[Kingsley Davis]

"SINGAPORE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - World number one Serena Williams slammed Shamil Tarpishchev for using "extremely sexist, racist and bullying" comments after the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) president described her and sister Venus as the "Williams brothers."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/18...07906.html

[WanderingSoul]

How is that racist at all?

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

That might be insulting to someone who does not think genders are the same (i.e. isn't a feminist), but it is in no way sexist or racist! The word "brother" doesn't have any racist undertones, for God's sake!

These people are just listing a common list of slurs to justify their idiocy.

[Mage]

No Russian or any other non-american is obliged to know that for some fucked up reason the word "brother" is considered racist in America.

When I learned English at school and from video games I was thought that the word brother means a male sibling. I had reached a high level of fluency in English, have written poetry in this language despite it being not my own, have worked part time as translator form English and I have had sex with with a dozen of non-english women role playing a strict English teacher - teaching them grammar, slang and spanking them for mistakes and despite this I still got no clue that the word 'brother' for some fucked up reason is equivalent of the word 'nigger'. And I only learned this from reading RVF some year ago not more.


What most offends me is this ethnocentrism that someone thinks foreigners are obliged to know his slang when probably this foreigner has better English spelling then most Americans themselves. Especially your average 'brother'.

[Saga]

(10-21-2014 01:08 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  

How is that racist at all?

It's not of course, but I think the 'reasoning' is that it's stereotyping black women as being bulkier and less feminine than other women. It's thoughtless victim-posturing, as usual.

The irony is that for decades, female Olympians from Eastern Europe were spoken of similarly by the American media...but now that a Russian does it, all of a sudden it's "extremely sexist, racist and bullying". This is just another bucket of PC crocodile tears.

[lskdfjldsf]

I'll PayPal $50 to any forum member who believes at first glance that this is a woman rather than a transvestite.

[El Chinito loco]

(10-21-2014 04:43 AM)Blick Mang Wrote:  

I'll PayPal $50 to any forum member who believes at first glance that this is a woman rather than a transvestite.

Now where have I seen "her" before..

[not-a-pua]

[Foolsgo1d]

We all know she is screaming racist because it came from a white guy. If it was a black guy calling them out it would be turned into some woman-hating discussion.

[Bad Hussar]

Serena Williams is extremely masculine, but her sister not really. It is a problem for tennis in general because as a governing body the ATP wants to encourage participation among the general public. If the women at the top are so different from the average girl they just can't relate and participation is much lower. And political correctness will not change anything outside of the small number of more butch lesbians who would be able to relate.

Having said that, what exactly is Serena Williams supposed to do? Tone down her serve? Play less powerfully on purpose? It's an impossible situation. She's good partly because of her power, and her power is dependent on her peculiar genetics that make her appear much, much more masculine than the average woman (of any race). It's a general problem in female sport.

I'm actually amazed that women's tennis is dominated by feminine appearing women. I'd expect masculine appearing women to dominate the sport, but this is not the case.

[getdownonit]

If brother is a racist word (which it isn't) then so is sister. They seem to have similar uses in African American culture.

Maybe the Russian confused Williams with her?

[Jukes]

The president of the Russian Tennis Federation call the Williams sisters brothers... at an Olympic female tennis match. Common sense was not there that day. He should just did a one sentence "I made a mistake. " Being suspended for a year is too much.

[Drazen]

The Williams Sisters have always looked like dudes. Even when they had pics of Serena in a bikini with a "phat ass", her bone structure and muscles were way too manly.

I just always assumed they were on steroids.

[monster]

I disagree with the posters above defending the Russian leader who called the Williams sisters "brothers."

It was extremely disrespectful. Serena and Venus are some of the top athletes in the entire world and are literally the epitome of hard-work, dedication and talent. Who gives a shit if they're not model looks? You're never gonna have a double whammy of hotness and talent or hotness and brains. To call them "brothers" is like calling Michael Jordan or Derek Jeter a "girl" or Sir Richard Branson "Princess Richard Branson." It's a downright insult at that caliber of professionalism, status and athleticism.

Not only is it disrespectful, but it's outright dumb to bite the hands that feeds: the sponsors don't give a shit about a Shamil Tarpishchev, they care about the crowds the Williams draw in. You don't bite the hand that feeds.

[Kingsley Davis]

(10-21-2014 06:43 PM)monster Wrote:  

I disagree with the posters above defending the Russian leader who called the Williams sisters "brothers."

It was extremely disrespectful. Serena and Venus are some of the top athletes in the entire world and are literally the epitome of hard-work, dedication and talent. Who gives a shit if they're not model looks? You're never gonna have a double whammy of hotness and talent or hotness and brains. To call them "brothers" is like calling Michael Jordan or Derek Jeter a "girl" or Sir Richard Branson "Princess Richard Branson." It's a downright insult at that caliber of professionalism, status and athleticism.

Not only is it disrespectful, but it's outright dumb to bite the hands that feeds: the sponsors don't give a shit about a Shamil Tarpishchev, they care about the crowds the Williams draw in. You don't bite the hand that feeds.

Jordan is a girly bald headed sista.

[Kabal]

(10-21-2014 06:43 PM)monster Wrote:  

It was extremely disrespectful. Serena and Venus are some of the top athletes in the entire world and are literally the epitome of hard-work, dedication and talent. Who gives a shit if they're not model looks?

No one cares about their looks per se--it's that the media tries to anoint women like Serena Williams and Michelle Obama as the epitome of beauty; we're just lamp-shading the elephant in the room and mockingly pointing out that the emperor has no clothes, that their heroines of beauty look like poorly-disguised trannies.