In my last paper, I explored the relationship between the loop jump and the beautiful body, ice skating, and the nation and how that relationship reveals the views of America. However, what I failed to examine in that paper was the threat black bodies pose to the world of sports’ ideals of beauty, rules of perfection and standard of a world class athlete. In this paper I will use the cases of Serena Williams and Surya Bonaly to explore how their bodies and the lines their bodies create disassemble the ideals of beauty, rules of perfection, and standard of a world class athlete in their respective sports of tennis and figure skating. I will focus on two texts, (1) the 2004 Capriati-Williams U.S. Open semi-final match; and (2) Bonaly’s 1994
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She had a ‘black girl’s body,’ [which meant] thicker legs. She was never going to look like the other skaters.” A “black girl’s body” doesn’t create the lines that have been publicized as perfect in the figure skating world. A “black girl’s body” is thick, in contrast to the thing standard. A “black girl’s body” is defined, in contrast to the sleek standard. A “black girl’s body” is black, compared to the white standard. Bonaly created a black line whenever she stepped into the arena. Majority of her career she was the only black person in competition. When she began to excel, it became a problem because this black line was messing up a structure that had been built since the 1800s. Bonaly doesn’t fit into the world of figure skating’s ideal of Beauty. Bonaly wasn’t an ice princess. She wasn’t tall like Nancy Kerrigan, She wasn’t graceful like Kristi Yamaguchi, she was a young, short, adopted, black figure skater who like to do unconventional back flips on the ice and that irritated the skating …show more content…
Basically, the ideal figure skater is Nancy Kerrigan. Bonaly is none of those things. So when analyzing her, the binary oppositions that Elizabeth Krause talked about in “The Bead of Raw Sweat in a Field of Dainty Perspires” come into play. Because Bonaly was black, she was characterized as non-pure. Commentators would praise Bonaly’s white opponents, and then critic her with a condescending tone. Nothing she did was ever remarkable enough to just give credit. Every compliment she received was given a grain of salt. In Rebel on Ice, Bonaly describes how race played a part in her career saying “I don’t know if race made it more difficult, but definitely it made me stronger, knowing that I [had] no excuse [for] making mistakes or being kind of so-so, because maybe I [wouldn’t] be accepted as a white person [would’ve been]. But if [I was] better, they had no choice but to accept it and say, ‘She did so
She had a ‘black girl’s body,’ [which meant] thicker legs. She was never going to look like the other skaters.” A “black girl’s body” doesn’t create the lines that have been publicized as perfect in the figure skating world. A “black girl’s body” is thick, in contrast to the thing standard. A “black girl’s body” is defined, in contrast to the sleek standard. A “black girl’s body” is black, compared to the white standard. Bonaly created a black line whenever she stepped into the arena. Majority of her career she was the only black person in competition. When she began to excel, it became a problem because this black line was messing up a structure that had been built since the 1800s. Bonaly doesn’t fit into the world of figure skating’s ideal of Beauty. Bonaly wasn’t an ice princess. She wasn’t tall like Nancy Kerrigan, She wasn’t graceful like Kristi Yamaguchi, she was a young, short, adopted, black figure skater who like to do unconventional back flips on the ice and that irritated the skating …show more content…
Basically, the ideal figure skater is Nancy Kerrigan. Bonaly is none of those things. So when analyzing her, the binary oppositions that Elizabeth Krause talked about in “The Bead of Raw Sweat in a Field of Dainty Perspires” come into play. Because Bonaly was black, she was characterized as non-pure. Commentators would praise Bonaly’s white opponents, and then critic her with a condescending tone. Nothing she did was ever remarkable enough to just give credit. Every compliment she received was given a grain of salt. In Rebel on Ice, Bonaly describes how race played a part in her career saying “I don’t know if race made it more difficult, but definitely it made me stronger, knowing that I [had] no excuse [for] making mistakes or being kind of so-so, because maybe I [wouldn’t] be accepted as a white person [would’ve been]. But if [I was] better, they had no choice but to accept it and say, ‘She did so