Ooh la la....Venus Willams changes fashion at the French Open

[woo me with science]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2010-05-24-weekly-net-post_N.htm

Weekly net post: Hopes higher for Americans in Paris

By Douglas Robson, Special for USA TODAY
PARIS — Springtime in Paris? That usually means frustration at the French Open for the contingent from the USA.
This year, however, hopes are higher that the Americans will avoid another disappearing act on clay, which has behaved more like quicksand for U.S. fortunes.

For the first time since 2003, Serena and Venus Williams are on top of the rankings and eager to stay there. Both are healthy, hungry and legitimate title contenders.










Serena Williams remains No. 1, her 104th week at the top overall, and there are no changes in the top 10. Venus Williams, at No. 2, could reclaim No. 1 with a French Open victory. The rest of the Americans in the top 100: Melanie Oudin (37); Vania King (69).

[dawg]

1. I want to comment on this thread, but ...

I'm at a loss for words as to what I should say. Almost anything I could possibly say would sound sexist. I'm not particularly sexist, so maybe I shouldn't say anything.


Well, pehaps I'll just analyze the outfit. Looks like lingerie to me. And there appear to be two different types of "panties" in use here. "Over" panties and "under" panties. The outfit, while certainly appealing in some situations, does appear out of place on the tennis court, IMHO.

[hlthe2b]

2. well, I'm female and though she has a terrific bod....

I would really like to see the "victoria secretization" of tennis be halted. I, for one would like for these women to garner the respect they deserve for their incredible athletic prowess and not for any comparison to pole dancers at upscale strip clubs.

Yup.. I'm old fashioned in that respect. we'll never go back to the days of pristine "tennis whites" but still, there can be some moderation. She can wear whatever she wants since tennis no longer appears to have any restrictions, but that doesn't mean that she should

[dawg]

3. I know this sounds funny coming from a guy ...

but I would like to see the whole "sexification" of our society get scaled back to a large degree. In the right context, bring the heat ladies (and gentlemen, but not for me, for the ladies, and the gentlemen who like that sort of thing, of which I'm not one, not that there's anything wrong with that :crazy: ....)

But why does sex have to be shoved in our faces constantly by the media. And in a very unhealthy and unrealistic way.

[Captain Hilts]

24. It's lost its punch, and verges on boring and insulting. nt

[Lance_Boyle]

4. A French Maid outfit for the French Open?

Kinda sleazy, but she fills it out nicely.

[blogslut]

5. I would have liked it better if her briefs coordinated with her tunic

Red briefs would have been awesome. :)

[woo me with science]

8. LOL

Wouldn't that have been bright and cheery!

[Kali]

47. I'm with you!

that's about all the "who cares?" I can muster up about this

[LynneSin]

6. It took me a few minutes to realize that she was wearing bottoms

Since it seems she is wearing flesh colored bottoms to make it seem like she is going without.

Although I realize that times they are a changing, this outfit is more for the bedroom and not the tennis court.

[Captain Hilts]

21. She's worn the 'bare' look for a while now. It's gross. nt

[RadicalTexan]

7. Further pornification of Western culture

We really have to ask ourselves: why would a top athlete want to literally dress like a French prostitute?

This WSJ article made me so angry I had to comment: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/05/24/sportswriters-venus-williams-can-wear-whatever-she-wants/

Wow, way to miss the point and be an apologist for the capitalist patriarchy (I wouldn’t expect less of anyone in the pay of the Wall Street Journal, though).

“…like any woman who puts on very high heels or a sexy top, she likely feels the attention is a small price to pay for wearing what she wants, when she wants.”

No. Rather, she feels that the knock to feminism and the continued fight of women to be treated as more than mere sex objects is a small price to pay for personally profiting off the patriarchy and getting social (read: male) approval and attention (and, $$$$).

This phenomenon, as well as the WSJ’s apologia, is disgusting.

[Captain Hilts]

22. There are some places where 'sexy' just isn't appropriate. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Those pants are showing an awful lot of butt cleavage.

That's me being blunt.

[Demoiselle]

10. Of course she can wear whatever she likes....but..

why would she want to distract us from her tennis playing?
She's really really great, right? One of the best in the world, right?

I wish she'd just let us enjoy her skills. And please don't tell me that if I'm distracted by her outfit it's my problem.
That last shot of her bottom is particularly silly.

End of harumph.

[trof]

11. Oh hell, why not just let her play in a thong and pasties?

:eyes:

[hedgehog]

12. Oh, my....

:o







Well, it was the French Open. and I've been told time and again the French are much more relaxed and sophisticated about sex than the Americans.....

