An opinion writer claimed the French Tennis Federation banning Serena Williams from wearing a catsuit for the French Opens shows that black bodies are sexualized, according to a column she wrote for The Guardian.
Chitra Ramaswamy spoke out after Williams was banned from wearing her black catsuit to future French Open competitions based on new dress codes being enacted for 2019. Ramaswamy claimed the ban on Williams’s sporting attire shows disrespect to one of tennis’s greatest athletes, she wrote Monday.
“What this is really about is the policing of women’s bodies and, in particular, the way in which black women’s bodies are othered, sexualised and dehumanised,” Ramaswamy wrote. (RELATED: Serena Williams ‘Almost Died’ After Giving Birth To Daughter)
The author praised Williams’s fashion choice, saying it “was fun, it was functional, it was fabulous. It made returning to work from maternity leave look like the stuff of superhero movies, which it basically is. Minus the kudos.”
Ramaswamy’s remarks come in response to Bernard Giudicelli, the president of the French Tennis Federation, telling Tennis magazine about the new dress codes.
“I believe we have sometimes gone too far,” said Giudicelli, The Associated Press reported. “Serena’s outfit this year, for example, would no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”
The tennis player previously shared a photo of her outfit to Instagram.
“Catsuit anyone?” William wrote in an Instagram post May 29.
The catsuit doubles as a body-compression outfit that helps prevent blood clots, a life-threatening condition Williams suffers from, Elle magazine reported.
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