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This ‘Serena Williams’ Costume Is More Stupid Than Racist

I’m not quite sure who to reprimand first here: the media for being all to eager to once again equate curvy bodies with the legend of the Hottentot Venus, or tennis player Caroline Wozniacki for believing she was being hilarious by stuffing her shirt and shorts to ostensibly emulate Serena Williams’ bodacious figure in a recent match. Either way, it was an incredibly stupid move.

But was Caroline really being racist in her so-called mimicry of Serena? After all, she wasn’t playing Serena — her match was against Anna Kournikova (whose body has also been subjected to a fair amount of scrutiny). The only things that suggested Wozniacki was mocking Williams were her exaggerated proportions. If she had played in blackface that argument would certainly be a lot easier to make, but this situation seems a bit more ambiguous.

Ultimately, this Serena controversy says to me that maybe we’re all too willing sometimes accuse another of bigotry or discrimination. Caroline wasn’t really saying anything in particular with her silly costume — it was projected on her after the fact. Should she have done what she did? Probably not. But I’m not eager to see her get crucified over a pretty harmless joke either.

[Via The Frisky]

TAGS: caroline wozniacki | Serena Williams

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