Is this impression of Serena Williams a form of blackface?

[baxus]

Foxsports coverage - http://www.foxsports...u-1226534990090

the article linked in the post i quoted contains a paragraph:

One blogger on Tumblr posted: "...this isn’t 'harmless fun' as one article described it. its racist. out and outright racism. mocking and making fun of the bodies of black women for a laugh? real funny, stupid white girl. real real funny."

i find it interesting that's not considered racist while using towels as boobs and ass padding to immitate a tennis player not only known but famous for her curves is.

[mormont]

I'm astonished that there are people who can look at this and not see why it's racist. I mean, for a white woman to mock a black woman by drawing attention to her relatively larger secondary sexual characteristics? You really don't see how that has a racial dimension? You've never seen that used as a racist trope? Really?

Just because you're oblivious to something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, people. This is a thing. A racist thing. Whether Wozniacki meant it to be or whether she, too, was just being oblivious (far more likely IMO), it's still racist. Unintentional racism committed through ignorance is still racism.

[Castel]

the article linked in the post i quoted contains a paragraph:

i find it interesting that's not considered racist while using towels as boobs and ass padding to immitate a tennis player not only known but famous for her curves is.

What makes you think that it's not considered racist? . Do you expect coverage of a tennis star's possible (perhaps unintentional) racism racist mockery to be matched by coverage of a single anonymous poster's?

[Cold Pie]

Has Serena Williams made any comment on this?

I do see that some black women are portrayed as oversexual, and how it in that way can be racist. And I agree this act was tasteless and racist, because it's a norm. But if Serena would do an impression of Wozniacki, where she hid the curvy parts of her body, would that make the headlines? I'm not saying that I think it was wrong that Wozniackis did, I just think it's an interesting thought.

[Fragile Bird]

I'm astonished that there are people who can look at this and not see why it's racist. I mean, for a white woman to mock a black woman by drawing attention to her relatively larger secondary sexual characteristics? You really don't see how that has a racial dimension? You've never seen that used as a racist trope? Really?

Just because you're oblivious to something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, people. This is a thing. A racist thing. Whether Wozniacki meant it to be or whether she, too, was just being oblivious (far more likely IMO), it's still racist. Unintentional racism committed through ignorance is still racism.

I totally understand this, I really do, but I ask again, which is more racist? You have a group of people who are friends even though competitors, they regularly mock each other, the group is mainly white with one member, the most famous one, is black, the mocking stuff is a bonding exercise, is it more racist to leave out the black member because you don't want to be seen as racist, or more racist to include her with the inevitable claim you are racist by mocking her?

Would it have been more acceptable if there was another black player who was as slim and slender as Wozniacki to pad herself out, or would that player have been also accused of being a racist, and a worse racist to boot because she was black?

If you were in this group of tennis players and you were at this charity match where the players always come out and mock one of their fellow players, how would you represent Serena Williams? Or is the answer, because she is black she can never be mocked and never be part of the group of her fellow tennis players because of the optics?

I wanted to find more images of black female tennis players, I'm not a follower of tennis I just see the stars shown at the time of big tournaments, and here's the up and coming star, apparently, of US tennis, Taylor Townsend. With this controversy, is this woman now doomed also to be left out of future charity tournaments, or left to play the straight man forever? And if her curves aren't as sexy as Serena's, hard to tell, and towels are stuffed around someone's waist instead to indicate a fat person, will that be racist too?

As I said, I can understand the argument that what was done was racist irrespective of the motivations of Wozniacki and the friendship between her and Serena, but you sure have isolated Williams that way.

/sp

[Seli]

I'm astonished that there are people who can look at this and not see why it's racist. I mean, for a white woman to mock a black woman by drawing attention to her relatively larger secondary sexual characteristics? You really don't see how that has a racial dimension? You've never seen that used as a racist trope? Really?

Just because you're oblivious to something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, people. This is a thing. A racist thing. Whether Wozniacki meant it to be or whether she, too, was just being oblivious (far more likely IMO), it's still racist. Unintentional racism committed through ignorance is still racism.

