Even the most successful athletes in the world aren’t immune from the noise of unrealistic beauty standards.
This week, 23-time Grand Slam winner and tennis powerhouse Serena Williams opened up about the body image struggles she had in her early career and the one decision she made to overcome them.
“It was hard because when I was playing in the beginning – the first 15 years – my body was different,” she said in a cover story interview for PORTER.
Serena Williams has opened up about the body image struggles she navigated growing up. (Getty)
“I had big boobs, I had a big butt. Every athlete was like super flat, super thin and beautiful, but in a different way.
“I didn’t understand as an athlete how to deal with that.”
Williams added that the constant comparisons and criticism took a toll.
“It does affect you mentally. Absolutely,” she added.
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“You think you’re large for your whole life and you look [back] and you’re like, I was fit.
“Yeah, I had big muscles. I didn’t look like these other girls but not everyone looks the same.”
It took a long time for Williams to learn that strong is beautiful and no one person (or athlete) will or should look the same.
But one decision she made at the start of her career has helped her keep body image struggles at bay.
“When I was 17, when I won the Open for the first time, I took a decision there,” she said.
Williams decided to stop reading articles about herself in her early career. (Getty)
“I was so young, but I said, ‘I’m never going to read anything about me’.
“At the Open, there was so much positivity, and I thought, I don’t want my head to get too big.
“I wanted to stay humble. I also thought if it’s negative, I don’t want to read it. I never really read an article after that.”
It’s not the first time the champion athlete has opened up about her body image struggles.
In a 2020 interview with British Vogue, Williams recalled the absence of people who looked like her in the public eye when she was younger.
“When I was growing up, what was celebrated was different. Venus looked more like what is really acceptable: she has incredibly long legs, she’s really, really thin,” she said.
“I didn’t see people on TV that looked like me, who were thick. There wasn’t a positive body image. It was a different age.”
Williams says she didn’t see people who looked like her while growing up which affected her confidence. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Now, she is happy to see that the tides have changed and she is confident that up-and-coming athletes are less likely to experience the kinds of struggles and comparisons that she did.
”It’s changed,” she told PORTER.
Serena Williams (left), pictured here with her sister Venus after playing a match against each other as kids in 1991, experienced body image struggles growing up. (Getty)
“No one’s calling these girls the [things] I was called. People would say we were like men and all this other stuff.”
“I’m not going to let anyone bring me down,” she added.
“I put enough stress on myself. The last thing I’m going to allow is someone else to do that. But I’m so happy that girls nowadays don’t have to go through it as much. I mean, I think internet trolls are different. So, you have that to deal with…”
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