Serena Williams' 'GQ' Woman of the Year Cover Sparks Major Controversy
In a play on their Man of the Year issue, GQ magazine tried to do something different and name Serena Williams the Woman of the Year this December, but ended up sparking a ton of controversy in the process.
Alongside her beautiful and powerful photo on the cover were the words "Woman" of the Year. If you're cringing, you're in very good company right now.
As you very well know, Serena is a tennis legend and arguably one of the best athletes of all time. Period. Point Blank. Over the course of her career, many have unfairly criticized her for her body type and immense talent and have incorrectly claimed she was born a man.
So when GQ decided to put the word woman in quotations, readers wondered, "Why thooo??"
It seems the quotations were a stylistic choice and meant to look like the handwriting of Virgil Abloh, who is the artistic director for Louis Vuitton and who has designed some of Serena's athletic apparel. According to GQ, Virgil is known for his use of quotation marks, which you're totally forgiven if you didn't even know that.
Some also called attention to how when Gal Gadot was named Woman of the Year, the title didn't come with any quotation marks.
In the past, Serena has addressed the issue of people calling her a man and said:
"I've been called man because I appeared outwardly strong... It has been said I don't belong in women's sports–that I belong in men's–because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this baddass body and proud of it.)"
Serena hasn't commented on the GQ cover, but one thing's for sure: she is 100 percent the Woman of the Year–no quotes necessary.
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