The heart warming story of Marion Bartoli, the great tennis savant that just won Wimbledon, should inspire people to words of kindness, if not praise.
Instead, a woman such as Bartoli, a young, superintelligent human being who has had to struggle through familial adversity, gets smacked with insults by commentators at the Wimbledon game.
BBC commentators, always a bit hard nosed and dry, made the ultimate snafu yesterday when John Inverdale remarked that "..her father might have told Bartoli that she needed to work hard to overcome the fact that she was 'never going to be a looker'". He also added for good measure: "You are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you're never going to be 5ft 11, you're never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that."
It might not dawn on the commentator in question that the point in sports is not looks, but sportsmanship, something Bartoli possesses in large quantity, and that such obvious lack of respect for the female person is something that in the twentyfirst century smacks not just of chauvinism, but of outright stupidity.
Marion, however, showed what class is to the dimwitted man: "It doesn't matter honestly. I am not blonde, yes. That is a fact. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I'm sorry." "But have I dreamed of winning Wimbledon? Absolutely yes."
Bartoli, who dispatched Lisicki in two straight sets, showed that she not only has class but an undeniable ability to figure out in that extraordinary mind of hers what to do to win, without using a power play or dirty tricks.
Inverdale for his part, has forwarded a letter of apology to Bartoli. He has not shamed Bartoli, he has shamed himself. But as it were, his words reminded the world that even in 2013 the achievements of a woman, no matter how great, are still overshadowed by the stereotypes a woman is a victim of. Women, in short are still seen by certain men as objects, and if that object is not palatable to them, they are to be summarily dismissed.
To make things worse, Mr. Inverdale couched his letter in words that display an incredible arrogance : he said "I have used clumsy words..."
They are not clumsy, Mr. Inverdale, they are just the mirror of your incapacity to see greatness. Next time, have someone else, preferrably a woman, write your letters.
Op-Ed
Partial Source : NPR/ 7.7.13
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