Serena
Williams’ controversial behaviour at the 2018 US Open Championships women’s
singles tennis final, and her insistence that sexism was at the root of it, has
led to an increasing number of viewpoints on the subject. My aim here is to
take a variety of viewpoints about Serena directly or related to the issues at
stake, as expressed in newspaper articles worldwide, and one essay from a book,
and to select interesting or relevant points from them. I shall add my own comments and
reflections on the situation Serena found herself in and what may have led her
to this point. While Naomi Osaka of Japan was the player who deserved all the
credit for winning the singles final match, the focus of this piece will be on
the professional tennis player and wife and mother, Serena Williams, who lost
the match.
Serena Williams career tennis professional
and devoted mother
American
tennis player Serena Williams, soon to be 37 years old (on September 26, 2018), has been involved in what is likely the
greatest controversy of her career, while playing the women’s singles US Open Championships
final on September 8, 2018.
Serena,
using outspoken, accusing comments against the umpire Carlos Ramos during the
match, in which she was down a set, started a flurry of newspaper articles and
analyses from a number of different perspectives. I have selected just a few
here, in an attempt to cover several different angles, though not to explain
them all thoroughly. I recognize that there were many ways of perceiving her
actions and motives, and will examine some of these, as well as the background
to what happened, and give my own thoughts on possible reasons for what
happened.
To begin,
it was just over a year ago that Serena gave birth to a daughter, Olympia (no
future hopes intended there), and while not the first professional tennis
player to give birth in the midst of a career, she has been the one to gain the
most attention by doing so, and presumably experience the most anguish and risk
from the birth and postbirth or postpartum experience (see ‘After Serena Williams gave birth, Everything went bad’ Jan 10,
2018). An emergency cesarean section, followed by blood clots including a
pulmonary embolism led to Serena being at risk of death, soon followed by
several procedures and surgeries; then, several months to recover enough to be
able to resume training. For a career woman, this must have been devastating,
although Serena has always put her infant daughter first in her thoughts,
telling her fans that motherhood was the most important part of her life.
The
reality of it seems to be that Serena’s career may have been as high up there
as having a child, although that is not something women are supposed to say for
fear of being branded an unfit mother. If she wanted it all, who could blame
her, and if she had not really wanted to lose time to being pregnant, seriously
ill through childbirth, and recovery, who could blame her for that?
In an
article on the ‘sanctity’ of motherhood, Anne Kingston explains,
The premise that
motherhood is not a one-size-fits-all role shouldn’t come as a surprise in
2018, given the rise of the “childless by choice” movement or an international
decline in birth rates. Still, it’s received as an affront to the “sanctity” of
motherhood and the entrenched belief that the maternal instinct is innate and
unconditional—despite ample historical evidence to the contrary (‘I regret having children,’ Feb 2018).
Whether or not she
really wanted to become a mother under those terms, there would have been some
social expectations and pressure put on her, for her to see motherhood as more
important than her career. Age 35 when she had her child, soon to be 37 (on September
26, 2018), she left it almost past the point of being considered too old to
have a baby without risk. Serena gave
birth on September 1, 2017, marrying Alexis Ohanian on November 16, 2017. A year
later, after a few minor setbacks in her recovery, she was competing in the
2018 US Open Tennis Championships.
In
times past, when many women had no real power, they were often accused of being
‘hysterical’ when they objected to rules imposed on them by their husbands and
became distraught. Luisa Tam explains the roots of the word and its
significance today:
The word
“hysterical” and its root “hysteria” originate from the Greek “hystera”,
meaning “womb”. Hysteria was an 18th century term used to describe a mental
disorder caused by an affliction of the uterus; an illness exclusive to
females.
Although hysteria
is no longer recognised as a medical condition, the word and its counterparts
are still used to describe extreme outbursts of emotion and excitement. And a
number of media outlets pegged Williams’ outburst as “hysterical”.
