive. And I’m not racist.

There is a difference between 'being' racist and unintentionally repeating a racist trope.

Taking offence is not the most helpful response as regards building understanding.

Serena Williams is and was magnificent not only for her physical strength but her strategy.

She is a powerful advocate for maternal health. An area also afflicted by unconscious bias. www.independent.co.uk/life-style/serena-williams-pregnancy-childbirth-daughter-b2051719.html

I don’t need to build understanding or be told how my response should be. I am not racist. I am allowed an opinion.

I won’t be engaging further.

Everyone needs to keep building understanding... I am sorry you feel this way. Can you compare how a man might be defensive if he unintentionally repeats a misogynist stereotype or judgment?

I haven't name changed mid-thread. Who am I supposed to be?

Stupidly, I thought there woud be celebration and intelligent discussion here. That is why I joined. What a shame on a women's site to see the tropes that have been trotted out. Why the clear distaste for this magnificent woman -- who is no simpering lingerie model semi-loser kind of star, not a Tennis Barbie, but a real heroine?

Perhaps it is racism and not unconscious bias? The level of anger and the refusal to think are quite worrying. I remember Monica Seles being criticised for grunting and Martina Navratilova for being a lesbian and mannish. But nothing as dismissive as this.

Any thoughts on Serena as a powerful advocate for maternal health as well as a smart and powerful tennis star?

I see that Venus Williams and Serena Williams are due to play on Saturday in the women’s doubles, and it looks like it’s court and time tbc.

So where people are critical of Serena’s character traits, that’s because of race.

Yet it’s perfectly ok for you to disparage sport stars who are white, blonde and slim as “Barbie”, and it’s still everyone else with the race problem. The only person who is throwing insults on the basis of looks is you.

Oh no they're in their 40s and they have endorsements they shouldn't be out ever playing tennis right?

There are many non white non blonde Barbies! (Have you seen the film?) I was talking about the doll-like demeanour and impossible standard of 'femininity'. (Barbies can't stand on their own feet but go tippy-toe through life... no 'ego', power, etc there).

Oh, I know! I'm still not sure they've got them this year though

You're showing off because when anyone dares use a word like 'power' or ''strong' or 'arrogant' about SW (words that also can be and are used about women not of colour) you jump on them and start on about dehumanising Black women in history and racist tropes etc etc.
Other people on here are also aware of notions of racial bias, systemic oppression, 'historical and current circumstances around Black women' etc. We are also aware that SW is an advocate for maternal health.

It's just that we can also recognise that sometimes, when someone says a player is 'powerful' or 'arrogant', they are not connecting that to their skin colour and they are not stereotyping.

This is very patronising.
All this poster said was 'Money and her ego. She was ungracious in defeat'. Those kind of opinions could be and have been applied to people of both sexes and of varying skin colours.
It is not at all comparable to if a man said e.g. 'she was wearing a short skirt' when talking about a woman who was raped.
You made a very serious accusation when you insinuated that this poster was being racist.

We shall have to agree to disagree.

The same words in a different context do not mean the same thing.

I have known an interracial couple to split up over the coded Serena bashing back in the day (I stayed friends with both). The denialism was furious.

ETA a sensitive use of language would make the connection to existing tropes.

With drew from a doubles match because of injury from the singles, foolish choice in hindsight to enter the first match.