Here’s some feel good news.
Not only is Serena Williams one of the best athletes on the planet, but she’s also a body positive ambassador.
Over the weekend, Williams announced she would be including sizes beyond XL in her fashion line going forward.
But instead of calling the new collection “plus size” or “extended sizes”, Williams is just calling it “Great”.
Yep. Great.
“I got tired of the word ‘plus.’ I don’t want to be ‘plus.’ I want to be great,” Williams told Marie Claire.
“I want other women to feel that way too. I wanted to make clothes that would fit a curvy woman and have them feel great, let’s focus on that.”
Earlier this year, Williams wrote an open letter to her mother on Reddit, praising her for being the strongest woman she knows and explaining the constant battle she has had to fight against body-shamers throughout her life.
“I’ve been called man because I appeared outwardly strong. It has been said that that I use drugs (No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage),” she wrote.
“It has been said I don’t belong in Women’s sports — that I belong in Men’s — because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it).”
Williams then praised her mother for standing strong under constant criticism.
“But mum, I’m not sure how you did not go off on every single reporter, person, announcer and quite frankly, hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman,” she wrote.
“I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like. We don’t all look the same. We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: we are women and proud.”
Williams finished off her post by saying she hopes she can pass this legacy down to her daughter, Alexis Olympia.
“Thank you for being the role model I needed to endure all the hardships that I now regard as a challenges – ones that I enjoy. I hope to teach my baby Alexis Olympia the same, and have the same fortitude you have had.”