Serena Williams writes open letter to her mum about body image and motherhood
- Published
Serena Williams has written an open letter to her mum talking about motherhood and her body.
In the post, Serena calls her mum "one of the strongest women I know".
She also praises her mother for being "classy" when dealing with Serena being called a man and being accused of doping because of her physique.
The 35-year-old recently gave birth to a girl called Alexis Olympia Ohanian - named after her fiancé, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Talking about her daughter, Serena writes: "She has my arms and legs! My exact same strong, muscular, powerful, sensational arms and body."
Some people are saying that this is a response to tennis rival Maria Sharapova, who wrote that Serena had "thick arms and thick legs" in her recent autobiography.
Serena doesn't make a direct reference to Maria Sharapova, but writes: "I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it."
"But mum, I'm not sure how you did not go off on every single... hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman.
"We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: we are women and proud."
Addressing doping claims, Serena says: "I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage."
Maria Sharapova was banned from tennis for 15 months after she admitted to using a banned substance.
Introducing Serena Williams' baby daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr
Oracene Price, mother and coach to Venus and Serena Williams, responded on Twitter saying the letter was "beautiful for all women".
Serena has won 39 Grand Slam tournaments overall: 23 in singles, 14 in doubles and two in mixed doubles.
But she says she's had to deal with questions over her body image since she was a teenager - something she doesn't want her daughter to have to face.
"I don't know how I would react if she has to go through what I've gone through since I was a 15-year-old," she writes.
"I'm not sure if I am as meek and strong as you are yet," she says, addressing her mother. "I hope to get there one day."
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