“I’ve been white womanned”; is internalised misogyny fuelling a worrying wave of social media imitation?

The first time I went viral was in 2018, with a photo of a vegan charcoal-activated croissant that looked like a poo. “I feel like this might be a bit much, even for East London” my tweet read (RIP Twitter).

According to The Guardian newspaper, I’d turned the charcoal croissant into a “global hate object”. 

To be fair, the picture I’d taken at the counter of Coco di Mama absolutely looked like someone had shat on a baking tray. The social crowds went wild, with 40k likes and 11k shares (modest by today’s standards) and within a few hours I was being interviewed by the Daily Mirror’s food correspondent and quoted on Fox News. 

According to The Guardian newspaper, I’d turned the charcoal croissant into a “global hate object”. 

Above: Kean's viral post about a charcoal-activated croissant made her an internet celebrity for a fleeting moment. 

There’s a vulnerability in going viral; like you’re opening yourself up to the whole of humanity in its terrifying depth and breadth. Vegan activists DM’d me pictures of dismembered foxes. And it didn’t take long for social media users to copy my tweet and pass the image off as their own; the tale of an iconic croissant living on through the posts and comments of others. 

It didn’t take long for social media users to copy my tweet and pass the image off as their own.

I didn’t mind. That it was posted by me was sheer luck; right place, right time. It wasn’t my life’s work and I’ll be sad if it‘s referenced in my obituary. But the moment needed to be shared, because the world needed to see freshly baked faeces. 

Over the years I’ve had other thoughts and images go viral (about The Queen’s Gambit [below], the metaverse and landlords, for example) and every time they’ve been reproduced by other internet folk. But that’s just how the internet works, with memes that flourish and mutate and make society more interesting. It’s flattering for someone to repeat a joke you’ve shared, or reiterate a point you’ve made. 

But when it’s your career? That’s different. That’s very, very different. 

Above: Kean continued to garner online traction with other social media posts. 

Dr Kate Tomas is a doctor of philosophy and an expert in mysticism. She’s one of my favourite TikTok creators, and an astoundingly wise activist. Her tone of voice is unique - blunt and magical - and it’s easy to see why her handful of online courses merging life and spirituality are a great success. 

Kate’s recent TikTok video entitled CONTENT THIEF sparked my interest. “I’ve been CIS white womanned,” she announced, telling the story of a lady who’d taken her online course, The Spiritual Money Upgrade, and raved about it on social media, then created a carbon copy of the programme, which she began selling at twice the price. That’s some grade A audacity. 

The final nail in the coffin was when the copycat joined a group chat dedicated to Dr Tomas’ work… and tried selling the course there, too. 

The final nail in the coffin was when the copycat joined a group chat dedicated to Dr Tomas’ work… and tried selling the course there, too. So, Kate sent a Cease and Desist. It wasn’t just the act of plagiarism, she said, which is grubby on a good day, but the fact that years’ of work, learning, experience and trial and error had been lifted so easily and flippantly. “It’s mine, and it’s me”, she said. 

It’s mine, and it’s me. 

It’s my thoughts, and my work. 

It’s personal.

Above: Kate Thomas outlines her issues with being "white CIS-womenned' on TikTok. 

According to Dr Tomas this is symptomatic of a bigger issue, and endemic within certain social media spaces. “We’re trained to see something we want and just fucking take it because we feel like we’re entitled to it. And by we, I mean white women.” 

Ariana Grande once said: “I want it, I got it” - profoundly and accurately predicting an entire generation of social media-fuelled women for whom entitlement trumps integrity. 

Ariana Grande once said: “I want it, I got it” - profoundly and accurately predicting an entire generation of social media-fuelled women for whom entitlement trumps integrity. Decades of YOU CAN BE ANYTHING GO FORTH AND SMASH THE GLASS CEILING feminism combined with the land grabby greed of capitalism seems to have created a psychological race - who can succeed the greatest and fastest - with the most privileged at the front. Which actually, if it meant smashing the patriarchy, would be amazing. 

