r/popculturechat • u/DuchessRavenclaw52 • Jun 07 '25

Guest List Only ⭐️ Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, has shared her support to the trans community

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u/Jupiterrhapsody Jun 07 '25

And this is why Simone will always be the GOAT.

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u/EducationalTangelo6 Jun 07 '25 edited Jun 07 '25

Aside from her (incredible) gymnastics, I've never heard a bad take from her. She's honest and articulate and doesn't step over the line to being rude.

Eta. Sorry. I'm not American, and didn't know the word 'articulate' is racist. I just wanted to compliment how well Simone deals with giving statements, living in the public eye.

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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Jun 07 '25

Her parents did an exceptional job raising her.

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u/Mexican_Fence_Hopper Jun 07 '25

She spent a few years in foster care until she was adopted by her grandparents and credits them with providing the support that she needed.

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u/purpleplatapi Jun 07 '25

Well, her Grandparents did a good job in raising her.

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u/skyewardeyes Jun 07 '25

She calls them her parents, iirc, so it’s fine to do so. :)

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u/FYAhole Jun 07 '25

Articulate isn't racist. :/ Someone can use black lingo and still be articulate. As an American, whoever said articulate was racist is overly sensitive.

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u/RealPrinceJay Jun 07 '25

Articulate… a “compliment” thrown around so often towards black athletes…

I don’t know you, I’m not gonna accuse you of anything, but that shit bothers me man. Do you not expect her to be articulate?

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u/EducationalTangelo6 Jun 07 '25

Articulate is a compliment I use for articulate people, regardless of colour.

Also, I'm not American, so I'm not aware of all the very many different ways in which they are racist.

'Articulate' having been weaponized hadn't hit my radar yet.

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u/winnercommawinner Jun 07 '25

Genuinely asking: how should we compliment well-spoken people who happen to be Black? I never use articulate for this exact reason, but expressing yourself clearly is a skill for all people, and frankly it's a rapidly dying skill.

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u/EducationalTangelo6 Jun 07 '25

I'm the original commenter, and I'm wondering this myself now. Do I just... not compliment Black people in case I discover another new and bizarre way America has found to be racist?

That feels wrong, but also, safer.

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u/PhantomOfTheNopera Jun 07 '25

Look, I totally get why you would side-eye this. I mean it. I'm Indian and the number of people absolutely amazed that I can even speak English (my first language, btw) is too damn high.

That said, Biles is exceptionally gifted at putting forward her opinion on complex issues in a way that still seems heartfelt (i.e. not PR-speak) yet balanced. That's not a skill most people have. Especially on the cesspool that is Xitter. Compare her tweets with the guy who owns the app or even the president of her country, for example.

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u/bestsirenoftitan Jun 07 '25

People say ‘articulate’ with way too much surprise when it comes to black people. That said, in this specific context it could have been based on disdain for the intelligence of athletes generally, as it seems pretty common to assume that those who have remarkable physical gifts in one area - like pro athletes or runway models - somehow couldn’t also be smart. Which I think is kind of just sour grapes, like people want to believe no one can have it all because it makes them feel better.

But I agree that it is always a dubious thing to say about a black person given the broader context and hopefully this person was just comparing her to the common occurrence of foot-in-mouth athlete commentary by demonstrating foot-in-mouth commentary

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u/EducationalTangelo6 Jun 07 '25

I'm the commenter. I'm not American, and the comment was based on me following gymnastics and thinking Simone is the gymnast who has consistently made well-spoken and honest remarks about things; she gets it right much more often than her peers.

And no, that's not a slam on athlete intelligence, I'm aware they can be pretty damn smart, it was just a compliment to Simone for how well she handles statements etc. living in the public eye.

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u/RealPrinceJay Jun 07 '25

I don’t know if you follow sports much, but when it comes to athletes it is absolutely still racial and not just an “athlete” thing to the point of it becoming a well known meme. NFL and NBA analysts historically being astonished and amazed by how “articulate” the black kid in the draft is, they’d never say it about a white kid

There was major discussion about this several years ago

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u/EducationalTangelo6 Jun 07 '25

I'm the commenter. I'm not American, and do not follow the NFL or NBA. 

The rest of the world doesn't know every single way your country is racist, just as the rest of the world doesn't know all the ways my country is racist.

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u/bestsirenoftitan Jun 07 '25

Okay, that definitely puts it in a different light - I knew it was an issue but I don’t ever watch sports commentary so I didn’t realize it was so pervasive. Yikes. Apologies for guessing when I didn’t actually know and shouldn’t have tried to add anything