# In what way is Serena Williams' "catsuit" disprespectful of the game? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 25, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242 "2018-08-25T04:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/21 "2018-08-25T23:01:54Z")
It may simply be that it is black. Wimbledon forces players to wear white, for instance. And if the attire isn’t sufficiently feminine, there’s nothing stopping Williams wearing a skirt over the leggings, is there? Hey, has Andy Murray played in a kilt? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/22 "2018-08-25T23:09:02Z")
In theory, I could see an outfit that took the focus off of the game and onto the player as being “disrespectful.” But I just saw her outfit, and it is not a catsuit, and it is perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/23 "2018-08-25T23:22:36Z")
Oh, and another thing. Wimbledon has kept the rules from “way back when”, it hasn’t just decided to make an example of somebody and impose new rules to “fix” something that didn’t even happen (disrespect). Cricket used to be all white outfits as well, until they had the commercial matches on tv and they were allowed to wear colours. Tradition is one thing, but this isn’t tradition. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/24 "2018-08-25T23:30:07Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > It may simply be that it is black. Wimbledon forces players to wear white, for instance. And if the attire isn’t sufficiently feminine, there’s nothing stopping Williams wearing a skirt over the leggings, is there? > > Hey, has Andy Murray played in a kilt? Heh, that would be awesome, since we all know what you wear under those. Cite: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MZ35SOU9HTM/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGC0gZShPMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCOa6Cb_03mdtPSLPoKO1r70EXCRw "The drunk Scotsman (lyrics)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ35SOU9HTM) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/25 "2018-08-25T23:50:08Z")
Nike has an opinion. “You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers.” > **[Nike has one simple message to French Open officials who banned Serena’s...](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nike-has-one-simple-message-to-french-open-officials-who-banned-serenas-catsuit-2018-08-25)** > > At least one key sponsor for Serena Williams has expressed support for the tennis legend after the French Open banned a black, skintight bodysuit that she... ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/26 "2018-08-26T00:04:41Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Remember [Gussie Moran](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gussie-moran-tennis-player-who-shocked-wimbledon-with-her-controversial-clothing-8459119.html)? > > Of course you don’t. She had a relatively short career in tennis. But she shocked, SHOCKED! the world in 1949 when she wore frilly panties under a somewhat-shorter-than-traditional skirt during the first round of Wimbledon. I knew _of_ her, if only because, during the tennis boom in the 1970s, my mom played the game a lot, and she used a Gussie Moran model racket. I had no idea of her history with the panties. I think that Serena should have her equipment company give her a set of compression gear with a miniskirt attached, which she can flaunt at the French Open idiots. “Happy now?” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/27 "2018-08-26T00:39:44Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Thread relocated from IMHO to the Game Room. If it matters, I specifically chose to post this in a general interest forum because I thought it was of general interest, not specific to sports fans. I wanted to include people like me, for instance, who never go into this forum. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/28 "2018-08-26T00:54:59Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > because I thought it was of general interest, not specific to sports fans. IMO, it’s certainly of general interest. I don’t follow sports, including tennis, but I admire Serena’s accomplishments and idiot rules concern everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/29 "2018-08-26T00:55:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not sure that I buy that it’s a racial thing. Serena Williams has been playing tennis for years now-- has it taken them this long to figure out a way to lash out at her? You think racism works in a rational, consistent, and completely predictable manner? Human beings aren’t programmed with racism like a computer that allows you to track every decision tree with precision. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/30 "2018-08-26T04:29:26Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > If I were her, I would be very tempted to tell them to go impregnate themselves and participate in a less prestigious competing tournament, if there is one at the same time, instead of this one. Let those French officials understand how the world has changed. Easy to say if you’re not the one turning away the potential prize money (~$2.5 million for the winner…) It seems like the guy made a not-very-well-thought-out comment - a dumb one, in retrospect…literally nobody else seems to have a problem with the outfit, I doubt the contretemps will actually turn into anything. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/31 "2018-08-26T05:03:09Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > I doubt the contretemps will actually turn into anything. On one of the links, Serena was saying that it’s all good, there’s no issue as far as she’s concerned. She’s a class act, letting that pillock off the hook. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/32 "2018-08-26T06:36:20Z")
