Serena Williams, undoubtedly the best tennis player out there, who won the Australian Open while being pregnant has seen mostly ups in her career as a sports person but her downs include effects of sexism and misogyny in the field.

Williams won her first grand slam recently after giving birth to a baby girl on September 13, 2017, and named her Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr after her father. Apart from quoting “we’re not spending a day apart until she is 18” in her interview with Vogue, she has also stated that “Not yet, I absolutely want more Grand Slams”

This does not go in sync with the fact that she was wearing a ‘bodysuit’ in this year’s French Open which didn’t only make her feel like “a warrior” that she is, it also helps her cope with the blood clots that threatened her existence while giving birth. The fully black costume with a red waistband was fun, fashionable and functional. This fact didn’t digest in the minds if the French Tennis Federation president, Bernard Giudicelli who said, “I believe we have sometimes gone too far” and added, “Serena’s outfit this year, for example, would no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.” While Williams believes that she doesn’t mind their decision, the general public believes that this is in fact, disrespecting one of the greatest players.

To add to these cases of sexist behaviour, recently, France’s Alizé Cornet received a code violation for changing her shirt on the court sidelines, not even changing, she just realized that her t-shirt was on backwards something that hasn’t happened for the first time where a player changes t-shirts on the court. It caught the attention of the officials only when a female player did so. We don’t remember the last time a male sportsperson was seen running to the locker room. Sexualizing of women’s body isn’t something new we are seeing. Neither is it something only men partake in. In 2012, Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki impersonated Williams by stuffing towels under her clothes indicating larger breasts and bottom. This mockery was received with a wave of laughter from the crowd including fellow star player Roger Federer. This incident goes down in history as offensive, sexist as well as racist.

Williams dedicated the outfit to new mothers and said that it made her feel like a “queen from Wakanda” referring to the movie Black Panther. While fans still continue criticizing the ban, All Williams has to say is “everything will be okay.” As far as we are concerned, all we need to do is keep questioning.