Tired Of The Williams Sisters Getting Disrespected

One of the things that will set me off in a hurry is when misgendering is aimed at Black women from the girls in the 'hood to Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States

And far too often, some of the peeps gleefully doing so are Black men.

It's part of the four century old attack on Black femininity, and one of the frequent targets of these sexist and racist misgendering attacks are my fave tennis playing siblings, Venus and Serena Williams.

And frankly, I'm beyond sick and tired of it.  

They were thrust into the news when Shamil Tarpischev, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation and one of the Russian reps on the International Olympic Committee, opened his mouth and misgendered Venus and Serena.

Tarpischev made the comments during an appearance on a Russian TV talk show this month alongside former Olympic singles champion Elena Dementieva. When Dementieva was asked what it was like playing against the Williams sisters, Tarpischev interjected and called them the "Williams brothers." He also said that "it's scary when you really look at them."

Tarpischev is probably mad because the Williams sisters routinely beat the Russian women on the WTA tour and elsewhere in the world.   .

Tarpischev tried to claim the usual 'it was a joke' and my 'comments were taken out of context' defenses, but the WTA isn't laughing.   They suspended him for one year,  fined him $25,000, and are seeking to have him removed as the head of the Kremlin Cup tournament, Russia's only WTA event.

 Maria Sharapova also had a problem with Tarpischev's comments. 

"I think they were very disrespectful and uncalled for, and I'm glad that many people have stood up, including the WTA. It was very inappropriate, especially in his position and all the responsibilities that he has not just in sport, but being part of the Olympic committee," Sharapova said.

Serena fired back at a press conference in Singapore, "I think the WTA did a great job of taking (the) initiative and taking immediate action to his comments," Williams said Sunday ahead of her WTA Finals  defense. "I thought they were very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time. I thought they were in a way bullying."

And I'm getting tired of successful Black women getting misgendered.  Good for the WTA in calling this crap out that was aimed at the Williams sisters, and society needs to chill ,too..