How Did Venus Williams Rise To Fame

The Venus’ Rise to Fame (introduction)

Venus Williams is arguably the greatest African-American tennis player in the history of the game. Winning 17 singles titles in the Southern California 10 and under championships, she was featured on the front page of the entire paper of The New York Times. At age 10, she was described as “the most hotly pursued preteen in U.S. tennis history”. However, the sudden rise of Venus to prominence was surrounded with gender equality and racial associations. Despite all that, Venus was the centre of attention for the media during her prime. Sports Illustrated called her, “a brilliant new talent – witty, intelligent and charismatic – a streetwise child of gang-plagued Compton, who could be the Tiger Woods of tennis”. Venus was a “Party Crasher” and she was definitely a tennis prodigy.

Being heavily criticized for her physical appearances, Venus still appeared bold and strong in all her matches. Venus, who was well known by her beaded hair, was the talk of the town for not conforming to the typical societal roles of women. Being more masculine than any other sports women made her more athletically talented and an advantage in the sport of tennis.

Literature Review

Oxford dictionary defines discrimination as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex”. Discrimination can also be defined as treating someone differently and/or unfairly, setting barriers and denying them rights as they are different from the majority. Discrimination of skin colour is widely known as racism and against gender is known as sexism. Gender discrimination and racism are present in all societies worldwide and it is an issue in the sporting context a...

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...entful impact to send the message across the world that gender inequality is evident and it still exists in the sporting context.

Conclusion

Venus Williams have been one of the many sport celebrities that received a lot of media attention. Yet, amongst all these attention, she stood up strong in the face of adversity.

The success of Venus Williams in tennis has helped move American sport forward into a new era, with the hope in which that the athlete’s race would be little or no consequences no matter the sport. The rise of Venus Williams also helped reconstruct the public perception of female athletes also have equal accomplishments as to male athletes. During her prime, women’s tennis ratings on television regularly exceeded those of the men’s. Despite the trials that Venus Williams faced, she became a crusader for equality, especially in the sport of tennis.