Venus Williams Shares Her Response To Pressure about Starting A Family

Venus Williams has addressed the pressure she faces to start a family, with the tennis star revealing that she does not feel “desperate” to change her life. The 41-year-old athlete opened up about being content with where her life is during a cover interview with Cosmopolitan for the magazine’s October issue, where she explained that she does allow herself to be influenced by societal pressures.

“I have a lot of friends who don’t believe me when I say that I like my life and I don’t want to change it for any reason,” she said in regards to her single status. “I’m not desperate and they don’t believe me.” Despite her insistence, Williams said she is often faced with comments from friends about running out of time, which she said she responds to by pointing out that their goals and aspirations may differ.

 

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“They say things like: ‘You’re going to miss your window,’” she told the outlet. “I’m like: ‘Please, relax. You might feel this way, but I don’t. I promise you I don’t.’” Williams’ dedication to living her life on her terms prompted praise from Jemele Hill, a sports journalist and host of the podcast Jemele Hill Is Unbothered, who told Cosmopolitan that she recognises the beauty in the tennis champion choosing “to live her life so unapologetically”.

“There’s this sort of quiet resistance that Venus always carries herself with,” Hill said of Williams. “She’s chosen to live her life so unapologetically and I think there’s a beauty in that. Especially when you think about these narratives about how Black women are desperate or lonely or how after a certain age, something is wrong with you if you aren’t getting married or having kids.

 

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“The joy that she has both on the court and off it is kind of an indirect retaliation to that narrative. She just seems like somebody who’s just not pressed. I love that about her.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the tennis star discussed the similar mindset she has when it comes to her impressive career, with Williams noting that “as you grow up and mature, you realise you don’t have to be in any situation you find disrespectful”.