[Dr Morbius]

13. This is not new for Venus Williams.

Back in January:

Her "flash-colored" underwear got her some attention. Here's another shot.

Now, you can clearly see in this shot she's wearing shorts. But from a distance, it doesn't look like it. Of course, in addition to being a tennis player, she's a model. So revealing outfits are nothing new to her:


She's a very beautiful woman, no doubt. She's making ladies' tennis "sexier", and I suspect that helps it to sell.

[Phentex]

14. She's dressed like a beach volley ball player in the last shot...

you know, that Olympic "sport" where it's fine to wear the skimpiest clothing possible.

[Captain Hilts]

23. Only the female beach volleyball players wear skimpy outfits, the men do not. That's sexism.

I cannot imagine where the women find sand after a match.

[Phentex]

27. Yep! But some people don't seem to find anything

wrong with it. But they'll speak up about Venus. Is it the sport?

[Captain Hilts]

28. It's not 'ladylike'. We're just seeing too much of Venus's butt. nt

[Blue_Tires]

42. *right-click save*

[struggle4progress]

15. I only read The French Open because of the great articles

[quakerboy]

16. Meh

I read this thread, and I think... Was there ever a time when humans were non-sexualized? Or is that wishful thinking, at its most rosy glassed. Was it really so much better in the days when seeing an ankle was scandalous and faintly obscene?

Let her wear what she wants. Perhaps we should reconsider sports as a whole. Why are our athletes allowed to wear all these performance enhancers? Doesn't that present a great possibility of unfair advantage, of winning based on something other than skill, talent and hard work? Perhaps they should all be nude for competition sporting events.

Its only sexual if she and you want it to be. Nudist colonies are not risque, and old native ladies in the national geographic are not there to titillate you. Its all in your head, my friends.

[Captain Hilts]

26. The burden here is on women, who have more body issues and anxieties that are generated

by this sexualization than men have.

Wearing shrink wrap everywhere creates image pressures that men just don't have. And if you don't wear shrink wrap - think Kagan - everyone says you're a dyke.

[quakerboy]

40. For argumentations sake

More issues and anxieties than they had in the Victorian era, or under the Puritans?

[Captain Hilts]

44. Yes. The issues of that era were merely about modesty. Those now are about

appearances. Look at advertising - young women are consistently depicted wearing skin tight clothes. How can you not compare yourself with others if social pressures dictate that you dress like that?

If you don't dress alluringly, you are labeled uptight or a lesbian. Catch the commentary on Elena Kagan's wardrobe. It's described as "frumpy" because she doesn't wear shrink wrap.

There is no generic ensemble for women as there are for men. William F. Buckley and I. F. Stone had identical wardrobes. Women's clothes have far too much meaning.

In Williams' case, the bare butt look is just tacky. And I played competitive tennis for years and never saw nipples outlined in shirts. Now, I hear, the nipples come with the bras!

[quakerboy]

52. Actually, I think that Nipple Bras were the 70's

or at least I'm pretty sure that's the vintage of the advert that went around a little while back.

I do not agree that the issues of that era were merely modesty. There were male/female dominance issues, and my understanding, given the proviso that I was not there personally, is that women came out far worse in that time than this. Consider what would have been done to a woman who chose to wear what Williams wore in those times. I'm pretty sure it would have been a bit worse than some judgmental chatter on the internet.

And looking at it further. Corsets VS cosmetic surgery. Cosmetics VS arsenic, lead and nightshade to make you properly pale. Now you need extensions and various hair products. Then you bleached your hair with Lye till it fell out, then wore a wig which used lard to hold it together, in the mean time collecting lice which you had to live with. So that your appearance could be appropriate.

I am not for a minute arguing that there is "equality" in body image or how we approach female appearance VS male appearance. Though as a fat man, I don't think men are quite as immune as many seem to present in this thread, I still know myself to be lucky in that arena, as a woman it would be worse.

But arguing that previous times were better for women because they were more modest seems to me to be a clear misrepresentation of history. And also a basic misunderstanding of human nature. Taking that argument a step further, is Saudi culture better for women because a woman can have near ultimate modesty and never have so much as her face seen by a man, even her husband?

[Bucky]

17. At least she's doing her part to help Ernest Borgnine live longer.

[Gormy Cuss]

34. You're obsessed.

:P

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. Is that Venus? Looks like Dennis Rodman

Well, whatever grabs headlines.

