GQ Magazine just attempted to riff on their 'Man of the Year' cover by crowning Serena Williams the Woman of the Year, but instead they ended up sparking a ton of controversy. Oops!
Rather than simply cross out "man" and write "woman" alongside Serena's powerful cover photo, the editors put "woman" in quotation marks. If you're cringing, you're in very good company right now.
Related: Serena Williams debuts adorable baby Alexis at tennis match
As you very well know, Serena is a tennis legend and arguably one of the best athletes of all time. Period. Full stop.
But because people are sexist trolls, she's been unfairly criticized throughout her career for her athletic build and immense talent — haters have even gone so far as to incorrectly claim she was born a man.
So when GQ decided to put the word woman in quotation marks, readers wondered, "Why thooo??"
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It seems the quotation marks were a stylistic choice intended to look like the handwriting of Virgil Abloh, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton and the brains behind the design of Serena's athletic apparel.
According to GQ, Virgil is apparently known for his use of quotation marks (but if you somehow didn't know that, you're forgiven).
But not everyone was satisfied with that explanation, and cited Gal Gadot's Woman of the Year cover, which didn't feature any quotation marks.
Serena – who welcomed her first child into the world last year – has acknowledged the troll behavior in the past, saying: "I've been called 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.
"No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it."
Serena hasn't yet commented on the GQ cover, but one thing's for sure: She is 100% the Woman of the Year — no quotation marks necessary.
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