Venus and Serena Williams: Ousted By Racism

Per usual, Venus and Serena Williams continued to dominate on the court last weekend with big sister winning her 40th singles title in Dubai, after barely nudging past younger sister in the semifinals.

And, as always, the more uncomfortable questions about their extraordinary careers are taking place outside the tennis court lines. In the lily-white world of women's professional tennis, the two statuesque sisters with chocolate skin, flamboyant style and curvaceous figures are pretty hard to ignore. But somehow the Williams sisters were omitted from a list of the 10 Most Beautiful Women posted on the official Web site of the 2009 Australian Open.

The list was filled with sleek, thin images, and European names such as Dementieva and Hantuchova, and gushings over Jelena Jankovic?s ?No. 1 body to go along with her No. 1 ranking.? Curiously, there was no mention of the two women of color whose unique looks have challenged Eurocentric standards of beauty all around the world.

Of course, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." But the omission and the photo slide showing effusive praise for European standards of beauty is still jarring. After more than a decade of dominance in the world of tennis, the Williams sisters still have not managed to raise everyone?s consciousness about what it means to be beautiful. (To see just how wrong they were, check out The Root's Venus and Serena photo gallery.)

In general, black athletes have always had to struggle with the elevation of their physical gifts above their mental gifts. Black male athletes are consistently praised for their physical prowess. Sports Illustrated did an entire feature dedicated to gawking over LeBron James' body with poetic prose describing how his "raised veins run like tiny interstates up his arms and calves."

Black female athletes, on the other hand, are put in the unique position where developing their bodies makes them the object of spectacle. For female athletes, the perennial insult is, "You look like a man." As a result, any girl?black or white? involved in sports has to make choices that a boy never has to make.

In the same way Don Imus infamously referred to black women athletes as "nappy-headed hos," these constant slights, insults and even thoughtless oversights still must hurt. I have always wondered whether Serena's interest in fashion and beauty was somehow related to the way she constantly has to fend off criticism of her weight or questions about her commitment to her profession because she does not look like her opponents.

Serena, when asked about her body yet again, said, "Just because I have large bosoms, and I have a big ass [laughter], I swear, my waist is 30 inches, 29 to 30 inches, it?s really small! I have the smallest waist, but just because I have those two assets, it looks like I?m not fit."

Imagine that! You are the most dominant person in your sport in the world, but you consistently have to defend having your curves. Listening to commentators persistently speculate and scrutinize Serena about her weight and fitness?which are metaphors for her body?is like having the buttocks and breasts of Hottentot Venus debated for public consumption.

As the husband of a woman who looks like Venus and Serena, it offends me that my standards of beauty are not recognized or validated in professional sports. And as the father of a 6-year-old black girl who loves to run, jump, sweat, grimace, grunt and do all the things that are necessary for her to excel as an athlete, it pains me to think of the choices that will be forced upon her as she gets older because of these standards.

So, to the Williams sisters and their family, I would like to say to you: Most of us don't know the cost and sacrifice it takes to excel in a sport that has so few African Americans. Many of us had never heard of the tragic and triumphant story of Zina Garrison and her constant battles with depression stemming from bulimia?a life-threatening eating disorder that also affects women of color?exacerbated by never being validated in the elite world of tennis.

However, I also want you to know that like President Barack Obama, who wrote in his autobiography about taking a black women to see Ntozake Shange's play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, we understand black women's struggles for recognition in a culture that does not value black bodies and black beauty.

If the Williams sisters were stung by the slight, you wouldn?t know it. Serena is too busy opening a school in Kenya, writing her own manuscript and developing a fashion line. Venus is holding it down as CEO of her own interior design firm, cultivating a dynamic client base and developing her own clothing line.

In other words, the Williams sisters are too busy redefining what it means to be "black and beautiful" to wait for the world of tennis to catch up.

Jewel Woods is an author and a gender analyst specializing in men's issues. He is the Executive Director of the Renaissance Male Project Inc, an advocacy and accountability organization for men and boys.

WATCH a related photo slide show of the Williams sisters over the years.
Originally published at theRoot

Comments

[sandra56]

LOVE THE WILLIAMS SISTERS AS A BLACK WOMAN I AGREE WITH EVERY THING THE WRITER HAS WRITTEN . THE SISTERS KNOW FIRST HAND ABOUT RACISM UNTIL YOU WALK IN THEIR SHOES YOU CAN'T SPEAK ON ANY. I HAVE HEARD THE PEOPLE CALL THE TENNIS MATCH SAY ALL KINDS THING ABOUT SERENA VERY NASTY THING . SHE FIGHTS ON ANY WAY AND JUST CARRY HERSELF LIKE A LADY AT ALL TIME . MR. WILLIAMS SAID ONE TIME WE NEED SOME COLOR IN THE BOOTH I AGREE 100 % WITH HIM THESE FOLKS ARE AMERICAN AND THEY FALL ALL OVER THEMSELVES FOR THESE FOREIGNS RATHER ARE BIAS TOWARD THE WILLIAMS SISTERS.

