Give us a Twirl? Excuse me?
Just a few months back, the Williams sisters - Serena and Venus, were referred to as the 'Williams brothers' by the chief of the Russian Tennis Federation. At this year's Australian Open, 7th seed Eugenie Bouchard was asked to give a twirl i.e. to show off her tournament outfit, by a male on-court interviewer after her win. While some have dismissed it off as a "fun, on the spur" incident, it is perhaps a reflection of broader societal norms.
It was unexpected, awkward, and evidently embarrassing. To be asked to give a twirl by on-court interviewer Ian Cohen, was certainly not something 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard was expecting at the Australian Open. The Canadian obliged, after burying her face in her hands in embarrassment. She later said, "It was very unexpected. An old guy asking you to twirl".
It may have been a completely harmless request, but not everyone is seeing it like that, such as World No. 1 and women's top seed Serena Williams.
"I wouldn't ask Roger (Federer) or Rafa (Nadal) to twirl", she said. Serena did go on to say later that "It's only a twirl, but you got to be positive and move on," she said.
Here's the thing. Bouchard is ranked 7th in the world. Immense dedication and hard work has made her the most talked about player in the women's circuit. Despite that, she is bizarrely requested to give the audience a twirl. No wonder she looked as surprised as she did.
Women are doing away with taboos in sport. In fact one of the biggest of them, menstruation, was talked about openly by a player, perhaps for the first time. Britain's Heather Watson was asked if her glandular fever was returning, when she made a first round exit at the Australian Open. Her response was, "No, it's just one of those things I have, girl things. It just happens." Menstruation is a big taboo in women's sport, despite it being a completely natural bodily function. Watson's admission shows female athletes are now okay talking about the issue.
On the one hand you have female players squashing taboos, and then there are episodes like the Bouchard-twirl one. They make you wonder, if a woman can run as fast as she can, jump as high as she can, and smash a tennis ball or a badminton shuttle as hard as she can, do the issues of weight, appearance, and fashion sense, have to take centre stage? Do they not seem banal compared to the achievement of a woman athlete?
Wimbledon 2013 champion Marion Bartoli's father had told her, "See, you're never going to be a looker. You can't be a Sharapova, and you know that. So have to live with being scrappy, and continue fighting." He later apologised for his insensitive remark.
There are enough critics of the women's game. Women's tennis, they say, is not competitive enough, it's lopsided, they play shorter matches, still want more money - oh, and they grunt. All that is not completely untrue. But at least don't make outfits and appearances the talking point, unless they're related to a player's game, or a match. Because frankly, they're not sweating it out there to live up to anyone's standards of beauty.