In the third round of the U.S. Open, there was an eye-catching match up. Naomi Osaka, the winner of the U.S. Open last year who beat Serena Williams after Williams had a conflict with the umpire, was to play Coco Guaff, the sport’s 15-year-old prodigy who gained a following after she beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon. All eyes were on this match.
Osaka and Guaff both played a great match, but Osaka outplayed Guaff and subsequently won. The entertainment of watching two extremely talented young players—Osaka being just 21 years old—was barely talked about, but what happened after the match was, which The New York Times felt the need to describe as “awkward.”
Once Osaka won, Guaff was in tears. Osaka comforted Guaff and asked her to share her post-match interview. Osaka praised Guaff for her skill and Guaff did the same for Osaka, saying, “For me, the definition of an athlete is someone who on the court treats you like your worst enemy but off the court can be your best friend,” according to The New York Times. “I think that’s what she did tonight.”
While The Times article was accurate and well written, the headline stood out as inappropriate. It read, “Naomi Osaka Salvages Another Awkward Moment at the U.S. Open.” Labelling this moment “awkward” discredits the act of not only kindness, but feminism that Osaka committed. Feminism is about women supporting other women and lifting them up, not putting them down. That is what Osaka did. There was nothing awkward about this exchange; it was just an example of how we should all treat one another.
A prominent and trusted media outlet calling this moment awkward makes this seem like Guaff was in the wrong for being upset over losing the match. This is problematic because time and time again the media frames female athletes as weak when they show passion and get emotional over their sport. Another example of this was when Serena Williams broke a racket from slamming it on the court and yelled at the umpire in frustration because she felt that certain calls were unfair during the U.S. Open final against Osaka last year. The media slammed Williams for her behavior—ABC News called it an outburst—and people in general criticized Williams for being unprofessional.
Meanwhile, men have done the same exact thing Williams did without receiving penalties and scrutiny from the media. As pointed out by USA Today’s Kurt Bardella, “when the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Davis used his leg to snap his bat in half after striking out, he was met with comparisons to The Avengers’ “Incredible Hulk” and there was no penalty, no in-game infraction, no adverse impact on the team.” The media needs to stop criticizing women for being passionate about what they do.
The second problem with what The Times did is that it tells women, and people in general, that when they support each other it will just be referred to as an attempt to save face, not a genuine expression of care for one another. Overall, this headline was extremely inappropriate.
Kara Burke is an international relations and communications double major junior who likes pasta.