OPINION: Green Bay defensive back Jonathan Owens recently caught heat for saying he was “the catch” in his marriage to gymnast Simone Biles. But what most critics fail to comprehend is the essence of self-worth vs. the sum of net worth.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more
Owens said he was unaware of Biles before they began talking. That’s hard for some folks to believe, but not me. Either way, he had options as an NFL player. Would you really prefer to date/marry a celebrity?
Or would you prefer to date/marry someone who’s “ordinary”?
It depends.
Regardless of the differences in lifestyle, either choice can lead to drama and despair. Give me the person who leads to love and happiness.
Owens and Biles are young and successful Black athletes who jumped the broom after crossing paths. He reached the NFL the hard way, as an undrafted player out of NCAA Division II Missouri Western State in 2018. She’s been a superstar gymnast on the international stage for the past decade. Beneath those labels though, they’re just ordinary people with regular traits, quirks and emotions, informed by their uniquely personal journeys.
Suggesting one is better than the other is suggesting that white collars are better than blue collars, stars are better than stagehands and graduates are better than dropouts. The bank accounts and zip codes might vary among those groups, but there’s no difference in each member’s intrinsic value.
I thought we were supposed to impart those lessons to our children, teaching that socioeconomic conditions shouldn’t define them or cloud their opinions of others. Unfortunately, individuals on higher perches too often feel superior to folks on lower rungs. But it’s just as bad when the general population gives undue stature to the more upscale.
No matter the other person’s whatever, my daughters were raised to believe they’re the catch. I’d do likewise for my son if I had one. Not to behave in a cocky way, but to believe in their own merit compared to potential partners.
Everyone else believes Biles is a better catch than Owens based simply on Q Scores. Such small thinking will doom us all.
If the robots don’t do it first.
Deron Snyder, from Brooklyn, is an award-winning columnist who lives near D.C. and pledged Alpha at HU-You Know! He’s reaching high, lying low, moving on, pushing off, keeping up, and throwing down. Got it? Get more at blackdoorventures.com/deron.
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