And what if she used exactly the same method to impersonate Christina Hendricks?

[mormont]

I totally understand this, I really do, but I ask again, which is more racist?

Really, is the argument that not engaging in racist mockery is somehow racist because you're excluding the poor black girl? Come on.

The point is that the specific thing for which Serena was being mocked is not some coincidental characteristic unconnected with her race that has zero cultural baggage, as some people are insisting. To publicly mock a black woman for this is racist whether it was intended to be or not and it's therefore patently absurd to even raise the question of 'what is more racist?' Pretty obviously, racist mockery is more racist. Seriously, there aren't many things that are more racist than racist mockery.

[Fez]

Honestly, had Serena even been present that might have put a different spin on things. Mocking someone who isn't even there, especially at a major public event, is pretty much by definition more than just friends joking around among themselves.

Again, if this was an isolated incident I might agree. But, check out this link for just a sampling of how common it is for tennis players to do this sort of thing. Firstly, Wozniacki did this exact same thing earlier this year. She has also done an impression of Nadal cramping up. Roddick has done impressions of Nadal and Serena as well. Djokovic has done Serena, Sharapova, Nadal, and pretty much every top male player in the game (and also does their serves which is a whole other degree of difficulty. Janko Tipsarveic has done Djokovic.

Doing some quick googling also shows such things as Federer imitating Nadal, Sharapova imitating Roddick, and Tsonga imitating Djokovic.

Outside of the Opens, the top players (and not just the white ones) all do this to each other all the time; particularly at the very top. Being at the very top of the sport invites attention; that's why Serena and Nadal are such favorite targets.

[Lady Winter Rose]

If so, is it racist?

I don't get it. There are white people who have big butt and breast, and thin waist.

[OnionAhaiReborn]

I wanted to find more images of black female tennis players, I'm not a follower of tennis I just see the stars shown at the time of big tournaments, and here's the up and coming star, apparently, of US tennis, Taylor Townsend. With this controversy, is this woman now doomed also to be left out of future charity tournaments, or left to play the straight man forever? And if her curves aren't as sexy as Serena's, hard to tell, and towels are stuffed around someone's waist instead to indicate a fat person, will that be racist too?

As I said, I can understand the argument that what was done was racist irrespective of the motivations of Wozniacki and the friendship between her and Serena, but you sure have isolated Williams that way.

/sp

Hey FB :)

I follow Tennis a bit, maybe not too intensely, but enough to know the big names and to have seen quite a bit of the mockery that goes on between the players. I've seen plenty of them do impressions of one another, I've never seen an 'impression' that was based solely on an exaggerated imitation of someone's body. There is no reason Serena Williams couldn't or can't in the future be on the receiving end of jabs or imitation that weren't base on her body. Like all players, she has her own ticks and style that could be imitated.

I also can't help but see this incident in the context not just of historical racial stereotyping, but also of what I see as the intense over-scrutinization of Serena Williams over her career. Not just the media's obsession with her looks and her style (which to some extent happens with all female tennis players) but also the focus on her 'attitude' or her level of dedication and fitness. On the ground-level, I've had more than a few white liberal Tennis fans complain that Serena Williams (easily one of the greatest Tennis players of all time) could have been better if she were less lazy and more dedicated. None of these things are strictly racial or necessarily off-limits for discussion, but taken together there is a pattern that is indicative of, likely unconsciously, channeling of prevailing racialized understandings of the world.

I think what Wozniaki did, viewed in a vacuum, seems clearly mean. Given the context of Serena Williams' career, it makes me feel queasy.

[mormont]

And what if she used exactly the same method to impersonate Christina Hendricks?

Gee, I dunno.

Oh, wait, I do. It takes about 0.34 of a second to realise that mocking Christina Hendricks for the size of her ass is different from mocking Serena Williams for the same thing, just as mocking Mick Jagger for having big lips is not the same as mocking a black person for the same thing would be.

