Last week, paparazzi photos of Sydney Sweeney on the beach caused a stir.
The actress has appeared topless on Euphoria, so this wasn’t people hoping for bikini pics to show what they’d never seen before. Strangely, it also wasn’t just normal run-of-the-mill lust for a beautiful celebrity. Rather, she became a target of outrage.
Various misogynist accounts began to target Sydney, accusing her of being a “catfish.” Wait, what?
Sydney Sweeney attends the world premiere of “Immaculate” during the 2024. (Photo Credit: Rick Kern/Getty Images for NEON)
First and foremost, people — all people — look different when they’re appearing on television, Instagram, or the red carpet than when a long-range camera captures them at the beach. It’s about more than just hair and makeup, but also about posing, angles, and lighting.
Second of all … contrary to the reaction that some of the internet’s most vocal women-haters might give off, Sydney still looked hot (as you’ll see through the link below). She’s an incredibly beautiful woman. Her body does look different
This should be a wake-up call to society, and especially to women. If men are freaking out and insulting Sydney Sweeney, who fits every aspect of the impossible white European beauty standards of our culture, maybe trying to meet these standards
A viral “bad take” tweet targeting Sydney Sweeney accused “all women” of being “catfishes” in December of 2024. (Image Credit: Twitter)
Sydney Sweeney claps back
In addition to the viral bad tweet (above) that seems to succinctly embody what Twitter has become, the bad takes took root in other places.
The Daily Mail shared the paparazzi photos of Sydney Sweeney on the beach. And numerous commenters seemed eager to pretend that she looked unattractive, out-of-shape, or even “pregnant.”
Sydney saw those posts … and, taking to her Instagram page, she compiled a video to call out the body-shaming trolls.
In the video, Sydney showcases vile comment after vile comment that says that she is “chunky,” has a “horrible body,” and more.
Obviously, this isn’t representative of all takes. We’re talking about people who voluntarily read The Daily Mail and even comment on the posts.
There’s more than just nasty comments in the video. Sydney also shows herself training hard, lifting a tire and weights. She’s been building up muscle to portray Christy Martin in an upcoming biopic about the boxer.
Sydney Sweeney attends the 2024 Armani Beauty dinner photocall at Arsenale on August 31, 2024. (Photo Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
Unfortunately, people refuse to be normal about her
In early 2024, there was such a fixation on Sydney Sweeney — not as a person, but as a beauty object — among terminally online conservative men that her attendance at the GLAAD Awards was heralded as some sort of symbolic victory. As if she were a Trojan Horse whose mere presence would dismantle LGBTQ+ rights.
The weirdness persisted. When Sydney starred in Immaculate, a dream project of hers, these same right-wing trolls spun conspiracies. Had Hollywood conjured up this “anti-Christian” film in order to defile their beloved blonde waifu? (No — again, this was a longtime dream project, and you cannot make a film like that in a few weeks)
People have refused to be normal about Sydney Sweeney since she was a child. She is not a beauty ideal, she is not a betrayal of a beauty ideal, and she’s certainly not a culture war symbol. She’s just, you know, a person. One who happens to be both beautiful and talented.
