As the saying goes, it’s better to laugh than to cry. TikTok users had fun hijacking a filter to better expose podcasts by men with sexist and misogynistic discourse. A trend that has gone viral on the Chinese social network.
It all started with the simple “Bearded Cutie” filter. On Tiktok, this filter allowed users to discover what they would look like if they had a beard. A trend that has grown in popularity with nearly 30,000 videos now using this filter on the app.
15 million views
This buzz on the platform has inspired certain users determined to denounce and ridicule podcasts by men who call themselves “alpha males” and who conduct misogynistic discourse in which women are treated as objects.
Elsa Lakew, a TikTok user with the handle @sadimmigrantkid, started this trend on the social network. Decked out with a fake beard thanks to the filter, the latter imagined himself in the skin of a masculinist… “If I looked like this, I’d start a podcast”she started to say. Elsa Lakew’s video has reached over 15 million views and nearly 2 million likes. A real success.
So much so that other influencers have stormed into the trend, which has now gone viral on the platform, by taking over the sound of her video. On TikTok, content creators can make their video audio available for other users to use for their own videos. Dubbed “If I Looked Like This, I’d Start a Podcast” now has over 7,671 videos.
A review of “Fresh and Fit”?
Some, like user Sara Buckley (@nottheworstmom), in turn, have made parody videos using the “Bearded Cutie” filter. Their goal ? Humorously denounces certain men’s misogynistic comments in podcasts, in between criticizing women’s physiques, their intelligence, or their expectations within their couple. Notably, the video posted by Sara Buckley has been viewed over 3 million times on TikTok.
These quickly viral parodies are reminiscent of the hosts of a real-life podcast, Fresh and Fit, which describes itself as “the world’s first male podcast.” A former communication space with some clichés about women.
The show was already buzzing on TikTok after he saw co-host, Myron Gaines, being picked up fiercely by influencer Brittany Renner. The latter did not fail to confront him with the remarks he made about her. A series that went around TikTok and left the co-host speechless.
Followed by over 6 million TikTok subscribers, Drew Afualo is one of those content creators who don’t hesitate to attack these podcast hosts for their sexist comments. One of his videos, which has over 4.4 million views, is captioned: “The universe that gave podcasts to men was a curse on this earth”† A video highlighting Myron Gaines’ sexist and derogatory comments to women: “This man is easily the most insufferable man I have ever seen on any form of media. Worse than Joe Rogan”we can hear him say in front of the camera, before destroying his sexist arguments one by one.