How can we defy sexist attitudes if
even the English language continues to uphold such outdated usage? Although
these writers may not have been aware of the significance of such a term, they
– and the rest of the English-speaking world – must be made aware of this if we
are to evolve into a truly equal and tolerant society. (‘Serena Williams’outburst at the US Open final was a misguided way to tackle sexism in tennis,’ Sept 17, 2018).
I do
not believe that this incident Serena was involved in was mainly about sexism.
I see it as very likely that Serena’s recent problems with childbirth and
recovery could be a source of high emotions at this event, as Luisa Tam’s
article in the South China Morning post reminds us. I am not saying that Serena suffered from a
mental breakdown, that her womb betrayed her, causing her to react emotionally,
only that being a mother – and becoming one – in today’s world, for career
women and stay-at-home mothers, can be fraught with indecision, frustration, guilt,
and regret. On top of that, Serena is getting older. In fact, she and Roger
Federer were both born in 1981. In
mentioning this coincidence, we should be reminded that, in the same time
frame, Roger has managed to produce two sets of twins, while Serena has managed
to reproduce only one small child. That
is not sexism, but it does indicate that some differences between men and women
cannot easily be changed.
Aging In America
Most academics
don’t write for mainstream audiences, but Germaine Greer is one who has always
been ready to give her views and engage with the press. Greer was certain the Mark Knight cartoon
published in an Australian publication was not only racist but sexist also,
explaining that the image of Serena, in her view, was both “coarse” (racially
unecessary) and “grotesque” (sexist). But mainly, she said, the cartoon missed
the point, that it was not about race or sex, “when what she had really done is
thrown the match” (see ‘Serena Williamscartoon was sexist, according to Germaine Greer’ Sept 18, 2018). There
could be some truth to that, and Serena is the only one who could say for sure,
but by the time the interactions between her and the umpire happened, she was
already down a set. She had probably realized her chances of winning the next
two sets were slim.
The fact that
Serena had had such tremendous accomplishments, as a female playing
professional tennis, made her loss and the ensuing conflict with the umpire
more tragic. After the semi final, much was made of the upcoming final match
between Serena and the youthful Naomi Osaka playing for Japan. This article
explains two aspects of it, in terms of Serena winning, two days before the event:
With
one more victory, Williams will earn her seventh US Open championship and her
24th major singles trophy, equaling Margaret Court for the most in tennis
history.
A few weeks shy of turning 37, now comes a chance to take a
title and become the oldest woman to win a Slam in singles (‘Serena Williams toface 20-year-old Naomi Osaka in US Open final,’ Sept 7, 2018).
Not much pressure there!
Fancy becoming the oldest woman to win a Slam in singles! I wonder what she thought when she read that.
As each year goes by, there would be less opportunity for Serena to break
previous records. In a similar manner, the NY Times, writing the day after the
match, gave us more on what it must have been like for Serena to play Naomi
Osaka and be thoroughly beaten by her:
What embarrassed Williams might also have been the
feeling that, in Ramos’s penalty, she was being disgraced before a young woman
who worshiped her, before millions of young people whose adoration sponsors
like Nike are wooing. That final was a battle between versions of herself, for
how she wants to be seen — as a mother, a woman, a legend, a victor, as
elegant, honest and true — versus the many ways she’d been perceived and, on
Saturday, misperceived (‘Serena Williams Came In on a High Road. It MadeHer Fall More Devastating,’ Sept 10, 2018).
Motherhood, autonomy and morality
What happened
between Serena Williams and Carlos Ramos, the umpire, is described coherently
and thoughtfully in an article from New York, one step at a time, explaining how
the misunderstandings happened. At one point, she makes a declaration and a
demand, to Ramos, in front of the crowds, at home and watching live:
“You owe me an
apology,” she said to Ramos, loudly emphasizing certain words. “I have never
cheated in my life. I have a daughter and I stand for what’s right for her and
I have never cheated. You owe me an apology”
(see ‘Serena Williams vs. NaomiOsaka: How the U.S. Open Descended Into Chaos,’ Sept 9, 2018)
At
different times, Serena brings up the subject of her barely one-year-old
daughter, in a manner resembling an awareness of how motherhood has throughout
history been seen as a moral ‘career,’ a duty women have undertaken to raise
their children according to strict standards. To be seen as cheating, or to
have her character attacked, as she says, when Ramos penalized her for the hand
signals that her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, had displayed, was something she claims she would never
do. But was she that intent on protecting the image of the good mother, or was
there an underlying reason for her putting it that way? Here was a woman with
one of the grandest careers, achievements unlike most celebrities could hope to
aspire to, through hard work and talent. Was she just another woman susceptible
to the pressures placed on her, or did she truly yearn to be the best mother
she could possibly be as well as the best tennis player? Did she want it all,
but was not able to achieve it?