But a lot of the time it just means dicking over other women. Over the last six months a bunch of similar stories have popped up to suggest this is a trend, typical of the me me me nature of social media. The perps always look the same. 

Stealing someone’s IP is a criminal act. And with any criminal act the villain normally analyses risk beforehand. What is the likelihood I’ll get away with this? How hard would it be to prove? Can I intimidate my way out of it? Decades of corporate sexism and routine NDAs tell us there are few repercussions for hurting a woman. Hell, the conviction rate of rape is only 2%. But there’s even fewer ramifications when it’s a Black or Brown woman.

Above: Stealing someone's idea is a criminal act. 

Eni Awoyemi is the owner of Feyi, an online florist with a cute aesthetic, wrapping flowers in newspaper designs. In November last year, Eni bravely took to TikTok to share that someone was ripping her off: Rosie Hudson, a white woman and girlfriend of Instagram influencer, Thomas Anderson (founder of Doughnut Time). 

Where it gets really dirty is that Thomas Anderson had been following Eni and her business journey on Instagram for three months prior, and registered Rosie’s new business “Fond Flowers’ in his name. The product was the same, Eni argued. The messaging was the same, the brand vibe the same, the newspaper designs the same, just without any of the authenticity and origin story. 

“I am appalled by this,” said Eni. “It's so unethical. I am so disappointed that a big brand would follow me to basically copy my business. 

“I am appalled by this,” said Eni. “It's so unethical. I am so disappointed that a big brand would follow me to basically copy my business. This is why it's so hard for Black and Brown founders to actually make it because you have situations like this.”

Look at FEYI and then look at Fond. They are exactly the same. It’s such a brazen threat to someone’s livelihood that I consider it an act of violence, and racial violence at that. However, in the absence of a trademark, Eni’s power was limited. Luckily, her TikTok sparked an outpouring of support and online orders, including from celebs like Stormzy.

Above: The Daily Mail ran a story on the similarities between the FEYI and Fond brands. 

Rosie Hudson denied the allegations. But no one’s going to admit ripping off someone’s brand and messaging, are they? They’d look like a fucking clown! If anything, they’d double down and react with shock and defensiveness, hoping for the drama to die down. The Fond business still appears to be active, but they haven’t posted on Instagram since November, and comments are locked. 

The second-hand embarrassment (and shame, and disgust) I feel for Ms Hudson is real. What’s confusing about these situations is why they happen in the first place. What self-respecting individual would pilfer someone else’s thoughts and hard work? 

What self-respecting individual would pilfer someone else’s thoughts and hard work? 

Well, according to Lillien Ellis and Brian Lucas of Cornell University in their paper Before the Ink Dries?, the psychology of ideas theft is complex, with much mental acrobatics. Ideas thieves don’t always see themselves as bad people, and will justify their actions to themselves by mimicking early stage products rather than established ones, adding their own flair and creating an entire web of moral reasoning that in their mind positions the act as inspiration, not imitation. 

They tell themselves it’s ok because their audience is different to yours. Perhaps they’ll even convince themselves that your life story is their life story. It’s a slippery slope. The ego does strange things to people. In many cases, Ellis and Lucas argue that idea theft can be more damaging than financial theft due to the impact on a victim’s self-esteem. That slow, insidious feeling that you’re paranoid and imagining the situation. 

Above: The saying might be that 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...' but that doesn't always hold true. 

The saying goes: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness,” but from a business perspective, when entire products are copied, along with messaging, there’s a risk of losing your audience and diluting a space. This is exactly what ‘beige’ digital creator Sydney Nicole Gifford is claiming in a huge, landmark lawsuit, the results of which could influence influencers forever. 

It’s common in copycat cases for the criminal to spend time studying and mirroring their victim, often in person, to get the ripoff completely right. 

