Naomi Osaka, Michelle Wie West, and the strength of female athletes

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February 22, 2021

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Neera Tanden’s OMB nomination faces a setback, HBO airs ‘Allen v. Farrow,’ and Naomi Osaka and Michelle Wie West are ‘strong’ women in sports—but should they have to be? Have a great Monday.

– Game, set, match. The Australian Open finished this weekend, closing with Naomi Osaka winning the final against Jennifer Brady—making Osaka the first woman in tennis in 30 years to win her first four major finals all in a row.

The now four-time Grand Slam champ basked in her win—as she should!—posting an Instagram video with her new trophy and talking about how she puts pressure on herself, but it’s “working out in [her] favor.”

But Osaka also offered a bit of post-match reflection. “What I have learned on and off the court is it’s OK to not be sure about yourself. For me, I feel like I’ve always forced myself to be ‘strong’ or whatever,” she said. “I think if you’re not feeling OK, it’s OK to not feel OK.”

That personal message from an athlete at the top of her game stuck with me as I caught up on another sports story in the news this weekend. Michelle Wie West, the professional golfer, responded after Rudy Giuliani appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast, where he told a story about looking up her skirt as they played together in 2014. (Wie West would have been about 24 at the time; she’s 31 now).

“What this person should have remembered from that day was the fact that I shot 64 and beat every male golfer in the field leading our team to victory,” Wie West wrote on Twitter. “I shudder thinking he was smiling to my face and complimenting my game while objectifying me and referencing my ‘panties’ behind my back all day.”

Wie West—like Osaka—is often open about her personal experiences; I interviewed the golfer last year, and we discussed the emotional toll of her recent wrist injury and childbirth and new motherhood as an athlete, among other topics.

Giuliani’s crass storytelling shows one reason why a woman in the public eye—in sports or not—wouldn’t want to let her guard down to show she’s not “OK,” in Osaka’s words. If that’s what people in your field (to be generous to Giuliani’s amateur golfing) are saying behind your back, why would you want to show them any inkling of vulnerability?

Neither Wie West nor Osaka have let offensive comments stand in their way in the past—but the tennis champ is right; they shouldn’t have to put up a front, to be so “strong” all the time.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Ripple effect. The Securities and Exchange Commission in December filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency company Ripple for the alleged sale of unlicensed securities. Former SEC chair Mary Jo White is now Ripple's attorney, and she calls the agency's decision "dead wrong." Fortune

- Designing the future. The latest episode of the Fortune Brainstorm podcast features Sharae Gibbs, an interaction designer at Google and founder of She Designs Creative Agency. Gibbs tells Fortune's Michal Lev-Ram and Brian O'Keefe how she's training women of color and nonbinary people to enter the tech industry. Fortune

- Nomination jeopardy. Neera Tanden's nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget is facing hurdles on the Center for American Progress president's road to confirmation. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, announced he would vote against confirming Tanden, threatening the margin needed in the Senate. The Biden administration is still standing by its choice of nominee. Politico

- Must-watch. HBO last night aired the first episode of Allen v. Farrow, a docuseries about the allegation that Woody Allen molested his daughter, Dylan Farrow, when she was 7 years old. (He has denied those allegations and didn't participate in the documentary). Filmmakers Amy Ziering and Kirby Dick—who were also behind On the Record, the documentary series about the sexual assault allegations against Russell Simmons—aimed to take the case and custody battle beyond the "he said, she said" of the '90s. Guardian

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Former Neiman Marcus CEO Karen Katz and Good American CEO Emma Grede join the board of The RealReal. Eileen Murray, the former co-CEO of Bridgewater, joins the advisory board of crypto asset software and data provider Lukka. Everytown for Gun Safety named chief equity, outreach and partnerships officer Angela Ferrell-Zabala as head of its new Movement Building Department.

CONTENT FROM PWC

What’s keeping companies from doing better?

Sixty-eight percent of leaders believe their business serves the greater good, but only 15% of the wider public agrees. We need to act to help close the gap. We recently surveyed US business leaders, employees and the public to understand what fosters and inhibits trust. These findings shaped actionable steps to help companies fight for social justice and take action, Now.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- No excuses. Ava DuVernay's organization Array launched Array Crew, a database that aims to help film and television productions diversify their crews. The nonprofit effort is like "IMDb meets LinkedIn," says the director, telling productions, "If you don't know women and people of color, here are some that you should know." NPR

- Anti-abortion legislation. South Carolina last week passed the first state anti-abortion legislation of 2021, a "fetal heartbeat" bill blocking women from obtaining abortions when a heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks. A judge blocked the restriction a day after it was signed into law. CNN

- Rewriting the law. In Lebanon, women are fighting to fix gaps in the country's new law criminalizing sexual harassment. The biggest ones? Marital rape and underage marriage are still not illegal. Vice

- Corporate climate action. Kara Hurst, VP of worldwide sustainability at Amazon, writes about how business can help fight climate change. Hurst cites the Climate Pledge, a commitment companies can sign to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Fortune

ON MY RADAR

Ella Emhoff drops a small (very small) collection of knits New York Times

What this wave of anti-Asian violence reveals about America New York Times

Zoom shirts are out. Zoom fashion is in Wall Street Journal