Serena Williams Is GQ’s ‘Woman’ of the Year. Fans Ask: What’s With the Quotation Marks?

GQ did not name Serena Williams its 2018 Woman of the Year on its cover. It named her its 2018 “Woman” of the Year — and the quotation marks made a troubling difference to her fans.

The men’s fashion magazine unveiled the covers of its upcoming issue this week — one cover for Williams, three others for GQ’s Men of the Year — and was immediately denounced on social media. Williams, one of history’s most accomplished tennis players, has a muscular physique, which she said last year has resulted in people calling her a man or telling her she belongs in men’s sports.

Critics said the magazine’s use of quotation marks around “woman” on Williams’ cover appeared to call into question her gender or her femininity, a trope with at least a touch of transphobia.

“To everyone saying this is a reach, you have to consider the context of Serena’s career and the way people have mocked and challenged her and Venus’ femininity because of their strength and athleticism,” one Twitter user wrote, referring to her sister, Venus Williams. “In that context, this was a bad choice.”

Another user said GQ should have known better, given the “misogynistic and violent trans insults that Serena (and Venus) have dealt with for the last almost 20 years.”

GQ did not immediately return an email seeking comment. But Mick Rouse, a research manager for the magazine, said on Twitter there was a perfectly reasonable explanation: The word “woman” on the cover was handwritten by Virgil Abloh, a celebrated designer who created Williams’ apparel at this year’s U.S. Open and who frequently uses quotation marks in his work.

Abloh, a longtime creative director for Kanye West and founder of the streetwear label Off-White, is a familiar name to many of GQ’s fashion-conscious readers. In March, he was named Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of menswear.

Indeed, the items Williams wore during the U.S. Open had quotation marks around words like “LOGO” and “SERENA.”

But not all of GQ’s readers — or the countless others who saw the cover in their social media feeds — were familiar with Abloh’s designs or his connection to Williams. To them, it was a conscious punctuation choice.

It might have gotten less notice if someone other than Williams, who has often discussed struggles with sexism, had been the honoree. Last year, in an open letter to her mother, she said she had been called a man “because I appeared outwardly strong.”

“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,” she wrote on Reddit, adding that she works hard and was born with a body she is proud of.

Williams gave birth to a daughter in 2017 and came back in 2018 to make the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, losing both. Her next Grand Slam singles championship would tie the record of 24.

Her U.S. Open loss was memorable for a heated argument with the chair umpire that was seen by many as an illustration of common sexism. The umpire gave her a warning for receiving help from a coach in the stands, then assessed a penalty after she slammed her racket and broke it.

“There are men out here that do a lot worse,” she pleaded to the umpire, “but because I’m a woman, because I’m a woman, you’re going to take this away from me? That is not right.”

Billie Jean King, a former top tennis player, supported her at the time, saying Williams had been subjected to a “double standard.” She wrote on Twitter: "When a woman is emotional, she’s “hysterical” and she’s penalized for it. When a man does the same, he’s “outspoken” & and there are no repercussions. Thank you, @serenawilliams, for calling out this double standard. More voices are needed to do the same.”