Gifford is suing fellow creator Alyssa Sheil for copying her 'neutral, beige and cream aesthetics' in a case that cites copyright infringement, tortious interference with prospective business relations and misappropriating another person’s likeness as the crimes. Which, according to Gifford, has affected her earnings. She’s suing for $150,000 and also claiming a total appropriation of identity, including poses, hairstyles and even ways of speaking. 

It’s common in copycat cases for the criminal to spend time studying and mirroring their victim, often in person, to get the ripoff completely right. Sheil and Gifford - both in their early 20s - hung out with each other and had a handful of meetups to discuss collaborating, but as soon as Sheil blocked Gifford in social media after a photo shoot, the theft allegedly commenced. 

People began telling Gifford that her posts and imagery were being copied by Sheil, down to the exact products she promoted on her page. Shiel is denying it, with her lawyer stating: “Things like ‘look,’ ‘feel,’ or ‘vibe,’ are not protectable and we look forward to vindicating Ms. Sheil from these false accusations.” 

Above: Koa Beck's book, White Feminism, suggests that white women navigate the patriarchy, rather than dismantling it.

Whilst anti-influencer commentators (yawn) have said “who cares, they’re both boring and vacuous” this is a bizarrely critical case. Because it gets to the crux of the matter: is it ok to steal the essence of someone’s creative work, even when that creative work is on the internet for all to see? It’s being pitched as a creator cat fight, rather than a legitimate business concern. 

But of course, no one’s taking it seriously. It’s women! Society doesn’t take creative or entrepreneurial women seriously. And this has trickled down to dictate how we treat each other. White women are doing this at such an alarming rate because we’ve been taught that other women matter less.

“I’ll copy her idea because it’s only her.”

“I’ll mimic her business because it's only her.” 

We’ve been taught since girlhood to compete with other women. Everything is a competition, from what man you win to how thin you are and how much of a badass boss babe mama you’ve become. It’s generated an inherent and gruesome internalised misogyny; seeing our sisters simply as collateral damage in the sprint to success. 

We’ve been taught since girlhood to compete with other women. Everything is a competition, from what man you win to how thin you are and how much of a badass boss babe mama you’ve become.

And if it’s a popular woman we’re ripping off? Well, she probably deserved it. Social media - that gateway to attention and validation - has heightened the behaviour, making it easy to lift and repurpose other people’s content. Who needs originality when you can mock up a quick remake on Canva? Perhaps the copycat herself has become a meme, mutating and spreading like that viral vegan croissant; seeing how far she can push it before being found out. Before becoming a monster. Like white women’s lust for cultural appropriation that came before: it’s bastardising someone’s entire existence for cute points.  

Above: Koa Beck's books suggests women should try to navigate the patriarchy rather than fight against it.

Koa Beck, author of White Feminism suggests that white women navigate the patriarchy, rather than dismantling it, seeing it as a computer game to play and win (with whichever tools and tricks necessary) rather than opting out of the game altogether, or creating a new one. Ripping each other off is navigating the patriarchy. Supporting other women is changing the game. 

Ideas theft has always occurred: trademarks exist for a reason, IP and copyright laws exist for a reason. Human beings imitate and sometimes they don’t even realise they’re doing it. But ideas have never been so on display before. Uniqueness has never been so critical to so many people’s careers, which requires a new level of emotional maturity from all of us. 

Human beings imitate and sometimes they don’t even realise they’re doing it. But ideas have never been so on display before.

There’s a difference between being a member of an aesthetic subculture, and wearing someone else’s efforts like a fancy fucking cape. There is a great deal about society that displeases me, but this phenomenon is truly unpleasant. It’s violating. It’s lazy. And it’s so very, very white. Apart from physically or mentally harming someone, threatening their financial security and appropriating their hard work is as low as you can go. Even if it’s packaged up in a pink Instagram carousel and wrapped in a bow.