Analysis Of ' The Meaning Of Serena Williams ' Essay

Although the text, Women: Images and Realities a Multicultural Anthology, has done a wonderful job of showcasing the diversity of women’s experiences, I find Beverly Daniel Tatum’s work “Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?”” to be the most striking. In the essay, Tatum describes how she (and many other feminists) define racism and who can and cannot be racist. Tatum argues that there are important distinctions between prejudice and racism, wherein racism is defined as a ‘system of advantage based on race” or more precisely “prejudice plus power” (388). Through multiple examples Tatum illustrates that if one accepts and uses her definition of racism then only White people (the group of people who ‘dominate’ society) are racist because “people of

Gender inequality in professional tennis is a real and alarming issue, from the pay gap between mens' and womens' tennis players to the low media coverage of women's professional tennis. This issue even goes as far as how differently tennis commentators discuss and analyze mens tennis as opposed to how they discuss and analyze womens tennis. When commentators discuss men's tennis they solely focus on the skill of the players, but when they discuss women's tennis they place more importance on the appearance of the female players, rather than their skill. This instance of gender inequality in professional tennis is further exacerbated by the differences in advertisements for male tennis players and female tennis players. The advertisements involving male tennis players display their athleticism and tennis abilities, whereas the advertisements including female tennis players are appearance-focused, with the females often wearing little clothing. This is corroborated by the popular belief that focusing on the physical appearance of female athletes is the only way in which generating money from women's professional sports is distinctly possible (Fink, 2015, p. 338). Female professional tennis players train just as hard as the men do, thus the gender inequality that exists in the sport is not necessarily a result of how women perform on the court. It is rather a result of how society perceives women playing in professional sports overall, which the mass media is partially to blame

Rankine’s essay concentrates on the idea that racism affects the perception of Serena’s excellence as the world’s best female tennis player. Toward the beginning of the essay, Rankine states “…the legendary Chris Evert, who herself has called you a ‘phenomenon that once every one hundred years comes around.’ Imagine that you’re the player John McEnroe recently described as ‘the greatest player, I think, that ever lived.” Rankine goes on to say, “Imagine that you have to contend with critiques of your body that perpetuate racist notions that black women are hyper masculine and unattractive”. These quotes, rooted toward the beginning of the essay, easily suggest the idea that Serena’s excellence cannot be discussed without the addition of the racist notions she so often encounters. This statement clearly reflects the lesson in which Serena’s father, Richard Williams, attempted to teach

Across the nation, millions of Americans of all races turn on the television or open a newspaper and are bombarded with images of well dressed, articulate, attractive black people advertising different products and representing respected companies. The population of black professionals in all arenas of work has risen to the point where seeing a black physician, attorney, or a college professor are becoming more a common sight. More and more black people are holding positions of respect and authority throughout America today, such as Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Condelezza Rice and many other prominent black executives. As a result of their apparent success, these black people are seen as role models for many Americans, despite their race.

Basketball, football, and hockey are considered the most popular sports in America as of today. However, sports in the early 1950s were not as popular as they are now. According to “An Exercise in Subtleties and the Transmission of Racism: An Analysis of Sports Illustrated Covers” by Eric Primm, Summer DuBois, and Robert M. Regoli, they stated that American love their sport and that “each year they would spend billions of dollars on sports-related items and activities.” The media help promote the popularity of the sports in America. Consequently, sports media “plays a key role in perpetuating the types of racial stereotypes about minority athletes in sports” (Ismond, 115). The thesis of this writing project is with some racial stereotype reinforcement

In Claudia Rankine’s Citizen she describes the unsettling existence of being black living in a white world. She demonstrates the dynamics of racism through the anecdote on Serena Williams. Rankine finds in Williams another version of herself: a strong African American woman, playing a white man's game by a white man's rules. Her writing Citizen is certainly written from a place of anger. Rankine is fed up with having her identity gradually erased from her, because of her skin tone. The moment she gets angry, she gets labeled as a stereotype, stripping away a part of who she is. It is very common for athletes to get angry at losing. However, till this day Serena is still defined by her justified anger at a ref making appalling calls over ten

Throughout many decades, African American women have been able to set their own standards of beauty. Lonnae Parker, a writer for The Washington Post, states in her article Black women heavier and happier with their bodies than white women, poll finds, that “Freed from that high-powered media gaze, generations of black women have fashioned their own definitions of beauty with major assists from literature, music, and help from their friends” (Parker, 2012). The importance of this quote is that they were getting help from their culture, the music and literature is essentially the culture that helped them to define their own standards of beauty. By being isolated

