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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   27543 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025

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It should be noted that the Dissident Right also identifies it as white supremacist, eugenicist, and as a fascist advertisement. They are probably going to ruin the campaign with the next model though - "Zendaya has good genes." Associating the phenotype of a beautiful white woman with genetic inheritance (I believe even inheritance of cognitive traits are alluded to in one of the ads) is indeed eugenicist-coded.

I'm not a fan of Richard Hanania, but I'll give him a W for his provocative "Sidney Sweeny's boobs ended wokeness" take during the SNL outro that went viral. "Sidney Sweeny has great genes" as an ad for a top-tier brand is a strong signal of the pendulum swinging away from Woke.

"Zendaya has good genes."

She hasn't. There is a rigorous scientific test for a good genes in a woman - is she hotter than a young cashier from the same race. I am afraid Zendaya fails it. But the black UFC ring girls pass it. I think that I have noted here that the beautiful black women are just hidden in the media.

Zendaya is black? She's lighter than most Arabs that are currently vacationing around me. I'd call her racially ambiguous, like Meghan Markle or Halle Berry or Tiger Woods.

I guarantee that she considers herself black, and doesn't consider herself white.

In America, yes, she is considered black- and so are all those people.

I would not say that at all. Tiger Woods is black and Halle Berry is black, but not the other two. I don't doubt some people call them black, but people also call folks black who are as pale as the fallen snow. So that isn't much of a barometer.

America has traditions built around the one drop rule. Spanish has more descriptive terms like octaroon, but they are frowned upon in the US.

"You freaked out when I said 'quadroon'"

Markle is a bit of a stretch, her father is white and her mother has mixed ancestry. She's at the point where she could easily pass as Italian or Spanish.

Her dad is black, mom's white.

I googled an image of her family, and holy shit did she win the genetic lottery. Her father looks like a frog with dreads. Her mom looks like a lesbian punk rocker who aged poorly. I guess the ugliness canceled out.

I'd have assumed she's uncontroversially mixed race.

In the US, black includes basically everyone who would be considered mixed in most other places.

I've seen this opinion online in the wild before and I gotta ask, how? She's thin with a beautiful, symmetrical face. Is this a "I definitely would NOT hit it. Just look at those sharp knees." situation? Is it because her most popular acting roles downplayed her attractiveness and made her look a bit masculine (see Euphoria, Dune, Spider-Man)? This is what she looks like when she actually tries to look good, where do you live where that's worse than an average cashier of the same age?

Obviously Zendaya is not ugly ugly, but judging by the standards for a 25 (?) year old Hollywood star, I consider her mediocre looking.

She's thin with a beautiful, symmetrical face.

She also has no curve to her body, her nose is too flat, her eyes are too small, her chin is too big, and she wears way too much makeup. Without makeup she looks like a cave(wo)man. She is neither cute nor handsome, and she tries too hard to hide it.

It doesn't help that she is a terrible actress who never impresses you with her performance, so she can't even grow on you despite her looks.

This is what she looks like when she actually tries to look good

Is this supposed to be a good look? Her smile looks fake, she's wearing way too much makeup, her top is ugly and her skirt is even more ugly, like literally what the fuck are those colors? They are all clashing (look at her nails and lipstick too, all different ugly shades of pink) and I'm not even into fashion? It's like she's trying to be ugly. Also I've never met a single man who thinks box braids are attractive on a woman.

This is what she looks like when she actually tries to look good, where do you live where that's worse than an average cashier of the same age?

She's completely reasonable looking, but hardly captivating. Also keep in mind that cashiers rarely doll themselves up for work.

One time this topic came up in a group setting with men and women, and all the women (plus one gay guy) were shocked that the straight men did not find Zendaya that attractive. They were saying 9-10, while we were more like 6-7. She definitely has a unique look, but personally I found Rebecca Ferguson much more attractive in Dune, despite her being over a decade older.

I found Rebecca Ferguson much more attractive in Dune, despite her being over a decade older.

This by a very wide margin. And call me an Ayy-ophile, but I also liked the appearances of Anya Taylor-Joy and...whoever played Margot Fenring. Forgot the name.

Obviously I am racist, but I also just honestly think that Chani in the new Dune movies was a caustic harridan and woke mouthpiece, and from what little I've seen of her actress otherwise, she doesn't appear to be much more likable IRL. With those traits, race doesn't even get to be a factor.

This by a very wide margin. And call me an Ayy-ophile, but I also liked the appearances of Anya Taylor-Joy and...whoever played Margot Fenring. Forgot the name.

Unfortunately I have been warned by our moderation staff to avoid this topic, so I cannot post my full 14 page long screed in which I accuse @Southkraut of being a traitor to all of humankind. Nor can I delve into the incredible commitment to cultural subversion it takes to cast that actress in a science fiction universe in which the defining feature of the world building is that there are NO AYYS.

I'll gladly betray all mankind past present and future twice over and then some for tall woman with unusual face. That just always gets me.

Just move to the Netherlands, bro...

Count me as another straight guy who sees Zendaya as pretty mid for a starlet.

Straight guy as well, and I'd consider her pretty mid for a normal woman, much less a starlet.

Huh. I guess I'll put another marker toward that theory as a bi guy; Znedaya looks perfectly fine to me, where I'd expect Ferguson to be the one straight guys would put as 'only gay fashion dudes like'.

Is it because her most popular acting roles downplayed her attractiveness and made her look a bit masculine (see Euphoria, Dune, Spider-Man)?

Yes. I mean, having only seen her in Dune, she was like a 3 out of 10. I get that sometimes you ugly up an actress for a role. Charlize Theron in Monster for instance. But that seemed entirely unnecessary for Dune, and she genuinely seemed ugly on the inside as well. I'd say that's down to the butchery they performed on her character, but she seems to be a natural at it from what other in character and out of character appearances I've seen of her.

Different strokes for different folks but 3/10 sounds pretty absurd to me.

Also for me.

But the black UFC ring girls pass it.

Those are for guys, like Sweeney.

Zendaya clearly isn't unattractive, but she seems to get a lot of admiration from women and red carpet watchers for how she glams up rather than raw sex appeal.

I think Zendaya is unattractive, personally. Not ugly, certainly, but I find her to be a very plain looking woman (when she isn't wearing idiotic outfits to awards shows).

very plain looking woman

maybe I am weirdo with low standards, but for me "very plain looking woman" qualifies as attractive

Ok, I'm curious, is a very plain woman preferable to a jawdropping stunning one?

no, with all else being equal

It should be noted that the Dissident Right also identifies it as white supremacist, eugenicist, and as a fascist advertisement.

The DR is always looking to conscript allies. It rarely works.

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