At a recent interview with Mia Freedman of
Mamamia (pronounced mama mia), part of the Mamamia’s Women’s Network in
Australia), Serena opened up about how she felt after her ordeal at the US Open,
saying,
“I got in the car,
and Olympia was in the car. It was so weird, and she started giving me kisses,
she never gives me kisses. She doesn’t even know to give kisses, and she just
grabbed me, and I was like this little baby is so smart. It’s just hard to be
too down when you have a little one… when you have someone to take care of.
“Like I have to take
care of this person, and I have to do this type of stuff, it puts everything in
perspective” . . . “I’m doing the best that I can to try and move forward,” she
said. “But most of all, spending time with Olympia, she’s here in the
background… you realise the most important things that really matter” (see ‘Serena Williams tells Mamamia the firstthing she did when she left that US Open court,’ Sept 23, 2018).
Once again, Serena’s focus is on
motherhood – womenhood as defender of morality, sometimes to the extent that it
must surely be interfering with her tennis. In Mother Time, a collection of
essays on women’s experiences of aging, Professor Margaret Urban Walker
discusses the idea of autonomy in the lives of many older women, seeing the
life course as a kind of “career” that leaves a lot at the end that becomes
devalued in terms of moral and social identity (p. 104, ‘Getting out of Line: alternatives to life as a career,’ 1999).
Walker situates the idea of autonomy
within its wider meaning, within a cultural theme, that extends throughout each
person’s life, calling it the “individual life as a career” (pp 100-101), a
concept that takes in more than the traditional idea of career that is familiar
to us, based on occupation and paid work. After the “life career” is over, Walker says, as
it once would have been for women who did not work, or men post-retirement, the
career self endeavours to prove that they were once socially acceptable before
their adulthood expired (p. 104), easier to do if one has had a traditional
career, but a new task to face, nevertheless. I would add that once motherhood
is over, the individual would face acquiring or acknowledging additional facets
of an integrated life, following what is known traditionally as the menopausal
transition or “the change of life”.
Although Serena Williams has led a
different kind of life from many women and men, in which her tennis career was
real, resulting in greater autonomy and recognition of her worth, the career
life of any tennis player is bound to come to an end at some point. Some might
wonder why Serena allowed motherhood to interrupt her career, and why she
appears to have a particular mindset about it, and her new daughter, that
places as much or equal value on the little person as she has done on winning
at tennis. Is it cultural, or a personal desire Serena has, to want to
experience motherhood, or to “have it all,” or to pass on her genes, or just to
want someone special in her life in a way only motherhood can?
The remainder of Margaret Urban Walker’s
essay focuses on three ways of integrating a life, without resorting to
reflecting on the traditional life stages open to us, but this has little to do
with Serena’s life, unless she does find herself seeking a third way of
integrating a life containing fragments of her personal history which are
disconnected from being a “whole life” due to her career as a professional
tennis player. Travelling, and moving on, over and over again, can result in
leaving memories and loyalties behind, sometimes making life seem meaningless.
More so, in today’s world, this is the kind of life people lead, not lived in
one place only, and not working at one career only.
