Serena Williams' assets became the focus of a mid-game prank by tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki. Stuffing both her chest and shorts with padding, Wozniacki pranced out onto the court mid-game to the guffaws of the crowd. Serena wasn't there. Caroline went on to lose to her opponent, Maria Sharapova.
The reactions to this joke have been mixed. Yahoo Sports called the impression, "hilarious" and noted, "The likeness to Serena, you'll surely agree, is uncanny."
...this isn’t “harmless fun” as one article described it. its racist. out and outright racism. mocking and making fun of the bodies of black women for a laugh? real funny, stupid white girl. real real funny.
So a white woman can do something like this, but Serena Williams can’t crip walk to celebrate a victory? Wozniacki stuffed her bra and underwear so that she could appear like Serena. It may have been done in “jest,” but I love how people can can turn a black woman’s body and sexuality into a caricature. However, we should not have the autonomy to celebrate any successes of our own.
@hazzarDeuce Domo
@blackvoices yes... the legacy of the Hottentot Venus. This is an old racist trope about our supposed hypersexuality and sexual abnormality.
@hazzarDeuce Domo
@blackvoices Even as champions, all that matters is the deviation of our sexual organs from the white standard and that we are hot to trot.
A commenter on Youtube was kind enough to provide Woznaicki with some helpful advice, saying, "Maybe if she imitated Serena's actual tennis, she'd win a little more." Very helpful.
Black women's bodies, in game of tennis, have been a topic of controversy and discussion before. Just this year, Taylor Townsend, the top-ranking junior tennis player in the world, was under the microscope for her shape and size, after the USTA tried to deny her access to a tournament because of her weight.
This isn't even the first time Serena's body has been mocked on the tennis world's stage. Wozniacki has already done this once last year, that time dancing out onto the court to a Rihanna song.
Source: Huffingtonpost.com
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