Pregnant Serena Williams' topless shoot for Vanity Fair is a lot of things, but it's not empowering

Serena Williams is fabulous and pregnant; but her brilliance would not have dulled had she been photographed by Vanity Fair with her clothes on.

Sarwat Fatima Sarwat Fatima
जून 28, 2017
Serena Williams topless photoshoot for Vanity Fair is just an exaggerated lie. Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ Blavity

 

If you Google Serena Williams like right now, you would probably see twenty or more search results on the tennis star posing nude for the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. And that's a shame. Why? Because it's a pretty cheap tactic to grab eyeballs.

For starters--Williams is definitely not in the nude nor she is 'baring it all' on the cover. That's just a hyped ploy. The photograph, which was taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz shows the tennis flaunting her baby bump with her hands covering her breasts. However, she is wearing a silver waist chain, and seems like a skin-coloured thong, despite claims that she is in her birthday suit.

Williams is a powerful athlete--in fact, the whole world knows her as one of the greatest women tennis players. So then, why is that when she's pregnant, the focus was taken away from her professional achievements to her growing belly? In fact, to be honest, the focus right now isn't even her pregnancy--it's the fact that she is topless or nude, as Google search will have you believe.

 

Yes, we get the purpose of having the star pose sans clothes. There is no shame in pregnancy. That growing foetus is a badge of honour, not something to be hidden--which is often advised to at least Indian women. But Williams' baby bump could also have been shown off in a crop top, or any other designer garment that a magazine of Vanity Fair's stature and resources could have wanted.

Sure, pregnant women around the world feel inspired when they see celebs displaying their baby bumps proudly on magazine covers. They feel more confident about their bodies and learn to accept the unpleasant physical changes they're going through. So, if that's the message Vanity Fair intended to convey, they have failed miserably--because it's the strategic placement of her hand that's the talk of the town, not her beautiful baby bump.

So why was then Serena Williams--who is looking breathtaking on the cover, no doubt--photographed the way she was? The answer is simple, publicity. Give people something to talk about. And people are talking indeed.

Also read: Serena Williams wore a bikini for Sports Illustrated. But, why is this bothering everyone?

Also read: Serena Williams won the Australian Open while she was pregnant. But, why is it such a shocker?

 

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