“If I’m a bully, then what exactly would you use to describe the men that I stitch?”
*Content Warning – potential descriptions of sexual assault and frequent use of explicit language
Breakup storytime.
Scroll.
NYC vlog.
Scroll.
Makeup tutorial.
Watch for 3 seconds then scroll.
A man saying that he is an “alpha” and “high value” and that “all women are the same.”
I almost scroll away in disgust, but then…
I hear an iconic laugh and I know I’m about to watch the takedown of the century.
Drew Afualo is a TikToker that is fighting against all of the gross, vile and festering misogyny and sexism that runs rampant on TikTok. Her takedowns of these people with foul opinions might be my favorite pieces of content this app produces.
TikTok delivers content based on the user’s personalized algorithm, so while most videos I see are not of men that are 30 years old and podcast out of their smelly bachelor pads, some fall through the cracks. As a platform, TikTok does not take down or discourage this content and they often receive thousands of likes and views.
From fat-shaming women, to flat out admitting they only want to date a female that is submissive and dumb (ew……) these men will say the most horrendous and disgusting things to their audiences. They claim that they are joking and they don’t mean the things they say, even though they say them with a straight face and as Drew would say, “with their whole chest.”
Enter Drew, who reacts to these videos, and deservingly makes fun and drags these people with the audacity to say what they do. She is never needlessly cruel and matches the energy these people have. If a man has something derogatory to say about a woman’s appearance, he is simply inviting others to remark on his. If they are blaming women for being emotionally unavailable and noncommittal, who can fault Drew for implying he is projecting?
Instead of getting upset, which is what these creators want, she simply laughs. Because what they are saying is ridiculous, and what else can you do? Claiming that when your wife gives birth to a human child, if she doesn’t get her pre-baby body back in under a month, you will leave her? Absolutely hilarious. Saying that you can’t get a date because women are too independent these days? Peak comedy. When he says that “females” have it easy on the internet because they are attractive? Get this guy a Netflix stand-up special.
We shouldn’t let people get away with saying this stuff, but laughing at them is so much more satisfying than any other response. Drew has taught me, and her other TikTok viewers, that the perfect response to a statement that sounds straight out of medieval times is to giggle in their face. So I implore anyone reading this, the next time you hear something that is deplorable from a man, start laughing.