On January 5, 2014, popular YouTuber and Viner Nash Grier along with some friends, JC Caylen and Cameron Dallas, posted a nine-plus minute video of a catalog of what they want in girls titled “What We Want in Girls.” Already the video has received a lot of negative attention due to its misogynistic and cruel attitude. I first heard about this video through Tumblr, where many bloggers were angered by Grier’s ridiculous standards and contradictory statements. Some of his fans have defended his statements, going so far as to bash people who have different feelings, often citing feelings of jealousy and inadequacy as the root of the angry individuals’ upset. The video already boasts 39,345 views as of January 25. While Grier is certainly entitled to his opinions and desires, what he fails to realize — or fails to accept as an important point — is that the vast majority of his fanbase consists of adolescent and teenage girls who already struggle with accepting and loving themselves.
One of Grier’s biggest complaints is girls who do not remove bodily hair. He is particularly bothered by facial hair. Grier does not take into account that, not only is this a superficial issue, but that many women with body hair are already insecure about it and spend hundreds of dollars trying to remove it even without his criticism. Grier’s friends are no better. Cameron Dallas comments that he cannot stand when girls are good at video games, even though he does not play them himself. Perhaps this irritation comes from Dallas’ fear that, as a form of entertainment typically believed to be male-dominated, women may come in and “take over” their space. This, of course, is ridiculous, yet Dallas is adament in his dislike of women who enjoy and are skilled at video games.
Most frustrating is that Grier makes a point of saying that “being yourself” is the most attractive thing a girl can do. However, out of the nearly ten-minute long episode, only twenty seconds or so are devoted to this point. The rest of the nine-minutes-twenty-seven-seconds is used to pick apart the feminine population and ultimately totally contradict his stated desire that girls just “be themselves.”
YouTuber the Third Pew made an excellent response video to Grier’s unfortunate display of misogyny. He not only provides a great argument against Grier, but does not let him get away with his comments just because he is a teenage boy. In fact, Nathan (the Third Pew), points out that he and Grier are a similar age, yet he has far more respect for his viewers and a more appropriate concept of his audience.
With a strong feminist presence on campus, Hollins women have not responded positively toward Gier. Tumblr posts and the like have combatted his views.