Drop It like Its Hot

The article “Droppin’ It Like It’s Hot” is mainly about tennis player Serena Williams, and for the most part goes into how her “black sporting body” is perceived by Americans, fetishized, and commercialized in our society. The article also talks about how William’s celebrity is due largely in part to the fact that though black in a Caucasian dominated sport, she has been enormously successful, has a healthy appearance, and appeals to an area of black society that is not normally visited: the success of their females. Due to these attributes she is supposedly highly marketable because of the fact that she can reach out to almost anyone.

The article itself also goes into detail about her commercial endeavors for Wrigley’s, Close Up, McDonalds, and Nike. The author goes through each of these articles, and describes any racial ideologies that may be connected to them. For example, in the Wrigley’s commercial the appearance of Williams’ lips in the shape of a vulva, blowing a kiss, along with the statement, “double your pleasure” are stated as having a sort of sexual connotation. The McDonald’s ad is also taken into the same light, except it seems to also go farther in that it racially profiles the Williams’ twins as coming from the “hood,” and being nothing more than ho’s looking to “score” from their neighborhood burger “dealer” the Hamburglar. The article ends with the statement of the belief that a racial ideology still exists within the context of African American females in the United States today, and that strong black women such as Serena Williams are slowly changing this ideology.

Opinion

This article steps into boundaries that are usually not explored or really talked about in our society today. I think its taking on an issue that is slowly acquiring some more light, and for that I think it’s a good article. My opinion on the subject for the most part correlates with that of the author; that is that