Serena Williams delivers an ace each time she swings at gender inequity

Serena Williams displayed her swagger two days before she became Wimbledon champion for the seventh time on Saturday.

Serena Williams delivers an ace each time she swings at gender inequity
There is a fundamental difference between swagger and arrogance -- the former being earned and, therefore, part of one’s armoury, fitting like a hand in a glove; the latter being a constant need for confirmation and, therefore, always having an air of desperation. Serena Williams displayed her swagger two days before she became Wimbledon champion for the seventh time on Saturday. Responding to a question on being considered “one of the greatest female athletes of all time”, she calmly said, “I prefer the words ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time’.” Game. Set. Word. Such cubby-holing is not restricted to sports. No one refers to, say, Robert de Niro as a ‘great male actor’, even as Meryl Streep gets to be a ‘great female actor/actress’. Similarly, Vikram Seth is a ‘great Indian writer’, while Margaret Atwood is a ‘great writer’. Can you hear the patronising tone?

Williams also champions equal pay for men and women. Replying to a query about the demand for ‘men’s pay’ for the shorter three-set women’s game, she replied with steel in her voice that her (male) questioner got paid the same for a short article as his ‘beautiful (female) colleague’ behind him, so why not the same rules in tennis? Service returned. With thunder, by one of the greatest athletes of all time.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App
for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
READ MORE
ADVERTISEMENT

READ MORE:

LOGIN & CLAIM

50 TIMESPOINTS

More from our Partners

Loading next story
Business News › Magazines › Panache › Serena Williams delivers an ace each time she swings at gender inequity
Text Size:AAA
Success
This article has been saved

*

+