The Internet Discovers Serena Williams Has Nipples, Freaks Out
Serena Williams in the outfit that almost upstaged her big win. (Photo: Getty Images)
Serena Williams caused quite a buzz during her Wimbledon match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova today — but not because she won yet another game, rather because … she has nipples and now people know it.
Williams, who was clad in a white sleeveless turtleneck tennis dress with a pleated skirt, ruffled the feathers of a few viewers who say they were distracted by the imprint of Williams’s nipples poking through the top.
“Serena Williams’ nipples make it really difficult for me to concentrate on her games.” @berkshirebassa tweeted.
As what often happens when Williams does anything with her body, the rude and sexist comments ensued. “Really wish Serena Williams would wear nipple tape or something putting me off my pub lunch hen,” @DayleCass offered. “Serena Williams is such a bloke. Only thing that shows she’s actually a [woman] are her disgusting nipples poking thru her top,” noted expert on “actual” women (but not grammar) @GB001 spat. “With all the money Serena Williams earns, why can’t she buy a decent sports bra which covers her nipples properly,” @katiefeathersxx wondered.
Williams did have a “nipple-on” while she was playing, but surprise! It’s a natural reaction that happens to people’s nipples every day. Of course, not everyone on Twitter has the maturity of a middle schooler, and there were plenty of viewers who simply didn’t get the big deal behind nipple-gate. “Look, people, if the only thing you can focus on is Serena Williams’ nipples and not her awesome tennis — get a life,” @Duke_Silverback tweeted. It’s certainly confusing — the real story here is that Williams advanced to the Wimbledon finals. Yes, her nipples are noticeable, but it seems like a trifle considering, again, it’s a normal occurrence that happens to human beings and surprise! Serena Williams has breasts. “Why is everyone getting upset about Serena Williams’ nipples?? Even one of the most successful female [athlete] of all time got titties man,” @imm0late tweeted.
It’s a good question. Our society often scrutinizes women’s bodies down to the tiniest details. Something so innocuous as nipples showing through a top should be easy for us to ignore, especially if we are OK with looking at male chests with hard nipples.
What makes Serena Williams’s nipples any more distracting than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s? (Photo: Getty Images)
France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also had a visible nipples during the men’s quarterfinals match on Wednesday, as did his opponent, Great Britain’s Andy Murray — but they didn’t manage to get the same response that Williams did.
Andy Murray’s nipple-on failed to garner as wide a reaction as Serena Williams’s. (Photo: Getty Images)
Williams got a ton of press over what tabloids like Express call her “nipple-baring top” — even though the top wasn’t see-though — when again, she’s one step closer to winning a Wimbledon title. “Williams isn’t here [to] win a 7th title, or play utterly indomitable tennis. Nah, she’s just ‘flaunting her nipples,’” @lauracwinter tweeted in response to the hubbub.
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