Serena Williams made headlines when she posted a snapchat holding her belly and with the caption “20 weeks”, revealing to the world that she’s pregnant! 20 weeks means she won the Australian Open (her 23rd grand slam win), while she was pregnant.
Of course, people still found a way to minimize her accomplishments and focus more on who her partner (co founder of Reddit is). Her announcement did not come without insensitive and racist comments. She took to instagram to respond to the comments made by tennis player, Ilie Nastase who said “Let’s see what colour it has. Chocolate with milk?”, about her unborn baby.
I always appreciate when celebrities take the time to respond to hateful messages like these and think there is a lot of value to it. I know some people will say "oh they should just ignore haters" and "not give them them the time of day, but I don't buy into that. If someone is being prejudiced, celebrities absolutely should call someone and anyone out on their bullshit.
ReplyDeleteOnce looking up Ilie Nastase, I found he was a 70 year old Romanian tennis player. The gap between generations and their public and visible use of technology works against them most of the time. While I am not protecting Nastase, I find this incident demonstrative of two things- Highlighting the lack of awareness that affects older generations, as well as a lack of responsibility concerning public quotes. Serena continues to walk the tightrope of speaking out and hushing the various obstacles she has faced in her career being a successful african american women.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Serena Williams is an amazingly talented athlete and a powerful women, she has gained a lot of haters through out her career. People seem to have problems with almost everything about her. I actually found an article called: "10 reasons why you hate Serena Williams" which goes on to explain how people hate her from the way she celebrates a grand slam to the earrings she wears. I think these reasons are ridiculous much like the comment made about her unborn baby. I respect that she took the time to respond back to the hate because comments like that shouldn't be allowed to slide by with out being called out on.
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