Did umpire act fairly when he penalised Serena Williams for verbal abuse?

Did umpire act fairly when he penalised Serena Williams for verbal abuse?

Her defenders, including the Women’s Tennis Association, have said male players get away with similar, or even worse behaviour without such severe sanctions

Serena Williams yells at chair umpire Carlos Ramos in the women’s final against Naomi Osaka of Japan Sport News : Are women athletes treated differently to men? Or, perhaps more to the point, are they interpreted differently to their male counterparts when it comes to their behaviour on the sports field?

Was umpire Carlos Ramos acting fairly when he penalised Serena Williams for verbal abuse during the US Open Women’s Tennis final? Is Williams even trying to deflect attention away from her oncourt outburst by arguing about the matter?

Whatever your opinion, there does appear to be a wider societal issue underlying this case – the question of whether women are free to speak in the same ways as men or whether they are subject to different expectations about their behaviour and language.

Sociolinguists would argue that women are indeed under greater pressure to speak in a standard, supportive and more polite ways than men. That’s because society unfairly expects this of them.

When a woman deviates from these norms – whether out of choice or unintentionally – these often abstract gendered expectations that are taken for granted can be brought to bear…Read more