Despite harsher scrutiny of women than men, Sydney Sweeney’s “male gaze” marketing, Republican links, Scooter Braun romance and Syrn lingerie pivot make her the ultimate modern “pick-me”
Let’s be honest, the world is less forgiving with famous women than with men. There are countless amount of problematic male celebrities with actual convictions and charges of heinous crimes, who do not face the same public court of brutal opinion as female celebrities whose “crimes” are to shout at annoying paparazzis.
As a feminist, this double standard angers me. That is precisely why you will rarely find me criticising a female public figure.
And yet, Sydney Sweeney makes it very hard for me to bite my “woke” tongue… The 28-year-old actress had everything lined up to become one of the most popular figures among women.
Unlike what feels like 90% of Hollywood, Sydney isn’t a nepo baby. She undeniably has a natural talent for acting, and this particularly shows in her indie movie era.
While her physical appearance meets all the Western beauty standards, it was her knack for fixing cars, past as a trained combat sports athlete, and penchant for academics that made her stand out. So where did it all go wrong?
I’m genuinely asking, because I have yet to comprehend how the versatile, witty, smart young lady became the biggest pick me girl of our generation. A “pick me girl” is a woman perceived as aligning with male approval at the expense of other women.
Think of someone who perpetuates the “not like other girls” narrative, who weaponises guy friendships, feigns ignorance of feminine trends, publicly shames other women’s choices, and embodies the “cool girl” persona. You might think of your high school nemesis, although we have all been at some point or another a pick me girl.
To me, though, one woman epitomises the ultimate “pick-me girl”, and that is no other than Margaret Thatcher. The late Prime Minister projected herself as the exceptional woman who could thrive on men’s terms rather than championing other women’s advancement in a male-dominated Westminster.
She was perceived as “not like other girls” because during her 11 years as Prime Minister, she appointed just one woman to Cabinet and was infamously sceptical about women’s suitability for high office. She was also very hostile towards the women’s liberation movement and was obsessed with traditionally masculine arenas such as war, finance and authority while using her identity as a “grocer’s daughter” and “housewife” for political connection.
I think that we haven’t seen a pick me girl to that level until Sydney Sweeney. Sydney’s career is now seemingly focusing on cashing in on campaigns leaning into a male audience and the “male gaze”, which wouldn’t be a problem at all, if it wasn’t for the way she expresses shock when she is viewed through that same lens.
Moreover, I would even cheer for her success if it wasn’t for her recent pivot toward “trad-wife” adjacent aesthetics and rhetoric. I think it all started going downhill after her Dr. Squatch “bathwater bar” soap which featured a hole in it.
Again, I would support this type of project – some of my most compelling interviews have been with adult workers whom I find some of the most respectable and intelligent people I’ve ever spoken with – but the issue lies in her refusal to acknowledge the industry she is mimicking. She deepened her distance with her female audience when she appeared completely unbothered when she was accused of promoting eugenics in her controversial American Eagle “great jeans” ad, prioritising personal brand and male approval over social accountability.
Sydney’s unpopularity within female spaces intensified when Donald Trump and JD Vance praised her, and reports finally revealed she is a registered Republican in Florida. What could be more anti-women than being a Republican… in Florida?
Oh I know – publicly dating Scooter Braun, the man who Taylor Swift accused of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and trying to strip her of her life’s work. Don’t even get me started on her lingerie label, Syrn, which has left many of us confused.
Mainly because some feminists are asking why she’s positioning it as “for women” now, her fanbase is seemingly only made up of conservative men. As a female boxer, I really wanted to see Sydney’s Christy Martin biopic.
But in good conscience, I couldn’t support her work anymore. Christy, which tells the story of a lesbian athlete, went on to become a total box-office flop.
This is the unsurprinsing outcome of alienating the very community most likely to show up for a film like that. Because realistically, who was the core audience for a movie about a queer female boxer?
Her MAGA fans? Like we say, don’t s— where you eat.
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