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Would you ‘Adam and Eve’ it?

Here’s another example of political-correctness gone mad. Today I spotted on the website of The Guardian an opinion piece by Chitra Ramaswamy claiming that Serena Williams being banned from wearing a black cat-suit like garment at the next French Open is an example of unacceptable sexualisation of black athlete’s’ bodies.

See here for a link – THE GUARDIAN

I have rarely read poppycock to match this. Or maybe that should read ‘hypocrisy’ … or even perhaps ‘variable and illogical standards to suit any side of any argument of the moment’.

Let me just refer to a couple of other examples.

Last year (2017) campaigners in the United States of America were dismayed by a Supreme Court decision that coincidentally may assist the Washington Redskins American Football team fend off a fifty year old complaint that the use of the term ‘Redskins’ was disparaging to Native Americans.

The case in question was actually to do with commercial trademarks and the fact that federal laws intended to prevent supposedly racial-disparaging names being use for trademarks was outstripped in importance by the right to free speech.

In the English rugby union Premiership we have the Exeter Chiefs – fans of whom often wear Indian head-dresses and regularly sing ‘Indian war dance chants’ (and I know for a fact that they’ve been approached by some supporters of Native American culture with complaints and requests not to use the name ‘Chiefs’).

The Premiership also boasts the Leicester Tigers (who have presumably misappropriated the name of the cuddly large cat species referred to) the Bristol Bears … the Bristol Bears?!?! … what crazy idiot came up with that brainwave?, the Sale Sharks (which moniker is obviously species-disparaging to the water-borne surfer-killer) and the Newcastle Falcons (ditto to the bird species).

In rugby league we have the following culprit clubs – Batley Bulldogs, Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers, Coventry Bears, Doncaster Rams, Hemel Stags, Keighley Cougars, Leeds Rhinos, Leigh Centurions, London Broncos, North Wales Crusaders, Sheffield Eagles, South Wales Scorpions, Swinton Lions and Warrington Wolves.

All of those are plainly being deeply disrespectful to the species, racial groups or brotherhoods whose names they have taken.

And in the case of the Keighley Cougars, that club needs to be disbanded immediately!

They’ve been disrespectful both to the big cat species and those predatory ladies over the age of forty who go round trying to pick up young hunks to satisfy their own insatiable desires.

My point today is simply this.

Frankly, Ms Ramaswamy has got hold of completely the wrong end of the stick with her salvo in supposed defence of Serena Williams’ right to wear a black cat suit to play her tennis if she so wishes.

Bernard Guidicelli, the French Tennis Federation president, was simply referring to the generally accepted standard of dress that any tennis tournament – let alone one of the four Majors – are wholly entitled to impose if they so wish.

You don’t expect elite professional male tennis players – still less female ones – to go around insisting upon their (human?) right to play their sport of choice topless if they so desire.

Or indeed to wear a cat suit.

Most Rust readers – I say that because most of them will (hopefully) be able to remember as far as 1985, when the American tennis player Anne White pitched up in a white cat suit to play Pam Shriver in the first round of the Women’s Singles at Wimbledon.

At the end of the day’s play (with the match tied one set each) she was ticked off by Wimbledon referee Alan Mills and reappeared in more traditional the next day and lost in three sets.

If my memory serves, I rather enjoyed the spectacle at the time, indeed felt Ms White looked rather fetching – albeit I did also agree with those who considered it not quite “Wimbledon”, if you see what I mean.

You have to have standards of some sort when it comes to dress … and dress sense.

Right now, wearing cat suits to play elite tennis is not permitted. So what? And it’s got nothing to do with Serena Williams being black, or indeed a woman, thank you very much.

 

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About Tom Hollingworth

Tom Hollingsworth is a former deputy sports editor of the Daily Express. For many years he worked in a sports agency, representing mainly football players and motor racing drivers. Tom holds a private pilot’s licence and flying is his principal recreation. More Posts