Serena Williams is on the cover of GQ Magazine's annual "Man of the Year" issue as the "Woman of the Year." But not everyone is happy about how the cover turned out.
The magazine crossed out the word "man" in the title, replacing it with a handwritten "woman" above it. So far, so good. But they actually put the word "woman" in quotation marks, sparking an uproar from fans on social media.
According to the magazine, the quotation marks were intended to look like the handwriting of designer and artistic director Virgil Abloh. He worked with Serena on her US Open outfit, and Nylon reports that the quotation marks are a signature style of his.
But to most fans, those quotes simply imply that Serena somehow may not really be a woman. And it's a sensitive topic — Serena's gender has been unfairly questioned over and over throughout her career. Some critics have claimed that Serena must have been born a man, while others think she should play men's sports.
Given that context, you can see how calling Serena a "woman" instead of a plain old woman would upset some folks.
The 37-year-old pro athlete has yet to comment on the GQ cover controversy.
Serena, aka one of the best athletes of all the time, recently graced one of the covers of GQ Magazine for its annual "Man of the Year" issue.
It's not the first time a woman has taken the crown instead of a man. As usual, GQ wrote "Woman of the Year" on the cover instead. But its stylistic choice has caused an uproar among fans.
The magazine put the word "woman" in quotation marks, which upon first glance, seems to imply that Serena is only supposedly a woman.
Critics say that the quotation marks are tone-deaf, offensive, and unnecessary.
Serena has, after all, been unfairly accused of being a man throughout her entire career. She's even commented on it in the past.
"I've been called man because I appeared outwardly strong," Serena previously wrote on Reddit, according to CNN. "It has been said I don't belong in women's sports — that I belong in men's — because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this baddass body and proud of it.)"
Serena hasn't commented on the GQ cover herself, but many of her fans have taken to social media to speak up on her behalf.
After the initial uproar, an explanation quickly popped up for the quotation marks: They're designed to look like the handwriting of Virgil Abloh, who has collaborated with Serena in the past and is apparently known for his use of quotation marks in his handwriting.
Mick Rouse, research manager for GQ, chimed in on Twitter to explain the situation himself: "Because it was handwritten by Virgil Abloh of Off-White, who has styled everything in quotation marks as of late (see Serena's US Open apparel that he designed)."
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But the explanation is less than satisfactory for the critics. They feel the quotation marks should have still been avoided, given Serena's history of being called a man.
At best, the cover is tone-deaf — though, as another user pointed out, we don't know whether Serena saw and approved the cover or not.
But as another Twitter user noted, GQ has never put another Woman of the Year in quotation marks like this.
Twitter users have put Gal Gadot's cover side-by-side with Serena's to show the difference. Gal's cover reads "Woman of the Year," plain and simple.
Some people feel that fans are being too sensitive about the quotation marks, which are often misused to show emphasis rather than quotes.
But others feel that GQ has, y'know, a professional editorial team who should have anticipated this reaction and picked another approach.
What do you think? Insensitive or no big deal?
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