Sania Mirza is one of the most talented sports legends of the country. The diva, who has marked a golden name for herself in the field of tennis, has formerly ranked as No. 1 in the women’s doubles as well as bagged six major titles in tennis. Sania shone bright as one of the most-known, highest paid and influential athletes in India, till she announced her retirement from the sport in February 2023. On her personal front, the diva is married to Pakistani cricketer, Shoaib Malik, and the duo is blessed with a son, Izhaan.
Sania Mirza was told no one would marry her because of her dark skin tone as a result of playing tennis
Back in 2019, Sania Mirza appeared for a panel discussion for the World Economic Forum. Amongst other discussions that the athlete took part in, she also talked about a particular anecdote from her personal life, where she opened up about the prejudices women athletes like her go through. She recalled how at the age of 8, she was told by many that nobody would marry her when she grows up, since her love for playing tennis would make her dark skinned. Bashing the unjust pre-requisites for a woman to be pretty in order to be desirable, she said:
“When parents or the aunties and uncles and the neighbours stop telling you how dark you are going to become and nobody is going to marry you when you play a sport. I was eight. And everybody thought nobody is gonna marry me because I would become dark. It is so deeply embedded, this culture of girl needs to be pretty and she needs to be somehow be fair to be pretty. I don’t know why. And you know that if you go out and play, you will become a tomboy. You’ll know what you would become and so come inside and play with girls. I think culture needs to change.”