JK Rowling slams 'sexist' cartoon of Serena Williams

LONDON:A caricature of tennis star Serena Williams published in Australia’s newspaper has caused an uproar on social media.

The cartoon was published after Serena lost the finals to a newcomer Osaka, Serena was penalized a point and issued a code of violations. To which she accused the Referee Ramos, of being a thief.

“You stole a point from me. You’re a thief too.” said williams, after which Ramos issue a second violation.

“Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop,” Rowling tweeted on Monday.

Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop. https://t.co/YOxVMuTXEC

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 10, 2018

Mark Knight who drew the cartoon showed Williams stomping on her racket, with opponent Naomi Osaka speaking to the umpire in the background. The umpire, who is probably meant to represent Carlos Ramos, says, “Can you just let her win?”

Many Twitter users were quick to criticize the artist over his sexism.

“You couldn’t be more racist if you tried – and you reeeeeaaally tried,” one user responded. “Using those classic sambo tropes- enlarged lips, overexaggerated body parts to depict Serena as hyper masculine- next time just use an old ad from the 1800s- no one would notice the difference in your racism.”

Lots if very insecure men in this world. It’s the only way they can deal with a woman who is superior to them: ridicule.

— Joe Mandese (@jmandese) September 10, 2018

Imagine if we had a disgusting cartoon like this for every time a male athlete got in a ref’s face, or got frustrated by a bad game. There would be no trees left & world ink supplies would run dry.

— Kim Kieran (@KimKayMtl) September 10, 2018