On first glance, I was not in love with the black catsuit Serena Williams wore to the French Open this year. It was her first appearance at one of the majors since the 2017 Australian Open (which she won), and Serena had been through a lot physically and emotionally with her pregnancy, Olympia’s birth and trying to make some kind of comeback. Serena explained the catsuit as being “Wakanda-inspired” and she kept talking about how it made her feel powerful. I grew to love the catsuit when I learned that it was specially designed for the blood circulation in Serena’s legs, since she has a history of major clotting issues. The catsuit was about more than “a look” – its functionality and medical necessity made it more than a mere fashion choice. Well, the president of the French Tennis Federation has a problem with all of that. He’s decided to introduce a dress code at the French Open, and he sounds like a major bitch.

Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open when she was nearly two months pregnant, and she gave birth to a daughter last year. But the birth was followed by a six-day medical crisis in which Williams suffered blood clots in her lungs, and she says she nearly died. So like any good superhero costume, Williams’ black Nike catsuit was functional.

“I’ve had a lot of problems with my blood clots, God I don’t know how many I’ve had in the past 12 months,” she said at the May news conference. “I’ve been wearing pants in general a lot when I play so I can keep the blood circulation going.”

But in an interview with Tennis magazine, French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli reportedly said the tournament would be introducing a dress code.

“I think that sometimes we’ve gone too far. Serena’s outfit this year, for example, would no longer be accepted. One must respect the game and the place.”

[From NPR]

If it sounds like a prissy old white dude is getting his panties in a bunch about a catsuit, that’s exactly what’s happening. I’m really bothered by the way he casually believes it’s 100% okay for him to police a black woman’s body like this. And the fact that the catsuit had a true function and medical necessity makes it that much worse.

For what it’s worth, Serena was doing press ahead of the US Open this weekend and she was asked about Giudicelli’s comments. She downplayed the whole thing, saying: “I think that obviously, the Grand Slams have a right to do what they want to do. I feel like if and when, or if they know that some things are for health reasons, then there’s no way that they wouldn’t be okay with it. So I think it’s fine. The president of the French Federation, he’s been really amazing. He’s been so easy to talk to. My whole team is basically French, so, yeah, we have a wonderful relationship.” This is the polite version of Serena pulling rank and telling the French Federation that she’s going to wear whatever she needs to wear for medical purposes and if they don’t like it, they can kiss her ass.

Tennis peeps were mad though. Nike, Billie Jean King and Andy Roddick (who is honestly one of Serena’s biggest cheerleaders) all had sh-t to say.

This is so dumb and shortsighted it hurts. Sometimes it’d be nice if the sport got out of its own way. https://t.co/As85ymSiFK

— andyroddick (@andyroddick) August 25, 2018

The policing of women’s bodies must end. The “respect” that’s needed is for the exceptional talent ?@serenawilliams? brings to the game. Criticizing what she wears to work is where the true disrespect lies. https://t.co/ioyP9VTCxM

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) August 25, 2018

You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/dDB6D9nzaD

— Nike (@Nike) August 25, 2018

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.