Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Mikayla Raines tragic passing, "Princess Treatment" TikTok backlash + Hailey Bieber ring scandal

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MINI SCROLL: Mikayla Raines tragic passing, "Princess Treatment" TikTok backlash + Hailey Bieber ring scandal · Mini Scroll

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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital
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  media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Scroll,
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  everyone. Before I get into it, please
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  subscribe to us on YouTube. We are like 50 followers, 50
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  subscribers away from 10,000. I think we can definitely get
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  there by the end of today or by the end of tomorrow.
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  We also have a deep dive going up tomorrow.
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  Very exciting for you guys. So please subscribe to us on
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  YouTube. We are so close.
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  And also on Tuesday, we had 100,000 followers on TikTok, on
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  the Centennial World Podcast Network TikTok account, which is
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  so exciting. Possibly two big following
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  milestones happening this week. All right, let's get into the
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  stories for today. So the first story, I do need to
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  issue a big trigger warning. We're going to be talking about
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  suicide and cyberbullying in this story.
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  Influencer Michaela Raines of Sava Fox has sadly taken her own
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  life at the age of 29 after being cyber bullied.
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  So Michaela Raines is a 29 year old activist who documented her
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  experience operating a nonprofit rescue organization called Sava
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  Fox. She founded the organization in
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  2017 at just 20 years old after finding an interest in
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  rehabilitating animals as a teenager and she had a huge
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  online following. She built her account to over
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  3,000,000 followers on TikTok and 2.4 million subscribers on
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  YouTube, and in total, the organization had saved more than
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  150 foxes. Tragically, earlier this week,
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  her husband Ethan Raines shared that Michaela had taken her own
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  life largely due to the cyber bullying from people online,
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  many of whom she knew, but some whom she didn't.
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  For her entire life, she struggled.
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  She struggled with autism, with depression, with borderline
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  personality disorder and more. And she was so sensitive.
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  It's everything. Which is a double edged sword
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  because on one hand it allowed her endless empathy for those in
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  her care, but it also means that she took everything negative to
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  heart. And now I want to talk about how
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  words, whether spoken in person or written online, can affect
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  someone. For a few years, a group of
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  people had been throwing dirt on Michaela's name and the rescue.
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  Most of these are people she knew, and some of them are other
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  animal sanctuaries. They consistently spread
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  ridiculous claims and rumors. And being the sensitive human
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  that she was, Michaela took it all to heart.
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  And to those of you that pushed her to this, everyone of you
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  that had been responsible for making her feel this way, if you
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  only have negative garbage to say, just shut up.
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  OK, this is obviously so sad and I wanted to talk about it
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  because it aligns with the discussions that we were having
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  last week around Tattle Life and online snarking and online
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  bullying. There's still a lot of
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  discussion going on about the whole Tattle Life situation.
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  I know a lot of users are worried that their identities
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  could be exposed. Now people are having a hard
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  time deleting their accounts because people are worried about
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  like, what the fate of that website is going to be, and they
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  want to delete their comments, their entire accounts.
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  And people are having a hard time doing that.
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  And there's also a lot of people discussing why they snark
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  anonymously, like tattlers have taken to Reddit to share, like
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  why they feel justified in being part of Tattle Life.
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  Obviously, there's such a spotlight on Tattle Life
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  specifically right now. I don't think that Michaela was
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  largely bullied on Tattle Life, but I'm just kind of tying it
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  back to the broader discussion of what we've been talking
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  about. So the main things that people
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  are saying on Reddit about why they do Anonymous, Stark, Tattle
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  Life, whatever, any of those websites, there's a lot of
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  justification by saying that they're trying to bring
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  awareness to child protection online.
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  A lot of the female influencers that get snarked on have
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  children and they post their kids online.
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  So people use that as kind of like a justification to be mean
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  to them. And they also say it's to hold
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  influencers accountable and keep them in line until laws and
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  regulations and things like that catch up.
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  The thing is, because posting mean comments about people
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  anonymously on the Internet isn't doing any of those things.
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  Like if you really care about holding a creator responsible
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  for spreading misinformation for example, or not disclosing ads
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  or posting their kids online, either advocate publicly with
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  your whole self so you can actually make some change and
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  get people to join you in this, or go to the appropriate
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  governing bodies and report them.
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  It's the anonymity that that can make this really snowball from
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  like, you know, just being concerned about something to
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  then it really snowballing into, like, harassment, abuse, doxing.
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  And it snowballs into this, like, total lack of boundaries
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  about how people talk about creators and celebrities and
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  public figures and what they're willing to post about them.
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  Like, would you dock someone with your whole face and your
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  whole personhood behind that comment?
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  Probably not. And my head's not in the sand.
