Link (Archive)
Regrettably, I must inform you all that whoever runs the Chips Ahoy X account recently used Rihanna’s internet to post the phrase, “did you just clock me?????” This was in response to a user who had replied, “Not you got facial reconstruction surgery” to one of Chips Ahoy’s posts, accompanied by a screenshot of the account’s avatar, which kind of resembles the Normal version of Spongebob. Separately, the Oreo X account responded, “a big slay imo,” a phrase which made me sigh involuntarily upon having to type it. Other people had slightly more, uh, extreme responses to the posts (content warning for suicide jokes if you click through).
I know at this point you’re probably thinking “it’s really not that deep,” but walk with me. There is something distinctly demoralizing about the fact that the site formerly known as Twitter has been in a steady right-wing death spiral since Elon Musk acquired it, and has become an increasingly hostile place for trans people, people of color, and those who fall at the intersection of both.
Trans Twitter was a special place on the internet, and while it still exists to an extent, it simply can’t be the vibrant ecosystem of trans digital culture that it once was, considering, for example, that X now deems “cisgender” a slur. That’s not even to touch on the exceedingly obvious fact that trans people in the U.S. and worldwide are increasingly being barred from life-saving healthcare and public life as a whole.
Even our digital spaces are dwindling — before the downfall of Trans Twitter, there was the downfall of Trans Tumblr, spurred by the passage of 2018’s anti-sex work legislation SESTA-FOSTA. Lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, are continuing to push legislation that purports to keep children “safe” from adult content on the internet, such as the Kids Online Safety Actand age verification laws. But as advocates have pointed out, these laws fail to actually keep children safe and will likely lead to further suppression of queer/trans people on the internet, as the right wing is increasingly painting all things remotely LGBTQ+ as “pornographic.”
Watching the Brands try to do cringey LGBTQ+ allyship has always been a favorite pastime of the queer/trans internet. In my “research” for this blog, I was reminded of the time that Oreo tweeted, “Trans people exist,” which continues to make me laugh out loud. But there’s an important difference between that and a brand account uncannily emulating your average trans Twitter poster. The dynamic of corporations mimicking marginalized voices is hardly new: Black Twitter, specifically, has been rightly identified as the origin point of much of internet culture, with marketing agencies and brand accounts co-opting the community’s voice. Maybe it shouldn’t be so pointedly discouraging to see a cookie company make an FFS joke. Still, watching Chips Ahoy post about getting “clocked” while our online communities are being scattered to the winds is uncanny, like witnessing a digital zombie rising from the grave. As one user posted, “this feels like a strange new blend of cultural appropriation, rainbow capitalism and internet brain rot.” (“this should be a flavor not gonna lie,” the user added, with the perfect hint of irony typical of actual Trans Twitter humor.)
At the very least, if corporations are going to be Like This, they could maybe attempt to exert pressure on lawmakers beyond making rainbow-colored versions of their products. Not that Ben & Jerry’s deserves heaps of praise, but the ice cream company has long been renowned for its willingness to advocate for various progressive movements. And no, we should not be looking to corporations as beacons of morality or beacons of social justice, but it is also true that corporations have an outsized impact on politics in this country. In 2017, corporate boycotts of the state of North Carolina pressured the state to repeal its then-novel bathroom bill. (What a concept, as The Brands are largely silent now while even worse bathroom bills are being passed in state legislatures around the country.) If The Brands are going to post like trans people, doing something — anything — to help change our material circumstances is honestly the least they could do.
I get that we all have to get that bag somehow, so I can’t blame the people behind the brand accounts — after all, it’s a structural issue more than anything. Ultimately, I suppose there’s not much to be done about this. Again, trans people are hardly the only group who are subject to their digital culture being misappropriated. At least we can count on The Brands never dipping into the raunchier aspects of the queer/trans internet, like kink at pride discourse (well… fingers crossed.)
