Faculty of Design

Illustration

Ene Agi

Determined

Throughout her career, Serena Williams has had to deal with excessive worldwide criticism and denial of her talents. In 2018, after expressing her mid-game grievances to umpire Carlos Ramos, she was not only heavily penalized by Ramos, but also depicted in dehumanizing racist cartoons and likened to a child throwing a temper tantrum. After this response, masses of social media users noted that several men in tennis have received no punishment for objectively worse behaviour—including some of those very men. Determined addresses the double standards and the barrage of criticism that black women face in regards to our skills, behaviour, and displays of emotion, as well as our ability to excel despite it.