Madison Keys wants to empower young women to be bold, authentic leaders of their life. So in August, the highly ranked tennis player teamed up with the organization FearlesslyGIRL founded by social entrepreneur Kate Whitfield. Keys spoke to The Cut from a summit in Rock Island, Illinois recently about what goes on during these events that attracts up to 500 girls!
Tennis Star Madison Keys Inspires Young Women
“One group was talking about how guys can have a fight and then they’ll be like, ‘Okay, I’m over it’ the next day. Whereas girls will talk about it and then a lot of times you get into big fights or things get catty or nasty,” Keys told the site about what she talks about with the participating young ladies. “Another group said it’s interesting that when guys talk about their feelings, it’s usually looked down on. It’s ‘Oh, they’re emotional, they’re being girly.’ And when girls are emotional, it’s like, ‘Ugh, she’s such a girl.’”
As part of her ambassadorship with the North American organization, Keys hopes to help the girls increase their self esteem as well as how to teach them how to communicate with each other in the best ways possible. Next year, the tennis ace plans to take her commitment for the cause to the next level. She’ll be funding and hosting six summits in the cities she’ll be competing. The 21-year-old is ready to take on the challenge of balancing workouts and matches while working with the girls on strengthening female friendships, self esteem, and teaching them how to deal with bullies.
#FearlesslyGIRLxMadisonKeys pic.twitter.com/rD9Z6iYz18
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) November 22, 2016
“I think we’ve all been in a position where we were hurt and maybe we lashed out and we were that catty, mean girl,” she said. “But we should take take responsibility for those times and say, ‘That wasn’t okay. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have just sat down and talked about what I was upset about instead of starting this rumor or whatever.’”
She added, “I’m not saying that we’re all going to be nice to each other for the rest of our lives … but being able to say ‘someone hurt me, but I’m not going to go online and write something horrible about her and start this whole drama.’ That’s where I think girls get a really bad rap and that’s what we’re trying to stop.”