In Serena’s situation, she is firmly
set within the model of an autonomous individual, and has now managed to firmly
attach herself to motherhood as an additional source of meaning in her life. As
a result of her indiscretion on the tennis court she has had to pay a hefty
fine and had her life torn apart (as if it hadn’t been already) by the media. The
trauma associated with becoming a mother has probably left her susceptible to the
kinds of physical changes that many ordinary women experience as they grow
older. But there is much more to her life’s journey than her extraordinary career
as professional tennis player or being the best mother ever, or even having
her life submitted to scrutiny. When we examine the variety and depth of the public’s
and media responses to her tennis match against the 20-year old Naomi Osaka, we
realize how her life has affected women in general, and men’s in their attempts
to explain just what happened.
Power and credibility
Serena
appeared to be coming from a position of power, not of powerlessness, when she
confronted the umpire, Carlos Ramos, about his decisionmaking, which makes a
difference when thinking of abuses of power. It is one thing to have someone
with no power be verbally abusive towards another when fighting for their survival,
but different in effect when it is known that the person with material power
who is being abusive has the power to do the other harm to their life in significant
ways - whether loss of job, of home, or a relationship. When there is no mutual
sense of being equal to one another, or fighting for the same cause, one of the
two is often more vulnerable than the other. In the case of the umpire, while
his fairness – or not - towards her has also been part of the debate it is
questionable which of them has the most power, and the most support on their
side, or whether this is a rocky road each of them has to navigate as they
continue on.
Serena’s
husband Alexis’s nurturing response to his wife Serena’s ordeal was to use
statistics to prove her point, that this was a matter of the sexes not being
treated equally by the umpire Carlos Ramos, or on a wider level, during
professional matches on the whole. Which one of them has more credibility –
Serena or Ramos - to not have their career suffer, or their life, is debatable.
George
Bellshaw, writing on Alexis Ohanian’s use of statistics from a sports
perspective, provides us with a convincing article complete with wedding
pictures – their own and at the Royal wedding - graphs, stats, and a list of code violations
before stating his conclusion, based also on what other experts tell him, that
sexism on the tennis court is hard to prove. Quoting an expert on technology and
a university professor he writes:
‘Maybe
that’s the thing from now, if you want to get more empirical evidence from how
to understand whether there’s bias in there. There’s a whole hash of new data
that’s required to actually be able to do that.’ (Tim Wade – a senior director
of technology company Dimension Data).
. .
.
So could we produce accurate statistical results that prove sexism is at
play?
‘With certainty? Almost certainly not,’ Professor [Alan] Nevill added.
‘It’s highly unlikely that you’d be able to demonstrate that’s a major
attribute in the situation’ (SerenaWilliams’ husband Alexis Ohanian is right about sexism stats – but is desireddata actually possible?’ Sept 21, 2018).
It comes down to collection of an
immense amount of data and interpretation of that data, making it impossible to
find the answers one wants, even if technology were capable, Bellshaw says, and
money and time were of no concern.
In
the article that asks in its title, ‘Is Serena Williams right,’ her behaviour
on the court is described as normal for men who get angry, but open to question
when women do the same thing. Kieran File explains,
Most people
would comfortably associate confrontational actions and behaviour with men and
we regularly see this in male sporting competitions. In other words, such
behaviour is seen as normal, or at the very least, not unexpected of men.
. . .
Instances of women being
confrontational challenge society’s view of them. That leaves them subject
to greater scrutiny. In this case, society’s expectations of women as
polite, supportive,
non-competitive and certainly not aggressive may have indirectly contributed to Williams’ penalties in the US Open final (Is Serena Williams right? A linguist on theextra challenges women face in moments of anger,’ Sept 11, 2018).
non-competitive and certainly not aggressive may have indirectly contributed to Williams’ penalties in the US Open final (Is Serena Williams right? A linguist on theextra challenges women face in moments of anger,’ Sept 11, 2018).
I
would suspect that the finger-pointing and other gestures, including breaking
her raquet, and her demand for an apology had a lot to do with the penalties
given her by Ramos. On the whole, less haranguing and no name-calling (liar and
thief) on the part of Serena, but instead an accurate description of where the
problems lay, in her view, may have been more helpful and less threatening. But
if she were indeed in so much emotional turmoil, about to lose the set and
match to a newcomer on the scene, while still recovering from doing what only
women can do (give birth), while getting older, with records yet to be broken,
and not enough hours in the day, isn’t it understandable? The question, in many
people’s minds, is whether women should be able to behave the same way men do.
