Serena Williams’s Quotes About Body Positivity Are One of the Reasons She’s an Icon

In an interview with Common for The Undefeated, Serena Williams explained how being a woman in sports is a whole different game: “I think being a woman is just a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with,

as well as being black, so it’s a lot to deal with . . . and, yeah, if I were a man, I would have 100 percent been considered the greatest ever a long time ago.” Let’s just say, she’s had to deal with some sh*t, and she knows what she’s talking about.

And while her outstanding tennis accomplishments have put her on the highest pedestal and inspired a younger generation of women athletes, it’s her outspoken advocacy for body positivity and

confidence that’ll leave an everlasting impact. We pulled Serena’s most inspiring body-positivity quotes that will make you, too, feel sexy and powerful in your own skin. Serena on What a Woman’s Body “Should” Look Like:

On being called “too strong”: “It isn’t always easy to be on the stage playing a tournament and have someone making a comment about your body, that it’s too strong . . . I think any experience can make you stronger. I don’t let anything break me.”

On every body size being beautiful: “I want women to know that it’s okay. That you can be whatever size you are and you can be beautiful inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful, and what’s not, and that’s not right.”

On realizing her body’s potential: “There was a time when I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. I had to take a second and think, ‘Who says I’m too strong? This body has enabled me to be the greatest player that I can be.'”
On not needing a specific body in order to win: “Tennis players in general didn’t look like me. Especially the top players or anyone that ever won Grand Slams. Nothing like me. So it was, Can I win looking like this? Can I perform looking like this? And that was something that I realized that I could do.”