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  OK. You know, I talked about this
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  with the title Life Story last week, but like I understand that
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  pop culture reporting all of this commentary stuff like all
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  of this contributes to a very toxic space online for creators
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  and celebrities. Like I understand like we have a
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  role to play in that as well. But I wanted to read this
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  comment from Reddit. So it was from the LA influencer
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  snark Reddit and I thought this comment was so good.
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  So this was on a subreddit post about Michaela's suicide.
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  My hot take is when you delineate between bullying and
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  calling out problematic behavior like this, people will just
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  reach for increasingly thin socio political critiques to
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  justify the shallow bullying they actually want to do.
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  Saying 1 is OK but the other isn't just gives people cover to
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  say whatever they want as long as they can come up with the
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  thinnest excuse as to why the target is ontologically evil and
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  deserved it. If influencers are actually
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  racist or sexist, unfollow them, block them, and stop talking
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  about them. That actually hurts their bottom
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  line. Hate following and snarking
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  online does nothing practical to shrink their platform and in
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  fact just drives more people to view their content.
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  They keep going and then they end with snarking.
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  It does nothing to actually stop tangibly racist, sexist, or
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  otherwise shitty influencers from profiting.
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  Shrinking their audience does snark culture just gives the
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  participants a self-righteous head rush from being on the
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  right side while literally continuing to perpetuate the
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  problem through clicks and views.
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  I thought that comment was something to think about for
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  sure. Michaela's husband has said that
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  he will continue her work with her foundation, her nonprofit in
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  her honor. So sad.
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  All right, let's get into the next story for today.
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  TikTok creator Courtney Joelle is going viral for sharing her
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  version of quote UN quote Princess treatment on a dinner
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  date with her husband. Courtney Joelle is a creator who
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  posts about what she calls housewife Princess content.
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  She's going super viral right now because she posted this
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  unhinged video where she describes this like in my
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  opinion, creepy dinner date that she had with her husband where
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  she doesn't speak to the wait staff because it's like
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  masculine energy and she reserves that for her husband.
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  Let's talk about Princess treatment if you're at a
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  restaurant and how you interact with the wait staff and the
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  Hostess. If I am at a restaurant with my
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  husband, I do not talk to the Hostess.
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  I do not open many doors, and I do not order my own food.
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  So someone had sent me a message a couple weeks ago asking about
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  like, let's say your husband drops you off and he goes to
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  park the car. What do you do?
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  Or if it's raining or something like that and he wants you to
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  put your name down. And I had a very similar
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  situation happened to me with my husband a couple weeks ago.
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  I'll put her question on the screen so you can see exactly
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  what she's saying. But we didn't have a reservation
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  so we wanted to go up and see if it was possible for us to get
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  in. He pulled the car up at the
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  valet station. He got, I stayed in the car.
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  He got out of the car, told the valet, I'm just going to run in
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  and ask a question, I'm going to leave my car here.
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  I sat in the car. Well, he ran in and asked them.
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  They said, yeah, we have space for you.
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  And my husband said, OK, I'm going to go get my wife and then
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  I'm going to park the car. So he comes back out, opens my
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  car door, walks me into the restaurant, opens the door and I
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  stand and wait. I did not make eye contact with
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  the Hostess. I did not talk to her.
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  I waited until my husband came back.
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  He comes back, does the exchange with her, and then we went and
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  sat down. It's not in any sense like
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  you're better than the Hostess. You're just letting your husband
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  lead and be vasculine. So Princess content is like the
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  step before trad wife content. OK?
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  Like women get swept into the alt right pipeline through this
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  type of content. And this is one of those
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  markers. She's not quite trad wife yet
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  because she doesn't do the housework.
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  You know, she's not like barefoot pregnant in the kitchen
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  making her own sourdough vibes. She actually says that she has
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  house cleaning staff. So she basically just like
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  chills and works out all day and obviously makes content.
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  And there are so many creators who are selling this exact
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  lifestyle to young women on TikTok.
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  This like, soft life, feminine energy, Princess treatment life
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  where they're saying find a man to take care of you and you
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  don't have to do anything. And yeah, like, I get it.
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  Most people don't want to work so I get the idea of being taken
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  care of and how nice that sounds to most people.
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  But there is a reason why women fought for the right to work.
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  We need access to resources, money, autonomy, human rights
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  like it is. It should not be lost on any of
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  us that women were only allowed bank accounts in like the 70s.
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  Like if I was trying to run this business, I don't know, even
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  probably 30 years ago, I mean, we're almost in 20-30, so that's
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  kind of crazy. But like 50 years ago, like, I
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  probably would have never been able to get a bank loan, any
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  type of financing. I mean, this business just like
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  wouldn't exist because I'm a woman, OK?
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  Like it cannot be lost on us that there is a reason why women
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  fought for these things. And I don't know if we're just
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  like too far removed from that reality that we're like going,
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  you know, backwards. And I understand a lot of this
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  kind of soft, like it's like find a rich man to take care of
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  you vibe. I get that.
