The Western beauty standards are really hard at work making sure anybody who doesn’t fit within them can’t thrive, and Sam Smith is the latest victim of them. With the release of their video for I’m Not Here to Make Friends, Sam Smith faces fatphobia and transphobia as the conservative voices of America come after them and their work.
Along with the vitriol Sam Smith is facing we also have another hot topic discussion happening on TikTok and the apps obsession with censoring its users. If you’ve been on TikTok for more than 5 minutes you’ll probably notice users speaking in code to get around the apps censorship features, using terms like unalive for killed, seggs for sex or corn for porn. The latest issue was a trend going around where creators were using the word “mascara” as a type of double speak, but the meaning got lost in translation and it seemed to differ in every video. Leading to Julia Fox winding up in murky water due to an insensitive comment left on a male creator’s video.
Sources for Sam Smith Faces Fatphobia and Transphobia & TikTok’s #mascaratrend
Raye installs the set of her debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues’ in front of her old record label, who did not allow her to release it for 7 years. (tweet)
Sam Smith: What’s behind I’m Not Here to Make Friends backlash? (BBC, Rebecca Swash and Riyah Collins, January 2023)
Sam Smith Gets Candid About Facing Transphobia After Coming Out (Pride, Bernardo Sim, January 2023)
Sam Smith Fans Celebrate and Defend Singer’s Bold Music Video Costumes Amid Backlash (People, Tracey Harrington McCoy, January 2023)
Divisive or double standard? The controversy around Sam Smith’s raunchy music video, explained (USA Today, Charles Trepany, February 2nd, 2023)
11 states have already introduced bills targeting transgender health care in 2023 (USA Today, Jan 9, 2023)
G.O.P. State Lawmakers Push a Growing Wave of Anti-Transgender Bills (The New York Times, Maggie Astor, Jan 25, 2023)
What is the #MascaraTrend and is it an adequate tool for free speech on TikTok? (EuroNews, David Mouriquand, February 3rd, 2023)
How Julia Fox commented on TikTok mascara trend and caused total chaos (Indy100, Breanna Robinson, January 2023)
What is the ‘mascara’ trend on TikTok and why has it landed Julia Fox in hot water? (The Independent, Meredith Clark, January 2023)
Are Censorship Algorithms Changing TikTok’s Culture? (OneZero, Faithe J Day, December 2021)
How Censorship Is Creating A New TikTok Language (Babbel, Thomas Moore Devlin, November 2022)
Welcome to TikTok’s endless cycle of censorship and mistakes (MIT Technology Review, Abby Ohlheiser, July 2021)