Superwoman Is a Myth: An Affirmation of Simone Biles
The summer Olympic games have begun, and Black Women have been the focus of negative press and conversations. This is not a new phenomenon seeing that Black women athletes are often criticized for their performance, body size, dress, and their competitive demonstrative demeanor. Despite their successes, black women continue to be scrutinized during the Olympic games highlighting the plight of Black women in sports.
This week Simone Biles, a black female athlete became the target of criticism and scrutiny because she dared to choose her mental health over her Olympic performance:
Gymnastics superstar and defending Olympic champion Simone Biles has withdrawn from Thursday's individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental well-being. The decision comes a day after Biles removed herself from the team final following one rotation, on vault. She cited her mental health as the reason when speaking to the media following the competition. [1]
While Simone Biles has received much public and private support for her decision, including her Olympic team members, she has also received a disconcerting number of mean-spirited attacks such as:
Charlie Kirk calls Simone Biles a "selfish sociopath" and a "shame to the country" "We are raising a generation of weak people like Simone Biles.[2]
USA gymnastics should pull Simone Biles’s ability to compete as an individual going forward & elevate the next best gymnast to the all-around competitions. Reward the gymnast who didn’t quit on her teammates. If Biles can’t go for the team, she shouldn’t go individually either.[3]
Simon Biles calls herself the Greatest of All Time - but no GOAT would quit on their teammates like that, costing them an Olympic gold medal. Get back out there, Simone - you're a great champion not a quitter.[4]
What psychological disposition could be the impetus for such vicious insults hurled at a black woman who desires to focus on her mental health? These tweets not only reveal the racism and dehumanization black women and girls historically experience, but these tweets also reveal an emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual ill prevalent in our society, the notion of the “strong black woman.”
Seanna Leath, Assistant Professor of Community Psychology, University of Virginia, has contributed to many articles addressing stereotypes that impact the psychosocial development of black girls and women. Leath writes, “Too often, Black women struggle with expectations and responsibilities that lead them to neglect their own health and wellbeing.” [5] Therefore, we are expected to be strong, push past our tiredness, ignore our physical and mental health, care for our siblings, parents, children and become the heroin for our families and communities.
Leath further asserts, black women carry the burden of strength and are often described as “Superwomen.”[6] She uncovers the mental, emotional, and physical harm Black women experience when we normalize this psychological position or accept this as a positive compliment in juxtaposition to the negative stereotypes and toxic effects of slavery, colonialism and disenfranchisement that suggest black women are aggressive, lazy, loud and ghetto. This narrative has resulted in many black women owning the “superwoman” title and wearing it as a badge of honor, despite the toll it takes on their mental, physical, and spiritual health.
In my book, Harmonize Your Life: A Journey Toward Self-Care, I proffer a response to the criticism Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and other black women athletes, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, pastors, teachers, students, mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, and girlfriends experience when we focus on self-care. I give practical tips on how to reject the super-woman compliment and how to engage in practices that refresh, refuel, rescue, and preserve our minds, bodies, spirits, careers, finances, and relationships toward the greater purposes for which we exist.
In the chapter entitled, Overcoming the Superwoman Syndrome, I state, “One of the reasons we do not engage in self-care practices is because we have bought into the superwoman syndrome. We think we can leap tall buildings in a single bound and save everyone in our world. The truth is, we are human, we get tired, and we do not possess inexhaustible time and energy. We do not have to be strong all the time and we can allow people to see our inconsistencies. We can admit that we are vulnerable to our personal kryptonite and sometimes our cape is tattered and torn.”[7]
I applaud Simone Biles for the courage she is displaying and focusing on her mental health. In fact, as I write this article, I am 4 weeks into my sabbatical after 29 years of ministry and the passing of my mother. As one who exercises regularly, lifts weight and exerts a fair amount of physical energy, I cannot imagine the amount of physical and mental strength an Olympiad must possess to compete in the games. Yet, Simone Biles is being criticized by persons who exert the amount of strength it takes to hold a television remote while watching the games on a couch.
The type of strength Simone Biles is demonstrating requires intestinal fortitude. By reclaiming her self-agency, she is normalizing the mindset that “it’s ok to not be ok.” In giving herself permission to practice self-care, she is freeing others to prioritize self-care above performance. More importantly as a black woman, Simone Biles is an example of how to reject self-imposed expectations, societal impositions, and the injurious superwoman myth.
Kudos Simone Biles…
Dr. Toni
[1] https://www.espn.com/olympics/gymnastics/story/_/id/31902290/simone-biles-withdraws-individual-all-competition-tokyo-olympics-focus-mental-health Accessed on July 28,2021.
[2]https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1420122875323985920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1420122875323985920%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.esquire.com%2Fsports%2Fa37154782%2Fsimone-biles-olympics-mental-health-criticism%2F Accessed on July 28, 2021.
[3]https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1420136003600277511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1420136003600277511%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.esquire.com%2Fsports%2Fa37154782%2Fsimone-biles-olympics-mental-health-criticism%2F Accessed on July 28, 2021.
[4]https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1420370415923482631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1420370415923482631%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.esquire.com%2Fsports%2Fa37154782%2Fsimone-biles-olympics-mental-health-criticism%2F Accessed on July 28, 2021.
[5] Leath, Seanna. How the Expectation of Strength Harms Black Girls and Women. Scholars Strategy Network. August 15, 2019.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Dr. Toni G. Alvarado. Harmonize Your Life: A Journey Toward Self-Care; pp. 69. Targeted Living Publishing. 2018.