Sometimes a photo of Jimmy Fallon just cracks your brain in half and leads to a moment of self-evaluation. YouTuber Nicole Rafiee, known mostly for her “chronically online girl explains” series, discusses the online coddling, smoll beanification, babygirlification, infantilization of celebrity men. Nicole’s thesis is that this infantilization is “driven by the misogynistic values we adhere to everyday in our lives” and how stan twitter discourse and IRL behaviors are affected and reflected by this.
Topics discussed include:- a shoutout to Dua Lipa’s Boys Will Be Boys – infantilization of male celebrities gives them a free pass to behave inappropriately- “smoll bean” often applies to celebs seen as “safe men”, which can give a cover for predatory men to appear safe to the public (e.g., johnny depp) – “female fans casting themselves into hypothetical caregiver roles and feeling maternal towards these full-ass grown men”, leading to increased parasociality and fandoms directing ire towards their object’s partners (e.g. john mulaney, timothy chalamet)- infantilization strips the agency of its target (releasing them from responsibility for their actions, or treating grown adults like children in a detrimental way)- babygirlification goes hand-in-hand with coddling men and boys (“boys will be boys”, boy’s mom phenomenon, weaponized incompetence, etc.) – male celebs mentioned: Jimmy Fallon, Henry Cavill, 21pilots, Joe Keery, Julian Casablancas, Kanye West, John Mulaney, wife guys, Johnny Depp, Harry Styles, Joseph Quinn, Timothy Chalamet, Brendan Fraser, Pedro Pascal, Justin Bieber, Conrad Fisher
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