Serena Williams: ‘If I were a man,’ I would have been considered the greatest a long

[Docturphil]

A distinction is made between male and female athletes because athleticism has a lot to do with your physical body. Men and women, by nature, have different physical bodies. Men are typically larger, stronger, and more dexterous. Men, on average, will always be better athletes. That's just the way it is. Don't make it about "sexism". That's a pile of horse shit.

I believe women should have every opportunity that men have. But women need be held to the same standards. That means you'll have less women in roles that require a lot of physical strength. There's nothing sexist about it. That's the way it is. If you don't like it, too bad. Life isn't fair. Get over it.

[Deleted]

Oh man, claiming everyone around you is a sexist pig when you are a woman. New and original content! Must be kewl and edgy 2016 memelords. If anything, she lost respect from me for saying stupid shit like this. Anyone woman would.

She's going to lose sleep over that one, swimming in millions, and you, well, stuck in the basement.

[Altrec]

There's this evil global conspiracy against women in sports! Only Deleth the savior was able to see past all the deception, and save everyone!

However, atleast I want no part in being "saved".

You only don't want to be saved because society has programed you to feel that way. Since in Deleth's world view all are equal and they are all blank slates at the start you need to be deprogramed from acting and accepting your inferiority/independence because you are not enlightened to what your full potential is as one of the grey clones that are in no way different from any other grey clone.

[Shawken]

I will never understand this type of thought process from people like Serena. When you discuss SC2, you will hear the phrase "best non-Korean". This does not offend me in the slightest (I am white).

She isn't close to the best of all time. She is one of the best female tennis players of all time. End of story.

[Polyxo]

I'd like for there to be a protocol for women to participate in an 'open' that allows them to compete with men. I'll say that it definitely would've made my athletic career less frustrating and problematic at times. As a female international level Judo player and pro fighter, I sometimes had a lot of trouble advancing and finding opponents (for MMA) or just participating in a talent rich environment (for Judo).

The raw differences between men and women on average are pretty small. There are differences, and the biggest one is just physical size. In terms of athletic performance, we really have no idea how well women can do in a lot of sports, because there's a major participation level, training quality, and talent gap.

A case in point is weightlifting, where there are WAY, WAY more men participating at some level than women. What this means is that if you were to poll the talent of every man on the planet, and every woman on the planet, the talent of the currently participating men would be much closer to the 'most talented man' than the case with the women.

This is also why advancement in record breaking for women's sports is much, much more erratic, less consistent, and consists of much bigger 'jumps' in record setting than the relatively incremental advancement in men's records.

[frogger237]

Her brother was the greatest tennis player ever:

[Polyxo]

Because female sports is not about the world best human in that sport, it's about the world best female in that sport. That's why is has less viewer, generates less advertising money, is worth less -> less money for the players. It's simple math based on the demand for female sports.

UK (BBC)
Wimbledon men’s final (BBC) – 9.2m viewers
Wimbledon ladies’ final (BBC) – 4.3m viewers


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/21/novak-...#ixzz4UA2GWWNP

I'm not saying your viewership stats are wrong, but this baffles me as an American. I'm not a follower of tennis at all, but I know who several of the women stars are. I couldn't point out a single mens player.

[Docturphil]

Serena Williams, the best women’s player in the world, is rated as 13. This is completely in line with what you’d expect, and is equivalent to a mid-level male college player.

A good friend of mine played tennis in college. So basically my friend in his prime could probably have beat her. LOL...

[Deleted]

Because female sports is not about the world best human in that sport, it's about the world best female in that sport. That's why is has less viewer, generates less advertising money, is worth less -> less money for the players. It's simple math based on the demand for female sports.

UK (BBC)
Wimbledon men’s final (BBC) – 9.2m viewers
Wimbledon ladies’ final (BBC) – 4.3m viewers


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/21/novak-...#ixzz4UA2GWWNP

This has been debunked many times already.

There have been finals where Serena has beaten the male viewership by similar numbers, but it really depends on the rivalry and who's playing. The problem with Serena is, she has a bigger social media presence than any of the male counterparts, but her matches when she is lit are so damn fast and not interesting to watch because unlike the male players she can completely annihilate her opponents in less than an hour.

Then there's the fact that Sharapova was paid more than men in the past but Serena wasn't, even though Serena was quadrupling Maria's wins year to year and back to back.

Also revenue from finals is pretty small. It's not as big as compared to winning a slam and being in every newspaper in the world on the front page. What you think dominated the news, Djokovic's final at wimbledon in viewers or Serena's feat of winning the legendary 22nd slam.