:shrug:

[Scout]

19. she looks ridiculous n/t

[Captain Hilts]

20. It's tiring that even in athletics women are expected to be 'attractive' and 'sexy'.

I remember 'tennis bracelets', no pockets in women's tennis uniforms as there were men's, and women searching for make up that wouldn't run when sweating.

It's very tiring.

Williams' outfits are inappropriate.

[MicaelS]

49. What inappropriate is when female tennis players

Are "expected" to wear those ridiculous skirts. Why can't they wear shorts like the mend do? Or are they afraid of someone commenting about their "camel toe"?

[Captain Hilts]

50. I remember we wanted to wear shorts because they had pockets that could hold

the ball if you got your first serve in, as the boys did. But the skirts did not, so you had to hold that second ball throughout the rally. Maddening.

Recreationally, I ALWAYS played in shorts.

[snooper2]

25. Look like grandmother undies to me

:rofl:

[Captain Hilts]

29. Don't the Williams sisters claim to be very religious? nt

[Mad_Dem_X]

30. Extremely inappropriate attire for a tennis match.

What she wears int he privacy of her own home, I have no concern about...but this getup is totally inappropriate for a public sports event.

[Captain Hilts]

31. Wow. No one's come into this thread yet labeling us all prudes who

can't handle sexuality.

[Dr Morbius]

32. Sorry, my bad.

You're all prudes who can't handle sexuality. I'll try to keep up in the future.
:bounce:
Fact is, morality is something that should not be imposed. If I think she's fine, and someone else thinks she's a shameless hussy, neither of us is "wrong." My take on her is that she's a commodity, she knows it, and she's exploiting herself. As long as it's her choice, then... whatever.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

35. I thought it was self-obvious.

:shrug:

[jobycom]

33. Quite the ball smasher, isn't she?

People crack me up. If she wore a Burka people would say "How orribel (french accent) that women must hide their sexuality." So she wears French maid lingerie and people say "How 'orribel that women must flaunt their sexuality."

Both are right. Both are horrible. What's really horrible is that no matter how a woman dresses, a large number of people will condemn it in terms of societal expectations for women. Women are too skinny if they are supermodels, too fat if they aren't, too girly if they wear a dress, too manly if they don't... everyone wants to tell women how to dress and how not to dress. As long as that discussion keeps taking place, we aren't even close to equality.

The only time men really face that discussion is when they dress like women. People may pick on Deion Sanders for wearing a pale green suit with a blue tie, but the whole fate of his gender is rarely at stake. But let Dennis Rodman or Rickey Williams put on a wedding dress for a laugh, and it's Armageddon meets 2012.

[Captain Hilts]

36. The standards of what is 'appropriate' are fairly clear at this event. The other players

don't seem to be a topic of discussion.

Williams WANTS to be controversial.

[jobycom]

38. Bullshit.

The whole thread is about what is and isn't appropriate for women to wear, and the over-sexualization of women's tennis, and societal expectations for women. Williams is just the catalyst, but the discussion is about all female players.

And of course Williams wants to be controversial. First, it makes her more money. Second, the only way you make a statement is by being controversial. What that statement is meant to be is a little hard to decipher. Maybe she's just jabbing her finger in the eye of moralists, or maybe it's a criticism of fashion constraints, or maybe it's just that she can be who she wants to be, but it's a statement, and that makes her much more my kind of hero than people who follow the rules.

[Captain Hilts]

39. Controversy for the sake of controversy? If a man wore skin tight bike shorts, we'd be talking

about that.

[flying rabbit]

41. Well said. n/t

[La Lioness Priyanka]

46. why does she have to be appropriate? appropriate is just a standard someone else selects for you

she should be able to dress as she pleases.

[woo me with science]

37. interesting post. thanks. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

45. ..

:applause:

[Steerpike]

43. The williams sisters

World Class athletes can dress how they like...as long as they keep winning...and normally any controversy will boost audience numbers...bums in the seats and money in the pockets...everyone gets payed! I'm not particularly turned on by it, but it certainly does not repulse me....

[MicaelS]

48. The Williams are great players, but all that "grunting" they do

Almost every time they hit the ball is a real turn off.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

51. it's a cute outfit. its a sport. she is not going to temple in that.

whats with all the reverence toward a money making sporting event?

[HipChick]

53. hypocrisy - nothing on her actual game playing...

just comments on her clothers..gah!

[Love Bug]

54. I think her choice of dress is deliberately designed

to distract the competition into making a mistake. Plus it got her photo in all the papers, didn't it? It's a ploy, that's all.