Picture the following scenes. It's November, 2012, and President Obama has just won the US election. Amid the celebrations, keyboard warriors take to social media to comment: "Obama? President? What a joke, he can't tap dance at all." Or perhaps a group of students are in the classroom learning about Einstein, and wonder aloud, "Why is Einstein so admired? He clearly didn't know much about hairdressing."
Naturally, we recognise these to be completely absurd. One's ability to tap dance has no impact on one's effectiveness as a leader, and to be a theoretical physicist, hairdressing skills are unnecessary. To link them is simply ludicrous. Yet, this line of 'logic' was precisely what drove the actions of a horde of social media users in the wake of Marion Bartoli's victory in the Wimbledon final.
While Bartoli, overwhelmed by happiness, hugged her family and friends, these men (for they were mostly men) took to Twitter and Facebook to express their anger over how "ugly" and "fat" she was. And judging from their tone and language used, there was some serious rage going on. Laura Bates of @EverydaySexism captured a tiny selection of the comments, which you can see below. (Warning: abusive, violent and misogynistic language)
What is most bewildering is this idea that Bartoli "didn't deserve to win", and that she "shouldn't have won", due to the fact that she was apparently, to them, so unattractive. I've always thought of the Wimbledon Championships as a tennis tournament, and wasn't aware that it was a beauty pageant as well. I can think of plausible reasons why an athlete might not deserve to win -- perhaps they simply got lucky on the day, perhaps they constantly display unsporting behaviour, perhaps the referee/umpire/judge made a mistake. But an athlete being less attractive than their opponent is not one of those reasons, and to say so is every bit as absurd as condemning Einstein's achievements on the basis of his hairstyle.
Of course, this weird logic only seems to apply to women, and Marion Bartoli is not the first female athlete to be judged on her looks instead of her skills. During the Olympics last summer, British weightlifter Zoe Smith had to defend herself from a bunch of sexist Twitter trolls, keen to share with her their thoughts regarding her appearance. After some pictures of Olympic triple-gold medallist Leisel Jones appeared in the media, showing her with a tummy that was (oh, horror!) not completely flat, the public was abuzz with criticisms. And we hardly need to be reminded that Serena Williams has always been on the receiving end of similar vitriol.
This isn't confined to female athletes either; women in every possible field are somehow expected to meet with the approval of the male gaze, even when physical beauty has nothing whatsoever to do with their jobs. From politicians like Hillary Clinton, Julia Gillard and Angela Merkel, to Professors like Mary Beard, to singers like Susan Boyle, it seems that beauty is a compulsory attribute for every woman to have, if we do not wish to be bombarded by misogynistic trolls publicly declaring their fury and hatred.
What does physical attractiveness have to do with sport? Absolutely nothing. And if we want to encourage little girls to pick up a racquet, to throw a ball, and to aspire to sporting greatness, then we need to stop cementing the notion that female athletes, and indeed all women, will only be successful and appreciated if they happen to meet societal beauty standards as well. Marion Bartoli is a tennis player who has just won her first Wimbledon title. Let us rejoice with her and recognise her for her sporting success.