Is this a big deal?
On the court, she’s the ultimate athlete, and off-court, she’s become a role model for women and girls, and someone who seems to say what she means.
Serena Williams, 34, has become something of a poster-girl for body acceptance, daring, as she does, to have a female body complete with a bum, boobs and big strong muscles.
So when she posted a picture to Instagram of herself in a swimsuit with actor Colton Haynes and friend Val Vogt, it was examined minutely and found to be at fault.
As soon as Williams posts a picture to Instagram, it makes the news. Her body, the sheer audacity of it, is news.
This time, though, it wasn’t that her body is too manly, or that it is too womanly. It’s that she may or may not have used Photoshop to slim her waist.
There is a blurring around Williams’ stomach and the blow-up doughnut she’s holding that could indicate some editing.
To be honest, when I look at that picture, all I’m seeing are Serena’s magnificent bum and her happy facial expression.
She’d just announced she was withdrawing from the WTA Finals and the China Open and taking the rest of the year off to recover from injuries. Then, she took two friends and went tubing down the San Marco River in Texas. Fun, right?