I think that’s worthy of discussion, esp since she’s a role model for so many young girls. What does it say that it’s not enough to be a top athlete at the height of fitness, you also have to fit a white body ideal? I’m not mad, I’m sad that even THE Serena Williams feels the need to take these.

… especially not a Black woman whose body has been scrutinized and caricatured to hell and back. But she’s not just any random person taking these drugs, she’s a superstar and is actively promoting the drugs and the company selling them (which her husband is invested in), as the article mentions.

Oh, forgive me, I don’t mean to lecture! I just wanted to add another perspective as someone living in a fat body who is interested in the intersections between that, anti-Blackness, and the cultural moment. I don’t begrudge any individual for using the drugs at all…

I won’t deny that there are negative nancies and trolls on the internet (there always are). But the important nuanced conversation shouldn’t be dismissed as “hating” or jealousy outright.

In particular, the rise of these drugs is coinciding with a rise in anti-fatness and extreme diet culture that correlates to the conservative white supremacist culture shift. (“Fearing the Black Body” by Sabrina Strings is a great and foundational text about anti-fatness and its anti-Black origins)

I wouldn’t say people are “coming for” Serena as much as they’re pointing out the fact that use of GLP-1s, and weight loss in general, is promoted as being “for your health”, but one of the greatest athletes in the world taking them for weight loss makes it clear it’s about aesthetics.