Serena Williams Creates Powerful Role Model for World's Women: WITHDRAWN

UPDATE: Anne here — with a bit of mud on my face, but I will frame a response after I’ve had my morning coffee. Serena Williams became “unhinged” last night, in a dramatic display of unsportsmanship behavior at the US Open.

If it’s determined that Serena said “I will kill you,” to the referee, Serena Williams will be — regrettably —  our second FOR SHAME: THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING this week. It wasn’t my attention that we have two Americans in a row, but that’s the score from my perspective of the world.

Monday, 5:36 pm. Clearly, Serena said far worse — or just as bad … in addition to. I was regrettably mistaken in this article that I wrote about Serena the day before her performance. I did not know what I was talking about, as my theories apply to Serena. She is a Modern values woman — wanting to win at all cost — based on her performance.

Therefore, by definition she cannot be a Smart Sensuality woman and she is not a role model for us — except to understand how not to behave.

I regret writing this article, but I will leave Serena here as an example of what can go wrong, when you’re not the person you appear to be. Anne

Read also, with Serena’s apology: Serena Williams Needs to Spend a Month or Two in Northern Pakistan

Posted Sun. Sept. 13, 2009

Clijsters Wins on Penalty Assessed on Williams NYTimes

Serena at the US Open

Serena Reportedly Said: “I Will Kill You”

Remainder Written on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009 — now WITHDRAWN. I clearly didn’t know what I was talking about. Anne

Serena and Venus Williams are spectacular examples of Smart Sensuality women. If Shakira is known for combining her sensual musical talent with a philanthropic mindset, the Williams sisters combine sensuality with athleticism and physical prowess, (which doesn’t suggest a lack of philanthropic values).

Sister act: Serena Williams and her sister Venus pose for the cameras; Serena admitted ‘sex sells’ before Wimbledon 2009, which Serena won.In the case of the Williams sisters — specifically Serena, as she marches into today’s semi-final round at the US Open in Queens, NY — the women fuel testosterone and athletic prowess into more than a winning game.

Standing tall among so many women who are reluctant to put out the physical effort to stay in shape — remember, Michelle Obama has met with her trainer at 5:30 am for years to get those arms — Serena Williams is comfortable intimidating her opponents.

Serena Williams, US Open 2009 via NYTimesUnlike so many women who shy away from dominance, Serena uses it to her advantage.  Serena grunts in public. When she serves that tennis ball, not only does the ball travel with brute strength and speed, but the sound of aggression blasts forth from deep inside her.

The sound is primitive, orgasmic and womanly. For thousands of years, cultures have tried to keep that sound in Pandora’s Box, labeling it as uncontrollable, decadent, immoral and yes ‘sensual’, meaning that it’s not a rational sound.

In sounding like she IS in control of herself, Serena sends a corollary message that she won’t be controlled by others.

At the moment that Serena Williams focused on her next serve, she’s not the least bit concerned what people think of her aggressive stance. Muscles, determination, and focus on winning. Many of us view her Smart Sensuality beauty as compelling in its fierceness.

Serena Williams, US Open 2009 via NYTimesSerena Williams, US Open 2009 via NYTimesOthers find her physicality too masculine. In either case, Serena’s not bowing to stereotypes about female beauty. Her confident personality and skills soar, making her a winner.

A lot of conversation about feminism has floated through Anne of Carversville this week, driven by the Lubna Hussein case.

For two years I’ve headed towards this open debate and discussion around female sensuality.

Let me say that I’m one of those women who considers Serena Williams to be very sexy — even in these tennis-playing photos. 

Seeing these photos makes me think about my own use of the word ‘prostitutes’ this week, as a word to describe myself. When the men of Sudan were yelling “prostitute” at Lubna and her women supporters, I couldn’t help thinking about an earlier post of mine, concerning the word ‘sluts’.

Third wave feminists took on the word ‘slut’ to own it, just as I grabbed the word ‘prostitute’ earlier in the week. There’s a strong argument to be made that in taking on the word that ‘brands’ her, a woman diffuses the humiliation attached to it.

When a woman ‘owns’ a word like ‘slut’ or ‘prostitute’, she takes the control from those who condemn her, the society that condemns and humiliates her.

As editor of Gawker’s very successful Jezebel.com, Tracie called herself a “slut machine’My problem with the third-wave feminists who took on the word ‘slut’ is that they often looked the part.

