Serena Williams Wrote a Powerful Letter About Being Body-Shamed: "We Don't All Look the Same"

Serena Williams just gave birth to a baby daughter, and took a moment out of being the best mom ever to write a beautiful essay on Reddit (dedicated to her mom) about not wanting her daughter to be body-shamed.

"I was looking at my daughter (OMG, yes, I have a daughter 😳) and she has my arms and legs!" the tennis champion said. "My exact same strong, muscular, powerful, sensational arms and body. I don't know how I would react if she has to go through what I've gone through since I was a 15 year old and even to this day. I've been called man because I appeared outwardly strong. It has been said that that I use drugs (No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage). It has been said I don't belong in Women's sports—that I belong in Men's—because I look stronger than many other women do."

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Serena continued by saying she was "born with this badass body and proud of it," and thanked her mother for always being her champion: "I'm not sure how you did not go off on every single reporter, person, announcer, and quite frankly, hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman. I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like. We don't all look the same. We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: we are women and proud!"

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She ended the note with a message directly to her mom, saying: "I hope to teach my baby Alexis Olympia the same, and have the same fortitude you have had. Promise me, Mom, that you will continue to help. I'm not sure if I am as meek and strong as you are yet. I hope to get there one day. I love you dearly."

💜 💜 💜.

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