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  That's also in response to the girl boss movement that was so
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  assertive and was really like, women can do anything.
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  And you just need to be in that boardroom with men and like you
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  need to have this masculine energy.
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  Like the girl boss movement didn't really go very well for a
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  lot of women. So I understand that there is
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  now this kind of pendulum swing that is like so far and so
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  extreme. And obviously everything's going
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  right wing. All right, ANYWAYS, so it all
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  makes sense. But yeah, like, this video is
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  going viral for, I mean, in my opinion, the right reasons.
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  People are watching it and commenting on it being like, no,
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  girl, what are you talking about?
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  This is so crazy. And there are also so many older
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  women commenting on these videos from young women being like, I
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  was you, Like, I was the young wife.
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  I was the one who was like, had the Princess treatment, the soft
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  life. My husband took care of us.
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  And then 20 years in, he left me.
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  And I had no credentials. I hadn't been in the workforce
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  in 20 years. Like, I was absolutely fucked.
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  And I had no money. And like, we need to listen to
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  those stories. Like I know when you're younger,
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  you feel like, Oh my God, is an older person have to say to me,
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  like, that's going to be valid. But like the older I get, the
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  more I'm like, Oh my God, I want to talk to all of the older
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  women ever. Like I'm so interested in
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  hearing their perspectives and their advice because they have
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  the wisdom, you know, and they know what's going on.
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  But anyways, also, like in this particular scenario, OK, like I
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  don't know any grown men who would want their wife to act
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  like this. Like even my friends who have
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  partners that I would consider like misogynistic pigs, like men
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  that I do not consider to be like good guys, like none of
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  them would want their wives to act like this.
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  You have to think what kind of man wants a wife who
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  relinquishes all autonomy in public when she's with him, A
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  man who is scary and controlling.
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  We talk so much right now in the cultural zeitgeist about men
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  falling down the alt right pipeline, but we don't talk
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  enough about women and how these types of videos and this type of
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  content is like the precursor to that.
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  You know, like, yes, of course we've all talked about like trad
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  wifes and like obviously we know that trad wife is on that
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  pipeline is far down that pipeline.
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  OK, But like, what are the kind of earlier signs of that?
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  Like what are the earlier markers, the earlier entries
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  into it before you get to like full blown pregnant, barefoot in
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  a kitchen making sourdough. All right.
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  And the last story that I have for you guys is that Haley
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  Bieber has indirectly shut down divorce rumors after she was
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  spotted in New York City over the weekend without her wedding
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  ring. We know there are rumors about
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  Justin and Haley and like what's going on in their marriage.
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  And I am trying really hard not to report on them because I
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  don't know, it feels icky. I think it's very obvious that
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  Justin is like, going through something and therefore their
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  marriage is going through something.
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  But over the weekend, obviously, Haley stepped out, like I said,
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  without her wedding ring. And that just, like, sounded
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  alarm bells. Like people lost their minds
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  because there's been all the speculation for so long.
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  And all these sources are coming out saying, yes, Haley's going
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  to leave Justin. And then she spotted paparazzi
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  without her wedding ring. She was like going out.
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  OK. So people were like, oh, my God.
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  A couple days later, Haley seemingly shut down these
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  rumors. She took a mirror selfie where
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  you can very obviously see her wedding ring.
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  And then she also stepped out again wearing her ring as well.
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  But the tides are really starting to turn against Justin
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  and towards Haley. You know, for the vast majority
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  of their relationship, the Internet and fans have largely
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  been on like Team Justin, Team Selena.
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  And obviously Haley has just been like one of the most hated
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  women on the Internet for so long.
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  And I would say in the last maybe like 6 months now that we
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  can really see how Justin is treating her as the mother of
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  his child, people are starting to turn against Justin and see
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  Haley in a different life. There's all these videos that
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  are just going super viral right now on TikTok of like
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  compilations of Justin just like treating Haley like trash.
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  And everyone's like, oh, maybe if it wasn't Justin Bieber, the
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  conversation, the narrative around this relationship in the
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  public eye would be a little bit different.
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  But Justin just has, like, such a stronghold on this very large
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  cohort of young fans, and that has largely shaped the narrative
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  for so long. But, yeah, I think it is
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  starting to turn a little bit. And, I mean, I am in the camp of
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  Haley. Please, please.
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  I know he's going through it. But like, nobody deserves to be
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  treated the way that Haley is treated by Justin.
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  At least from what we can see. We don't know what's going on
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  behind closed doors from what we can see publicly.
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  If he's treating her like that publicly, I fear how he is
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  treating her behind closed doors.
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  Anyways guys, that's it for Mini Scroll today.
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  Thank you so much for listening. I love you guys.
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  Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
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  Please subscribe to us on YouTube.
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  We're so close to 10K and there will be a deep dive for you guys
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  tomorrow and then I will talk to you for Mini on Monday.
• 14:59
  Bye.