We Regret to Inform You That Chips Ahoy! Is Tweeting Like a Trans Person
I’m always saying this, but this is your periodic reminder that the brands are not your friends, even if they’re now posting like trans people.Regrettably, I must inform you all that whoever runs the Chips Ahoy X account recently used Rihanna’s internet to post the phrase, “did you just clock me?????” This was in response to a user who had replied, “Not you got facial reconstruction surgery” to one of Chips Ahoy’s posts, accompanied by a screenshot of the account’s avatar, which kind of resembles the Normal version of Spongebob. Separately, the Oreo X account responded, “a big slay imo,” a phrase which made me sigh involuntarily upon having to type it. Other people had slightly more, uh, extreme responses to the posts (content warning for suicide jokes if you click through).
I know at this point you’re probably thinking “it’s really not that deep,” but walk with me. There is something distinctly demoralizing about the fact that the site formerly known as Twitter has been in a steady right-wing death spiral since Elon Musk acquired it, and has become an increasingly hostile place for trans people, people of color, and those who fall at the intersection of both.
Trans Twitter was a special place on the internet, and while it still exists to an extent, it simply can’t be the vibrant ecosystem of trans digital culture that it once was, considering, for example, that X now deems “cisgender” a slur. That’s not even to touch on the exceedingly obvious fact that trans people in the U.S. and worldwide are increasingly being barred from life-saving healthcare and public life as a whole.
Even our digital spaces are dwindling — before the downfall of Trans Twitter, there was the downfall of Trans Tumblr, spurred by the passage of 2018’s anti-sex work legislation SESTA-FOSTA. Lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, are continuing to push legislation that purports to keep children “safe” from adult content on the internet, such as the Kids Online Safety Actand age verification laws. But as advocates have pointed out, these laws fail to actually keep children safe and will likely lead to further suppression of queer/trans people on the internet, as the right wing is increasingly painting all things remotely LGBTQ+ as “pornographic.”
Watching the Brands try to do cringey LGBTQ+ allyship has always been a favorite pastime of the queer/trans internet. In my “research” for this blog, I was reminded of the time that Oreo tweeted, “Trans people exist,” which continues to make me laugh out loud. But there’s an important difference between that and a brand account uncannily emulating your average trans Twitter poster. The dynamic of corporations mimicking marginalized voices is hardly new: Black Twitter, specifically, has been rightly identified as the origin point of much of internet culture, with marketing agencies and brand accounts co-opting the community’s voice. Maybe it shouldn’t be so pointedly discouraging to see a cookie company make an FFS joke. Still, watching Chips Ahoy post about getting “clocked” while our online communities are being scattered to the winds is uncanny, like witnessing a digital zombie rising from the grave. As one user posted, “this feels like a strange new blend of cultural appropriation, rainbow capitalism and internet brain rot.” (“this should be a flavor not gonna lie,” the user added, with the perfect hint of irony typical of actual Trans Twitter humor.)
At the very least, if corporations are going to be Like This, they could maybe attempt to exert pressure on lawmakers beyond making rainbow-colored versions of their products. Not that Ben & Jerry’s deserves heaps of praise, but the ice cream company has long been renowned for its willingness to advocate for various progressive movements. And no, we should not be looking to corporations as beacons of morality or beacons of social justice, but it is also true that corporations have an outsized impact on politics in this country. In 2017, corporate boycotts of the state of North Carolina pressured the state to repeal its then-novel bathroom bill. (What a concept, as The Brands are largely silent now while even worse bathroom bills are being passed in state legislatures around the country.) If The Brands are going to post like trans people, doing something — anything — to help change our material circumstances is honestly the least they could do.
I get that we all have to get that bag somehow, so I can’t blame the people behind the brand accounts — after all, it’s a structural issue more than anything. Ultimately, I suppose there’s not much to be done about this. Again, trans people are hardly the only group who are subject to their digital culture being misappropriated. At least we can count on The Brands never dipping into the raunchier aspects of the queer/trans internet, like kink at pride discourse (well… fingers crossed.)
