"To all the moms out there, I was playing for you today," said Serena Williams last Saturday after the women's singles final at Wimbledon. Ten months after having a baby and undergoing life-threatening surgery, she was the runner up at one of the world's most prestigious sports tournaments. She was reclaiming her status at the very top of the tennis world.
Mrs Williams has already broken stereotypes and challenged attitudes about what it means to be a strong, powerful black woman in an elitist world dominated by white men. But the events of last weekend invite us all to change the way we think about womanhood as a whole.
At 36, she is one of the oldest players at Wimbledon. The oldest women’s singles winner in the modern era was Martina Navratilova, at 33.
The 20th century brought profound changes to the realities and understanding of what it means to be a woman, and the expectations and roles of females.
But urgent shifts in the views of both men and women are required.
There is an assumption that age, particularly in women, reduces our ability to engage in the same fashion with the world around us. And this ageism arrives very early.
Hollywood’s female actors have been increasingly vocal about how "older" women simply don’t have the same opportunities. And incredibly, by older we mean just 30-years-old.
A study by Time Labs in 2015 showed that a female actor’s roles peak at the age of 30 and then drop off, compared to men’s roles, which peak at 46. I suspect this is broadly true for society as a whole, because whether life imitates art or vice versa, women over 30 are rarely the figures that define our ideas of womanhood. Which is why when the Serena Williams’s of this world come along, it makes so much noise. It shouldn’t.
We are all marrying later, having children later, living longer and living healthier lives. Yet our views around stage of life have yet to catch up. And this is particularly the case for women, who are often deemed to be over the hill after their thirties and after they have had children.
Sometimes this view is perpetuated by women themselves, who cast themselves in the role of the poor helpless older woman far too early. In many traditional cultures, when a woman becomes a mother-in-law she declares herself helpless and decrepid, pushing her children to nurse her.
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Read more from Shelina Janmohamed:
Today too many men are migrating to the dark side
Make your selfies the souvenir, not the experience, at this year's Hajj
This week a group of online trolls tried to drive me from public life. I won't let them win
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What a waste of life when life expectancy data and opportunities tell us that it is only life's half-way point.
Take the example of Kveta Peschke. While Serena Williams, aged 36, was fighting for the women’s title on Saturday on Centre Court, on the neighbouring Court Number 1, Ms Peschke, aged 43, was contesting the women’s doubles final.
Ms Peschke turned pro in 1991 and has therefore been playing world-class tennis for nearly three decades. She has notched up grand slam victories and won the Wimbledon doubles in 2011.
While I watched her play, Peschke's power, strength and skill blew me away. It’s astonishing to think we write women off as past it by their 30s and 40s, when these two women are demonstrably at the top of their game.
And they are not outliers or exceptions of womanhood. Mrs Williams articulated that the story of motherhood is not the end for women and it is not an exceptional story. “ I feel like if I can do it, they can do it,” she said.
Rightly, the trauma of childbirth that Mrs Williams experienced must be taken seriously. Motherhood is tough and challenging and not something that women can breeze through. There is a gritty reality, underpinned by both the mental and physical toll.
But when asked if she was a supermom, Mrs Williams has the right approach, answering that she was “just me".
The takeaway is that we need to reinvent our ideas of when a woman is "past it" and what mothers in particular are capable of physically.
We must recalibrate our ideas of age, especially when it comes to women. We also need to recalibrate what a woman is – not "just" a wife, not "just" a mother.
If Ms Williams on Centre Court at Wimbledon this week has shown us anything, it’s that we need to claim every inch, year and stretch mark of womanhood. And lay to rest outdated ageist notions of what it means to be a woman.
Shelina Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
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Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The five pillars of Islam
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Honeymoonish
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