The Serena Williams Super Bowl ad with Bumble makes so much sense because the pressure to make the first move is heavier on women of color.
I admit it. I did not watch the 2019 Super Bowl because I’m boycotting the NFL. I stand with Colin Kaepernick.
Super Bowl Sunday is a long-time family tradition like most Americans that I have no problem cutting ties with even if I have to give-up missing my favorite part of it all: the Super Bowl ads.
A knot in my throat formed when I recapped the Serena Williams Super Bowl ad by Bumble on YouTube. Williams first line is that often women are told to wait because waiting is polite. The notion that women can’t be aggressive and that being polite is her only option is a fraction of why the partnership between Williams and Bumble makes so much sense. For people of color like Williams and I, the “make the first move,” sentiment is something we know inherently by natural selection. We do not have the privilege of opportunities knocking at our doors. We must go out there and make them. It’s not enough to find them.
Williams is pictured in the Bumble Super Bowl 2019 ad as a young black girl sitting on the bench of a tennis court surrounded by mostly white men playing the game. Feeling out of place, knowing that you’re different, and having this bubbling talent and calling within you without so much as a friendly face to look your way and include you is a pain and sadness I would never wish upon my worst enemy. It’s a feeling that, like Williams, I known to well.
I did not only identify with the Serena Williams Bumble Super Bowl ad as a woman of color, but as a woman period. I’ve made the first move 100% of the time. I have never been offered anything other than a no. I’ve always had to create opportunities for myself and then cried on my way home from rejection or from being on my last dollar. If I had waited like Serena said in the Bumble ad, I would’ve never made a difference.
We have to make the first move for the things that we want be it in business, friendship, life, love or all three. Time’s Up in many ways, ladies. We must be bold. We must be courageous. We must be fearless. We must be unapologetic about the things we want. We must vocalize our dislikes without the fear of being labeled as a bitch. Serena Williams and Bumble are right. We musn’t wait to be given power. As women, we already have that and so much more. The ball is in your court. What’s your move?
PRESS PLAY: Serena Williams Super Bowl Ad x Bumble
Photo Credit: Bumble