I appreciate that Serena is a class act and isn’t going to make a big deal out of it. She wears a different outfit for each major anyway, so it wasn’t like that was going to be her forever catsuit. (I wouldn’t call it a catsuit myself. Tights and a top; catsuits are one-piece things.) But I would like to know specifically what the old French dude considered disrespectful. Men have played there in black shirts and black shorts. Stan Wawrinka has probably played there in red-and-green plaid. (Love me some Stan but seriously, who dresses him?) None of those people have been accused of disrespecting the sport. Wimbledon has been tetchy. Federer once had to get different shoes because there was too much orange on the soles. A few years ago some women got tapped on the shoulder because while their shirts were white, their sports bras were not, and parts of them were visible, so they had to make some changes. But at the FO, people have covered their calves, (knee socks! even on the ball girls one year) people have covered their arms with sleeves, people have worn every color and nobody said boo. I would really like to know what he objected to. I’ll bet he’s not saying, which really looks bad. He seems to be skirting the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/33 "2018-08-26T08:28:25Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > You think racism works in a rational, consistent, and completely predictable manner? Why are you assuming it’s racism? Not every criticism of black people is racism. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/34 "2018-08-26T08:29:33Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I’ll bet he’s not saying, which really looks bad. He seems to be skirting the issue. Hehe. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/35 "2018-08-26T11:47:02Z")
school dress codes sometimes say you cannot wear clothes that are too tight, I guess people decided that tight is just as bad as showing too much skin. For example they allow yoga pants only if you have a shirt or dress over them that comes down over your butt. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/36 "2018-08-26T12:45:57Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > school dress codes But Serena’s an adult sportswoman, not a schoolkid who needs guidance from those responsible for her care while at school. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/37 "2018-08-26T15:51:18Z")
And even in schools with dress codes, the student athletes, when competing, wear clothing appropriate for their sport, even if it wouldn’t comply with the regular dress code. When I see Williams’ outfit, I think “That looks like a practical outfit for athletic ability”. I don’t think much about how attractive it looks, because it’s not for being attractive. And I certainly don’t think about how “respectful” it is. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/38 "2018-08-26T17:39:59Z")
I’m guessing they didn’t like the head-to-ankle garments because Serena, who has her own sportswear company and has raised eyebrows with her daring styles before, wasn’t showing _enough skin_! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/39 "2018-08-26T17:49:25Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I read it as them wanted to bring the French Open more in line with Wimbledon which has had strict rules about colour and design since it’s inception. The French view their open (they call it Roland Garros) Roland Garros Stadium - named after the aviator - is the place the Open is held, and so is sometimes a shorthand for the tournament but that’s not its name. The actual name of the tournament in French is, directly translated, “French International Championship of Tennis.” ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242/40 "2018-08-27T00:12:22Z")
“Disrespectful” is a loaded and somewhat stupid argument to make, likely from a old, crotchety man with a sprinkling of racism and elitist snobbery. But, I think it’s perfectly reasonable for the Open to want to institute some boundaries on dress. It’s probably not about “too much” or “too little” skin. It’s about looking the part. Golf has dress codes that require collared shirts and pants. There’s a ton of personalization, branding and variety allowed but these guys all manage to look like golfers. They look like they are in quasi-uniforms and you can tell when you see them on TV you know they are competing professionally. If these guys were showing up in cargo shorts, logo T-shirts, spandex or tank tops you’d affect the PGA’s or the tournament’s brand. Golfers wouldn’t look like pros and they wouldn’t look like they were part of an organized tournament. Same deal here. The catsuit doesn’t look like Tennis gear. Apply any value judgment you want to it, but it doesn’t look the part. That matters to the Open’s brand. It’s not the length of the pants and sleeves, it’s probably not about the color, it’s about what society has come to understand as “golf attire”. If Serena wants to change what golf attire is through her brand and through other appearances that are more liberal, so be it, and maybe the Open will include that look in their dress code once it reaches a certain critical mass, but the Open cares about it’s own brand and doesn’t want to be a platform for redefining golf attire. I think that’s perfectly reasonable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-what-way-is-serena-williams-catsuit-disprespectful-of-the-game/820242.md?page=3)