[violettefemme]

I loved this article, thank you for writing it.

I do have a question...does anyone ever proofread this articles, or check them once they are posted for code issues? It's getting worse and worse...this entire article has ?'s instead of commas and apostrophes, throughout.

[Mitzy]

I'm not sure the author makes a logical argument. I find African American women very attractive, but I'd only rate the Williams sisters about a 7.5 on the beauty scale. So it doesn't surprise me that 10 other women on the tour---black, brown, white or blue---are more beautiful. That's not a put-down on the Williams sisters. As a woman who consistently rates in 70th percentile on the beauty scale, I know of what I speak! Believe me, if Venus or Serena looked like Halle Berry or Vanessa Williams, or Alicia Keyes, they'd make the top ten faster than one of their serves comes over the net.

[theholla]

I think that you may have just proved the author's point - the beautiful black women you named are all of mixed black and European heritage, with features that are far more European than the average African-American woman's. This further emphasizes the point that popular perception of beauty is often highly Eurocentric. In fact, if you look at old pictures of Halle Berry you can see that she has had plastic surgery to narrow her nose! Incidentally, I think the Williams sisters look fabulous.

[noudidnt]

Slam dunk.

[ghenry]

I was always amazed by the snide remarks made by sports newscaster about the Williams sisters and their constant reference to their "panther-like" strides and their "lion-grunting" noises. They painted them as aggressive, scary women who towered over and scared the beejesus out of their opponents.

I used to be incensed when they would laugh at Richard Williams when he would, at a very early stage in their careers, say that they would one day dominate world tennis. I used to be openmouthed in awe when they would question the reasoning of Mr Williams to encourage them to look outside of tennis to do other things they loved. "What is he thinking?, These girls need a real coach", they would say.

Who's laughing and sniggering now? Where are Justine Henin, Anna Kourkinova, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati now? Please tell me.

[hellifiknow]

Sadly, a lot of that criticism comes from their own people. I have read several black blogs where posters say Serena is "manly" or and it always boggles my mind. If that is a masculine, manly body, with all that boob and butt, then what is a feminine one? Oh, right, a video model with the curves but not the muscularity. What I appreciate about both Williams sisters is that they use their bodies not as objects as desire for male observers but to excel and make money. That's as it should be in my view.

[wordup345]

Maybe you see a lot of that "manly, gorilla" stuff in black blogs; what makes you think OTHER people are not writing them? I would not even believe that 1% of black people would call Serena "manly." I apologize, I should have said 1/10%. Now I will say, they could go natural (hairwise) and I have said it in fifty other forums. Or just wear their hair straight. I have been on several tennis forums and every other person on them calls them "men, manly, too muscular, gorillas, etc." But you can bet your pretty little a##, that every other tennis player started going to the gym to beef it up. And some of them have fell by the wayside. The Williams sisters are just too much!!

[Oxonian2001]

Amen!

The problem is that the world of sports--like the world of fashion--are amongst the most overtly racist and sexist. Kristi Yamaguchi never won quite the same commercial endorsements and general attention that white female skaters received--despite the fact that she was a gold medalist and that she was American. A fashion magazine was quoted as saying that "while Kristi won, Kerrigan looked far more elegant."

So it's hardly surprising to me that the Williams sisters--as talented and gorgeous as they are--have been eclipsed by that trampy, zero-talent Anna Kournikova.

[LMPE]

Is it just me, or is the entire sports world dominated by people like Don Imus?

[BobLablah]

It should offend you that anyone is rated by their looks. I have no problem with you liking larger woman but why exactly are you offended when I don't like the same thing?

[Nommo]

Unless you are one of the tastemakers, I don't think that he is talking about you. More about the institutionalized racism, rather than the garden variety haters.

[Riviera40869]

That's not the point. You can like whoever you want, but other men may not like what you like, and it is wrong to present one side of what is defined as beauty. Some men don't want their women to look like 10 year old girls.

[JessicaP]

It's Jelena Jankovic ;)

[wordup345]

I am so very thankful for your story. I enjoyed tennis before the Williams sisters came on the scene. But when they came out in their white beads and started a beatdown on perfect little girl tennis, it was like "now this is tennis." I have over the years listened to blogs about how ugly they are, I think they are the most level headed, beautiful sisters in sports. I suspect that the people who blubber on the forums and blogs who think they are ugly, too fat, bigheaded, etc. really wish they had one ounce of their character. I never thought of the talk affecting them, but it probably does. So along with you, I wish to tell them, I think they are so beautiful. Venus, long legged, and well spoken, which male or female tennis player can compare. And Serena, what woman doesn't want that figure. And their fortitude. I am thankful that their parents taught them to hold their heads high and always believe they are the best.

[MsDebate]

I love to watch Venus and Serena smack the fire out of the tennis balls. The commentator always talk about how hard the swing is, go Williams' sisters.