Context matters. Apples are not the same as oranges.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Again, if this was an isolated incident I might agree. But, check out this link for just a sampling of how common it is for tennis players to do this sort of thing. Firstly, Wozniacki did this exact same thing earlier this year. She has also done an impression of Nadal cramping up. Roddick has done impressions of Nadal and Serena as well. Djokovic has done Serena, Sharapova, Nadal, and pretty much every top male player in the game (and also does their serves which is a whole other degree of difficulty. Janko Tipsarveic has done Djokovic.

Doing some quick googling also shows such things as Federer imitating Nadal, Sharapova imitating Roddick, and Tsonga imitating Djokovic.

Outside of the Opens, the top players (and not just the white ones) all do this to each other all the time; particularly at the very top. Being at the very top of the sport invites attention; that's why Serena and Nadal are such favorite targets.

I'm still going through the list, but here's my immediate reaction. It's not making fun of Serena that's the issue, it's the method chosen.

Andy Roddick impersonating Serena Williams - made fun of her butt and her outburst against the line official.

Roddick impersonating Rafael Nadal - pure behaviour/play style. (Okay, and bringing his sleeves up to his shoulders to show off his arms.)

Novak Djokovic impersonating Maria Sharapova - wore a wig, and made fun of her behaviour/mannerisms/play style.

Wosniacki impersonating Nadal - pure behaviour + a one-off event (the cramp).

Wosniacki impersonating SWilliams - as far as I can tell, pure butt/boobs "impersonation"; she seems to still be playing as herself.

...

These are not identical, even if they're all under the area of 'poking fun'.

[BigFatCoward]

And what if she used exactly the same method to impersonate Christina Hendricks?

or JLO, or one of those skanky kardashians. or any number of women of all cultures around the world who have big asses. black women do not have a monopoly on a big butt.

[Clueless Northman]

It takes about 0.34 of a second to realise that mocking Christina Hendricks for the size of her ass is different from mocking Serena Williams for the same thing,

Logic just died a little.

[MisterOJ]

Put me down as "not racist" at all.

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

Maybe I'm getting soft in my "old age," but I am finding it increasingly hard on some of these topics to definitively come down on either side of the issue, and am perplexed by those who seem to be able to cast down, on either side, the Judgment of Solomon based upon the rigorous repetition of a particular fact or two, while seeming to ignore the entire other universe of facts out there. I just don't think there's any way for most of us to truly understand the spirit in which the impression was made, or taken, or appreciate the extent to which the impression's relation to older, gendered and racist portrayals was merely incidental (as Serena's body comes closer to cohering to those stereotypes than her sister's) rather than intentional, and to the extent that even matters. I do think intent matters a lot, although it's certainly not everything, and that if these kinds of impressions are common, then perhaps it's just as important not to exclude someone just because of their race.

But who is to say for sure? Certainly not me. And I'm left, alternately, with either a vague sense of discomfort, or a mild feeling of amusement, as I think about it in different ways. I'm just not sure how anyone can come out, guns blazing, on either side.

[Mr. E]

Gee, I dunno.

Oh, wait, I do. It takes about 0.34 of a second to realise that mocking Christina Hendricks for the size of her ass is different from mocking Serena Williams for the same thing, just as mocking Mick Jagger for having big lips is not the same as mocking a black person for the same thing would be.

Context matters. Apples are not the same as oranges.

Sweet Lord.

[polishgenius]

I recall, someone in the other topic brought up the distinction between dressing up as 'a black person', and dressing up as, say, Martin Luther King. Does that not come into it?

As for Aiofe's post, no, she's certainly trying to imitate Williams in the point played as far as I can tell, with the grunting and two-handed whacking.

[Thlayli]

Getting offended on someone else's behalf sounds rather burdensome.

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

Getting offended on someone else's behalf sounds rather burdensome.

In all fairness, recognizing something as "offensive" is different than being offended on their behalf. The former is recognizing that something has a particular quality, the latter is your personal reaction to it.