Simone Biles has been in the headlines following her husband’s comments on The Pivot Podcast

The Olympic Gold medalist is married to NFL player Jonathan Owens who described himself as the prize” when it comes to his relationship when asked

Much to netizens’ chagrin Simone Biles was not disgruntled by his comments and said she looks forward to being called Jonathan Owens’ wife

Mr Simone Biles, Jonathan Owens renamed

The internet was awash with videos and posts of people saying Owens was audacious for thinking he was the prize in his relationship with Simon Biles. Many thought it was unreasonable that the virtually unknown athlete seemed nonchalant that he was married to someone many have labelled as one the GOAT in global gymnastics. To express this point, people dubbed the Green Bay Packers safety, Mr Biles, refusing to learn his name.

Why did Simone Biles’ husband Jonathan Owens, trigger netizens?

In the Pivot Podcast episode, Simone’s husband was criticised for doing everthing except showing admiration for his wife. Many compared him to Ciara’s notoriously affectionate hubby Russel Wilson and Serena Williams’ billionaire husband Alexis Ohanian. Both of these are seen as the ultimate symbols that black women can find tender, comforting relationships and not “Struggle love.”

A 2011 study by Stanford reports that black women are the least married in the USA. Two out of three black women are unmarried and are also more than twice as likely than white women to never marry. Getting that ring is not small waters, so being married becomes a chase and winning signifies, “Hey, somebody chose me”. Owens’ attitude in the episode made people feel like even a high-achieving, 7-time gold medalist can not get an adoring loving husband who fawns over her. His emphasis that “he was fighting it” made the impression that he was not enthusiastic.

Desirability politics also came into play when people got curious about his dating history after he emphasised his reluctance to get into a committed relationship with Biles. Online users went as far as looking at his past relationships and noticed he typically dated white women. Things got worse when Owens added that she messaged him first and drove 45 minutes to people. People were upset she was the pursuer.

Paranoia set in as others began speculating that Simone Biles proposed to him, but a scroll on Owens’ Instagram shows the opposite is true:

Why did Simone Biles grin and bear it?

As discussed, getting that ring is the mission. Simone Biles shows just how much she values the title with the role of “wife” above all in her social media bio. But does J have the same (he lists his home town first and then echoes Simone’s profile, writing ‘wife @simonebile’.

Women, from birth, are groomed to aim to become someone’s wife, from baby toys marketed to most household duties being imposed on daughters. An unmarried woman, especially in black spaces, are side-eyed in their communities

A lukewarm defence of Jonathan Owens

Surprise at Simone’s statement about dreaming of being a Mrs Owens is fascinating because this is what our society trains women to value – a man. We dictate that, yes, even the high-achieving, athlete with multiple Olympic medals will not have her feather ruffled by mass opinions on her hubby’s “disrespect”. Remember, she has escaped the sinister stereotype of being the “successful black career woman who still can’t get a man.” So, in the context of our patriarchal society with wives in training, was Owens wrong when he declared “I am the prize”, because, after all, the world tells him so.

Jonathan spoke about his and Simone’s relationship for three minutes on the podcast, yet many think they’ve gleaned enough to say Simone should divorce him. Contrary to how he is not perceived, over the years, The NFL player constantly dotes on his wife on social media. Read a post dedicated to Simone below:

And another one:

You get it, but maybe, just maybe, Jonathan Owens and Simone Biles’ relationship dynamic can not be determined by a 3-minute playful exchange with podcasters who asked for details about how they met.