Trending 31st May 2018 by Valerie Loftus
Serena Williams Says She Finally Accepts Her Figure After Years Of Body-Shaming
"This is me, this is my weapon and my machine."
Serena Williams, with her powerful body and greatest-of-all-time tennis prowess, has long been the subject of misogynistic abuse and body-shaming.
For example, in 2014, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation was suspended for a year and fined $25,000 for calling Serena and elder sister Venus ‘the Williams brothers’ and saying: “It’s scary when you really look at them.”
In a new interview with Harpers Bazaar, she remembers the impact all this had on her:
People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms, or because I’m strong. I was different to Venus: she was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular – and beautiful, but you know, it was just totally different.
She recalls an interview she did when she was 22, in which she shared a few goals she had for herself: Win the Italian and French Opens and Wimbledon, and get down to a US size four (UK size six).
“Oh god, I’ll never be a size four,” she says now. “Why would I want to do that, and be that? This is me, and this is my weapon and machine.” Plus, she wants to be a good influence for her baby daughter, Olympia.
But I love that I said that, because I can understand. I can show Olympia that I struggled, but now I’m happy with who I am and what I am and what I look like… Olympia was born and she had my arms, and instead of being sad and fearful about what people would say about her, I was just so happy.
Speaking about her daughter, she says she’s not pushing her into tennis, or any profession really: “I want to let her do whatever she wants to do, as long as it’s positive. Always try to be an addition to society, not a subtraction.”
Have your say
More like this
Latest News
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson Reportedly Split Over This Issue
Is Rita Ora Secretly Married To BF Taika Waititi?
Khloe Kardashian Reportedly Splits From Secret Boyfriend
Barry Keoghan subtly announces birth of first baby with partner Alyson Sandro
Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi continue their Irish adventure in Niall’s hometown, Mullingar