By Alison Thurston
This weekend, Serena Williams took home her thirteenth Grand Slam title (in straight sets, no less) at Wimbledon on Saturday. This victory marks her fourth singles’ Wimbledon championship. She also is appearing in August’s issue of Harper’s Bazaar, out this month. As far as I can tell from the previews, the magazine will show Serena in more makeup than she usually wears, and in dresses not made of Lycra and mesh, a big change from how we usually see her. The cover will say something like “Serena’s Sexy Side” and the magazine’s teasers reveal that Serena will talk about her embracing her body despite what she perceives as its flaws—her butt, her “overly fit” arms, etc. I’m glad Serena is going to be portrayed as attractive and feminine in a mainstream magazine, but the approval of Harper’s isn’t necessary for me to see Serena as beautiful.
Serena Williams, to me, is a living proof that women’s bodies can be striking and capable of things. Very few females in the public eye have the kind of thighs, shoulders, hips, biceps that Serena does, and very seldom is an athletic body that differs from that of a ballerina portrayed as one that we should be working toward. Sociological Images talks often about the socially enforced passivity of the feminine and I think that the negative comments about Serena’s body (as evident in those comments and… every conversation I have ever had in a beauty salon about the Williams sisters) have a lot to do with that idea. The message that we receive daily is that female bodies should be small and have lean muscle if they insist on having muscle, not the kind that look like they can do serious damage (or serious good… if that’s more your thing). Women should be quiet, and not curse people out when they make bad calls. Serena does not abide by any of these rules, which is why I love her so much. Serena is neither small nor unthreatening. She has muscles that are capable of sending out impossible-to-return serves, and rather than trying to get rid of them, she puts them to work and puts them on display. I think Serena is beautiful, strong role model, and I don’t need any photos of her in front of a wind machine to drive that home for me. I can see it on ESPN.
Image from WikiCommons.
Alison, this is awesome. I share these feelings and I’ve often considered writing a post about it, but haven’t (yet), so thank you. Serena seems to have an incredible sense of self.
I totally agree. Thanks for writing this post Alison.