“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic. If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, we’re delusional.” These are the first few lines spoken by tennis pro Serena Williams in a voiceover for Nike’s new commercial entitled “Dream Crazier,” a part of an ongoing celebration of the 30th anniversary of their “Just Do It” campaign. The ad premiered in a break during the Academy Awards this year to pay tribute to female athletes.
As a female athlete myself, playing club soccer at the ripe age of three years old as well as a variety of other sports, I have certainly resonated with these phrases my entire life. I remember being told by my middle school teachers that I was playing too aggressively on the soccer field whilst the boys were high-fived by classmates for getting bruises. If I wanted to wear shorts and a t-shirt, I was called unladylike. I will never forget that I was once angry at a male classmate—rightfully so—and he asked if it was my time of the month.
A woman excelling in sports or any other field has never been a cause for celebration but rather has come as a surprise. I was fortunate enough to be raised in a strong, feminist household and grew up with the understanding that I could be the best at whatever I set my mind to. Society, on the other hand, teaches girls something quite different.
As women, we are taught that we have to work twice as hard as men to be acknowledged for the same accolades or that we should fear being called “crazy” for doing something “unconventional,” such as a woman being recruited to a college football team or a woman taking off her shirt after discovering it was inside-out during a tennis match. Serena Williams surely knows all about gender discrimination — which is exactly why she is the perfect spokesperson for this women empowerment ad. From being reprimanded for talking back to an umpire during a match (something countless male tennis players have done before) to sporting a catsuit on the tennis court (a style choice the French Tennis Federation later banned), Serena has experienced it all and then some. In addition to Serena Williams, the ad features other women athletes such as Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, fencer Ibtihaj Mudammad, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, and many others. Serena describes the “crazy” feats these athletes have accomplished, from fencing in a hijab to running a marathon to coaching a NBA team to “winning 23 Grand Slams, having a baby and then coming back for more” (a reference to herself). Rather than advising girls to listen to their detractors and be less aggressive, less angry, and less successful, Serena celebrates these women and encourages women everywhere to “show [the naysayers] what crazy can do.” In part because of role models like Serena Williams, I have decided not to listen to the naysayers. I am running the Philadelphia Love Half Marathon at the end of March and I may just run in my sports bra…wouldn’t that be crazy?