But is that the best solution to the problem, that more women start behaving
like men?
Former
professional tennis player Martina Navratilova writes, addressing the
problem of women behaving like men on the court, and the fact that being
treated differently than others, off or on the court, may have been a reason
why Serena couldn’t let go of it:
Just because the guys might be able to get
away with it doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.
. . .
All of this U.S. Open history, combined,
perhaps, with always feeling like an outsider in the game of tennis — I know
exactly how that feels — goes some way toward explaining why Ms. Williams
reacted the way she did, and most of all, how she just couldn’t let go. But
what is clear is she could very much not let go (Martina Navratilova:What Serena Got Wrong, Sept 10, 2018).
References
After
Serena Williams gave birth, 'Everything went bad'
By Susan Scutti
CNN
Jan 10, 2018 Updated 2:20 PM ET,
January 11, 2018
Getting out of Line: alternatives to life as a career.
By Margaret Urban Walker
In Mother Time: women, aging, and
ethics (Ed. Margaret Urban Walker).
1999
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Maryland. pp 97-111.
‘I regret having children’
By Anne Kingston
Macleans
2018 February Issue
https://www.macleans.ca/regretful-mothers/
By Anne Kingston
Macleans
2018 February Issue
https://www.macleans.ca/regretful-mothers/
Is Serena Williams right? A linguist on
the extra challenges women face in moments of anger
By Kieran File
The Conversation
September 11, 2018 10.41am EDT
https://theconversation.com/is-serena-williams-right-a-linguist-on-the-extra-challenges-women-face-in-moments-of-anger-102998
By Kieran File
The Conversation
September 11, 2018 10.41am EDT
https://theconversation.com/is-serena-williams-right-a-linguist-on-the-extra-challenges-women-face-in-moments-of-anger-102998
Martina Navratilova: What Serena Got
Wrong
By Martina Navratilova
NY Times, Opinion
Sept 10, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/opinion/martina-navratilova-serena-williams-us-open.html
By Martina Navratilova
NY Times, Opinion
Sept 10, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/opinion/martina-navratilova-serena-williams-us-open.html
Serena Williams Came In on a High Road.
It Made Her Fall More Devastating.
By Wesley Morris
New York Times Critics Notebook
Sept. 10, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/sports/tennis/serena-williams-us-open.html?
Serena Williams cartoon was ‘sexist’,according to Germaine Greer
By Ben Graham
news.com.au
Sept 18, 2018. 9:14AM
https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/serena-williams-cartoon-was-sexist-according-to-germaine-greer/news-story/323901c631f6e04fda86921bad708f77
By Wesley Morris
New York Times Critics Notebook
Sept. 10, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/sports/tennis/serena-williams-us-open.html?
Serena Williams cartoon was ‘sexist’,according to Germaine Greer
By Ben Graham
news.com.au
Sept 18, 2018. 9:14AM
https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/serena-williams-cartoon-was-sexist-according-to-germaine-greer/news-story/323901c631f6e04fda86921bad708f77
Serena
Williams tells Mamamia the first thing she did when she left that US Open
court.
By Claire Stephens, Weekend Editor
Mamamia
September 23, 2018
Serena
Williams to face 20-year-old Naomi Osaka in US Open final
Associated
Press
Sept
7, 2018
Serena Williams vs. Naomi Osaka: How the
U.S. Open Descended Into Chaos
By David Waldstein
NY Times
Sept. 9, 2018
Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian
is right about sexism stats – but is desired data actually possible?
by George Bellshaw
Metro News UK - Sports
Sept 21, 2018 8:00 am
Serena
Williams’ outburst at the US Open final was a misguided way to tackle sexism in
tennis
By
Luisa Tam
South
China Morning Post
Sept 17, 2018,
7:53pm UPDATED Sept 17, 8:48pm