Let's be honest, nobody talked about Djokovic or even knew he had won when Serena won the day before him.

[Puupi]

Her brother was the greatest tennis player ever:

OMG Jon Snow when she was a little girl!

[monkmastaeq]

crazy people be crazy

[Puupi]

Then there's the fact that Sharapova was paid more than men in the past but Serena wasn't, even though Serena was quadrupling Maria's wins year to year and back to back.

Because Sharapova is hot and Serena looks like a bull.

[Kryos]

I'm not saying your viewership stats are wrong, but this baffles me as an American. I'm not a follower of tennis at all, but I know who several of the women stars are. I couldn't point out a single mens player.

Don't worry, most Americans are very ignorant of world sports. But I, like many other people in the world, couldn't name the current best American Football and Baseball players and show much ignorance in that field, too. So you have your little bubble of interest and the rest of the world has theirs

[Deleted]

Because Sharapova is hot and Serena looks like a bull.

No. Then the much hotter girls on the WTA would be getting the same treatment.

It was because Sharapova is the typical stereotype marketable girl, white and blond.

- - - Updated - - -

I doubt she could even beat any of the currently ranked top 50 male tennis players. She is a great player, but she needs to put down her sexism and racism card. This shit is getting old.

She didn't pull that card. She's stating how it is. She has moved on long time ago, but obviously like every black person and female, they worry about things men or white people cannot and will not ever be able to relate to. Your stereotypical response is the exact reason why they'll keep worrying.

Oh she talks about sex, lets bring out our retarded sexism card, and invalidate all her opinions.
Oh she talks about race, lets bring out our retarded racism card, and invalidate all her opinions.

I think your shit is getting way older than hers.

Oh FYI : She has beaten the entire ATP where it counts, she has a career, much bigger than the entirety of them combined.

[Mistame]

Sorry, this is just a "let's reignite inequality" garbage article. MSN is a rag and no one gives a shit about tennis.

[Gorgodeus]

Because the best is an absolute. The fastest running person on earth is a male and the fastest human female is not even in the top 100 of the male 100 meter dash sprinters. If she doesn't want to make or see any difference between males and females, she would like to compete with Andy Murray P. or Novak Djokovic P. to show that she is "the greatest" and not "just" the greatest female tennis player? This argument goes both ways. If you want complete equality, we also need to measure equally. If you accept, that the human female has biological disadvantages that are impossible to overcome with training compared to equal fit and trained males, then you have to accept that you are the "the best FEMALE" in this sport and not "the best" Period.

Biological disadvantages eh?

In 1993, rock climber Lynn Hill was the first person–male or female–to complete a free ascent of the Nose Route on Yosemite’s El Capitan.

Pamela Reed won the 2002 and 2003 Badwater Ultramarathon, a grueling, 135-mile race through the Mojave Desert. She followed up by becoming the first person–male or female–to run 300 miles straight without sleep. Her male rival Dean Karnazes, who won Badwater in 2004, attempted the 300-mile run twice and failed.

In 2010, Kelly Kulick became the first women to win a national tournament on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, when she took first prize in the Tournament of Champions. She beat out 62 of the country’s top male bowlers to win the title.

[Puupi]

No. Then the much hotter girls on the WTA would be getting the same treatment.

It was because Sharapova is the typical stereotype marketable girl, white and blond.

Nah, she is hot AND a good player (= champion material) - that's the reason.

Are you trying to tell me beautiful black women aren't marketable and don't get special treatment? Ever heard of, let's say, Rihanna? Or Beyonce?

[Kryos]

This has been debunked many times already.
There have been finals where Serena has beaten the male viewership by similar numbers,

So you counter factual numbers with another event at a different time?
"Yeah, that speed measurent of a cars to be faster than horse is debunked many times already. There have been moments when a car ran out of gas or broke down and the horse was way faster then".

On average female sports have less viewers and generate less advertisment money. That's a cold hard fact in the reality of this planet right now. If it changes in the future on a regular basis, then female athlets will demand AND GET more money.

[DemonHunter18]

then go and play with them then.

[Deleted]

Nah, she is hot AND a good player (= champion material) - that's the reason.

Are you trying to tell me beautiful black women aren't marketable and don't get special treatment? Ever heard of, let's say, Rihanna? Or Beyonce?

Good Champion she is. The only relevant player she's beaten is Serena and she's been getting floored for the past 12 years?

Also this is sports industry, comparing it with the music industry is quite dumb. Not to mention Taylor Swift gets more than the two of them combined.