Image Source: Getty/Elsa / Staff
With the 2024 Paris Olympics right around the corner, all eyes are on Simone Biles, who is making a bid to become the most decorated gymnast of all time. After pulling out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to a condition known as the "twisties," Biles took some time off of gymnastics and in the process, has been filming her biographical documentary "Simone Biles Rising." In the first two episodes, viewers follow along as she recounts what went wrong in Tokyo, as well as the surrounding media storm that consumed her afterward. She also talks about the seemingly never-ending comments people make about her hair.
"People hate my hair for meet days - 'her hair's all over the place, look at it, it's crazy,'" Biles says, recounting some of the comments that she's seen online. At one point during the documentary, countless tweets are blown up on the screen, each of them describing in detail what people don't like about her hair. "The beauty standards - everything is just too much," she says.
Biles has been dealing with trolls commenting on her appearance for years - people even went as far as to criticize her wedding hairstyle - and it needs to stop. In 2024, it's still all too common for Black women to be harassed about their appearances. Chris Rock did it to Jada Pinkett Smith at the 2023 Oscars; Michelle Obama endured the same ridicule during her entire eight years in the White House; even Biles's teammate, Gabby Douglas, has had the same comments made about her hair (after winning a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics).
Gymnastics is a tough sport. Not only do these athletes perform physically grueling tasks on a regular basis, but they are expected to follow strict rules about their appearances while doing so. The documentary even touched on the fact that the predominantly white space has a history of preferring uniformity among all athletes. So, when Black women with naturally kinky hair, dark skin, and Afro-centric features start to dominate the field, there's an added layer to the criticism that women these, like Biles, receive. And unfortunately, a good chunk of these critiques come from other Black women, which speaks volumes about the work that needs to be done to truly address the effects that politics, racism, and misogyny have done on our community.
If social media has taught us one thing, it's that we do not exist in a bubble. Just as one of the best athletes in the world can see the vile things that people say about her online, so can the average Black woman who doesn't have a platform to speak out. The hypercriticism of Black women's appearances is stale and, frankly, no longer has a place in public discourse. Constantly jabbing at our looks is not only rude but incredibly ignorant, considering the majority of the world's population is Black or Brown and has naturally textured hair. It's hard to believe that the world's greatest athlete is still dealing with this when, as she says, most of these internet trolls "can't even do a cartwheel." On behalf of her and every other Black woman being hyper-criticized in the media, enough.
Ariel Baker is the associate editor for PS Beauty. Her areas of expertise include celebrity news, beauty trends, and product reviews. She has additional bylines with Essence and Forbes Vetted.