Outrage over Serena Williams' comments on giving birth

It’s widely known that Serena Williams is a staunch feminist.

But the tennis star, who is heavily pregnant with her and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s first child, has angered several women on Twitter after saying that giving birth will make her a “real woman.”

In an interview with the Herald Sun, the 35-year-old commented: “I have so much respect for so many women [for giving birth].”

“I am about to be a real woman now, you know? It’s going to be something incredibly impressive to go through.”

Women quickly took to social media to point out that you can be a ‘real woman’ without having a baby.

Others who are unable to have children due to certain medical conditions were even more furious at the comments.

One woman who lost her womb to cancer tweeted the following:

Williams also angered the transgender community who were appalled that such a prominent figure could say something so ‘thoughtless’.

People who had transitioned from male to female pointed out that “simply identifying as a woman” was enough to make you a real woman – not the sum of your body parts.

There’s no word from Williams’ camp just yet but we suspect she may be regretting her choice of words.

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