Serena Williams Defends Caroline Wozniacki Against Racist Backlash
Serena Williams has no hard feelings toward Caroline Wozniacki after the fellow tennis star mocked her shapely figure by stuffing her undergarments with towels earlier this month.
Despite the backlash that 22-year-old Wozniacki received for her imitation of 33-year-old Williams at an exhibition match in Brazil, the latter said she did not feel there were any ill intentions behind the act.
"I know Caro and I would call her my friend and I don't think she (meant) anything racist by it," Williams said in an email obtained by USA Today recently.
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While some people called the act racist when a video of the 22-year-old Danish player went viral, Williams said she did not think that her race had anything to do with Wozniacki's imitation of her.
"(Roddick) and (Djokovic) do it all the time and Caro does (it) and now it's racist??" Williams questioned in her email.
However, some observers from Feministing.com disagreed with Williams.
"Given the history and current-day context of racialized standards of beauty, and the hypersexualization of people of color, when a white woman makes fun of a black women's body, especially in a way that hypersexualizes her and draws on the stereotype of black women's big butts, it's racist," feministing.com wrote.
Although Williams did not seem offended by her fellow tennis player's actions, she did say that Wozniacki may need to think of another issue to poke fun of on the tennis court if people were offended.
"I must add if people feel this way she should take reason and do something different next time," Williams said in the USA Today report.
Still, Williams said she is not focused on the negativity brought on by the act.
"At the end of the day I spend my time focused on things to become better and not bring me down," she said.
