For Black women, being happy in your body is a radical act. Euro-centric beauty standards have long told us that our bodies are too round, too thick, too damn much. It’s one reason why we, as a community, have idolized Serena Williams—not only for breaking barriers through her dominance on the tennis court, but because here is a Black woman with a strong voice, powerful legs, and athletic arms on magazine covers and red carpets, never seeming to be at war with her body.
So I wasn’t surprised when Williams was hit with a whole lot of “how dare you”—as Oprah Winfrey put it on the January 13 episode of The Oprah Podcast—when she announced last August that she was partnering with telehealth company Ro and taking the weight-loss injectable Zepbound.
Williams was slammed on every corner of the internet—accused of chasing unrealistic beauty standards, sending a harmful message to women and athletes, and fueling post-baby “snapback culture.” Some Black women in my own circle said they felt let down by their role model. If the G.O.A.T. wasn’t okay with her body, how were the rest of us supposed to be okay with ours?
I attended a live taping of the podcast episode (and got some one-on-one time with Williams right after). A few minutes into my conversation with her, I worked up the nerve to ask about the reaction from some in the Black community. She understands it, she says. She knows she was a body-positivity symbol—and I think she still is. “I was never tiny. I was never a stick,” she tells me. “It took me a long time to understand that that wasn’t me, especially in my sport. But I love my body. I love how I look. I love who I am—and I always have. I think I love it even more now. I feel like I’m back.”
Williams admitted during the podcast interview that it took time to shake the idea that taking a GLP-1 was a shortcut or an easy way out. In fact, she doubled down on exercise before finally taking the plunge and starting the medication. She’d heard about health benefits beyond weight loss, which was ultimately what motivated her to give the medication a try.
When we spoke, I asked her about being a mom, getting older, and what she wants other women in these body-altering seasons to know. “[Taking a GLP-1] is not a failure. It’s not,” she tells me. “There should be no shame attached to it. I think a lot of people will be on GLP-1s—not only for weight loss, but for all the other things research is starting to show they help with.”