Throughout the years, sports have become a major part of society. Sports, a large percentage of the time, are a part of peoples’ lives in one way or another. Whether they participate in them or just enjoy watching them, sports are a big deal to the majority of people. There are also some individuals who have redefined the expectations when it comes to certain sports. For instance, Babe Ruth redefined the way people think about baseball, or Michael Jordan completely changing the game of basketball. But Joe Louis and Venus and Serena Williams have changed their games in a way no one could have imagined. Although “Champion of the World” by Maya Angelou and “Woman Who Hit Very Hard and How They’ve Changed Tennis” by Michael Kimmelman are different, they are similar in the ways they show how the respected athletes, Joe Louis and the Williams sisters, changed the game and were seen using symbolism in racial and sexual progression.

Serena Williams is the number one women’s tennis player in the world. Her outstanding skills have earned her 50 million dollars through just prizes; that is more than any other athlete in the world (“Serena Williams Fast Facts”). Her fast reflexes, amazing skills, and outgoing personality have made her known as a powerful woman and an inspiration to many young girls. This African-American woman is almost six feet tall and is made of steel. With her long, muscular legs and her quick arms, no wonder she is number one!

She compared Serene Williams and Anne White, two very well known tennis players and how each is portrayed differently by the media due to their race. Tennis, as well as skiing, is a very white-dominated sport. Serena was a very easy target because she was black and everyone she was competing against were white women. The media played a huge part for making Serene Williams feel unwelcoming rather than unique. The media portrayed Serena Williams and her sister Venus as the “other,” there was no doubt that the sisters were very talented and athletic but the media saw the sisters as a non-explainable classification and categorized them as “other.” Sid Rosenberg, who was a white male sportscaster made hurtful downgrading remarks towards these African American athletes. He stated that he couldn't watch them play anymore because they were disgusting to watch since they were too muscular. When he was told about the sisters one day appearing in a Playboy magazine, he ignorantly responded by saying they had a better shot for posing at National Geographic. Rosenberg, ignorantly dehumanized the William sisters because their body type was different than the majority of white women in

Sports culture in the United States is a double-edged sword for minorities. It can promote a positive and progressive image of race dynamics but can also recreate racial issues in a large scope with more media attention. This is no different for Asian American women. Typically overlooked in research and mainstream media, a new intersectional feminist movement has finally sought to include Asian American women in research and look at their impact on sports culture in their own communities as well as the nation. While representing a small portion of American athletes, only 1.8% of all scholarship athletes, they have made substantial contributions to feminism and family dynamics within their own communities. In popular thought Asian American

Claudia Rankine analyze racism to its core, bringing to surface that miniscule event are just as problematic as televised one. Her words are beautifully brutal, striking up emotions for anyone that reads it. As readers we are taken through a journey from past to present events of racial incidents experienced by different genders and ages. Above all, Claudia provides a strong indication that racism is far from over.

In today’s world, men’s sports seem to always be in the spotlight while women’s sports do not draw much attention, as if women who play sports are not taken seriously. This happens on all levels of sports, and I have personally experienced it myself through basketball in high school. While the gym would be full for any of the boys’ games, our games had very little support with almost empty bleachers. When it comes to the professional level, when women’s sports do get covered by the media, most people judge female athletes more on their looks rather than their athletic skill, which is negative and unfair.

An example of a female athlete being ridiculed for portraying society’s idea of non-femininity is Martina Navratilova. Martina was the first female tennis player who began to play tennis more as a power sport than a sport of technique. Subdued by an oppressive communist system that controlled the Czech Tennis Federation, she was seen to be playing in the style of men instead of playing women's tennis. As she did not fit into society's image of how a woman should look, behave and play tennis, she was ridiculed and branded as the proverbial ‘bad egg’ when compared to her contemporaries. Additionally, she was branded as a lesbian, which caused more hardship for her as she was forced to face a world which was much more homophobic at that time than it is now. Her sexual orientation is not a prime issue; it was something that was used against her and something that was assumed simply because she did not portray the feminine image that is expected of women.

Tennis dates back many centuries ago, and is believed to be played by ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks. It has evolved over the years, and today the tennis style is tremendously different from previous centuries. Many different tennis styles have been adapted over the years, and today tennis has become a more aggressive sport. It is very different from when the players use to ding the ball back and forth across the net. Today tennis is played with a lot more force and it has become a more engaging sport from the sport it used to be just a century ago. The William Sisters, Venus and Serena Williams, have had a huge impact on the game of tennis. When they peaked to fame it changed the way everyone saw the game of tennis.