In sinking to bad-girl behavior focused on indiscriminate sexual activity and being ‘one of the boys’, they falied to create an image of feminism that actually ‘liberates’ women.

I understand the ‘fallen angel’ imagery, but Tracie lacks the confidence of a woman on top of her game.

Sorry third-wavers, I’ll take Serena, even though I support every woman’s attempt to take control of the names that humiliate her.

Hence my deciding to call myself a ‘prostitute’ this week. If Lubna’s a prostitute, and the 43,000 women flogged last year by men in Sudan are ‘prostitutes’, the Anne is a ‘prostitute’ too.

Power and the Confident Woman

Serena Williams is a powerful example of a woman displaying her sensual and physical prowess and remaining in control of it. 

People can “tsk, tsk” Serena but her talent and dominance make her detractors look small-minded and weak. They become the lesser beings, not Serena.

As a bona fide Smart Sensuality woman, Serena Williams slips in and out of a wide-range range of physicality, on her own terms.

For controlling the speed of her own tennis ball, game-changing this tennis pro inspires women everywhere in the world as an athlete who not only dominates her game, but as a woman who redefines a patriarchal vision of what women should be and look like.

Serena Willaims US Open 2009, via NYTimesSerena Williams US Open 2009, via NYTimesMen don’t tell Serena Williams how to behave in public, although I’m sure she has many admirers.

The guys who embrace and cheer Serena on, are the same enlightened men who want women to excel in the full range of their talents.

They are men who educate their daughters in athleticism, and they are our readers here at Anne of Carversville.

A core point in a lot of new research says that often in freer societies like America, it’s women who must come to grips with their own physicality and their own testosterone fuel.The challenge is for women to embrace their own physicality in every respect.

I’m not suggsting that women embrace Modern values, but Smart Sensuality ones.

Modern values have failed repeatedly around the world and may blow us up in the end, along with global warming. Smart Sensuality women do not dominate their environment, only their tennis opponents.

We respect Mother Nature and know that man will never win, against Mother Nature or other men, not in today’s nuclear, fundamentalist-hating world.

The Smart Sensuality woman embraces her heart, body and mind, fueling them into a forceful but benevolent force for personal success and human excellence.

These women are the new super heroes.

Serena’s gutteral sounds are not a cry for help, but a forceful, competent, confident example of facing the challenges of life head-on. All women can learn a lot from watching Serena Williams play tennis the 21st century, Smart Sensuality way.

Sorry ladies. We must go to the gym and not only the treadmill. A little muscle lust goes a long way. Anne

Listen to a discussion of Serena Williams and her gutteral serve on the NYTimes: Serena Williams Sounds Like Dominance

More reading: Do Female High Fliers Have a Hormonal Advantage? RedTracker

Women with High Testosterone Take Risks More Like Men RedTracker

Women as Muses: What Is Our Place in the Modern World? Or Are We Just ‘Slut Girls’ Today? Anne’s Journal

islamic Men Counter Protest in Khartoum, Shouting to Women: Prostitutes!  AC IWR Channel

Comments

[Anne]

Anne here. A few of my friends like this article but feel that I'm too harsh on Serena, that we all make mistakes and forgiveness is important in life. I agree with their point of view but am more concerned about consistency of our perspective here at Anne of Carversville.

A day may come in the future where Serena Williams has transformed herself into a consistent Smart Sensuality woman in her behavior and activism, which were frankly weak going into the US Open. I was so impressed with her ability to manage aggression that I felt she would grow into a more activst mindset in the future. (Yes, I know about and acknowledged her foundation, but it's very self-promotional.)

We cannot condemn aggressive, threatening behavior in men in Egypt or India or America but forgive it in America women. For this same reason, I support the return of director Roman Polanski, to finish the legal process around his California conviction.

The reality that Americans are perceived as talking out of both sides of our mouths is a core challenge in our foreign policy. I want to present a different view of American female values, ones that resonate globally and with consistency, as best I can maintain it here at A of C.

For this reason my harsh words about Serena stand until we read about lasting and significant changes in her behavior.

I was wrong in calling her a Smart Sensuality woman. Serena is a Modern woman who espouses a testosterone-infused set of values in which the winner takes all, the same as in Wall Street. That has been the prevailing values set in America, about 50% of our population with more men than women.

For more information about these terms, pls read my Consulting & Speaking page. Anne