(Image via rollingstone.com)
Volunteer Writer: Sakara De Gil-Balija
Email: sdegilbalija@umassd.edu
Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender Tik Tok influencer, founded her fanbase in her “Days of Girlhood” series, where she talks about different struggles and triumphs that her transition has brought to her.
Her eight million fans, or ‘friends,’ as she calls them, follow as Mulvaney brings to light the ugly and more beautiful sides of transitioning, especially with transitioning publicly. She emits confidence and grace and passes that on to her followers.
Dylan Mulvaney, though flooded with positive comments on every one of her videos, does find herself being criticized and hated on by other influencers or viewers.
On the TODAY show, she addresses this by saying, “I actually made a video talking to my haters saying like, ‘Hey, just you know, you do make me cry.’” She explained, “because some people, I think, look at online creators or ‘influencers’ — I hate that word — as these characters.”
She follows this statement by saying that she feels as though people might not see her as a real person, “And babe, I’m a real person.”
Her most recent critic was none other than Caitlyn Jenner.
Caitlyn Jenner, a fellow trans woman, ridiculed Mulvaney very publicly on Twitter, saying “there is a difference between acceptance and tolerance, and normalizing exposing your genitals in a public way and a public place. I do not support that at all, in the slightest. Dylan…congrats your trans with a penis.”
And in response to a video Mulvaney posted in a pair of tight-fitting shorts Jenner tweeted, “He is talking about his penis!” Which has since been deleted.
Dylan Mulvaney then responded in a three-minute Tik Tok video.
“Hi Caitlyn, I’m Dylan, and we are two of the most privileged trans women in America at the moment, and with that comes a lot of responsibility. And although we have very different views on most things, a few days ago I probably would have still been willing to sit down with you and try to connect with you in some way because I automatically have a lot of respect for you as a fellow trans woman. But then you decided to ridicule me very publicly.”
Mulvaney goes on to say that the initial tweet made her seem like a flasher that exposed herself publicly. She also explains how hurtful it is to be called a “he.”
“Not you calling me a he! That is just … terrible.”
Mulvaney, as stated before, would have been willing to meet and talk to Jenner but no longer feels the same way “because the way you use your platform to publicly degrade me told me everything I need to know about you. A trans person invalidating another trans person’s trans-ness is pretty evil in my eyes.”
Mulvaney is best known for using her TikTok page as a safe space for trans solidarity; a way to bring people of all sexual identities and allies together to bring awareness to the hardships trans people must face. These hardships could include violence, hate crimes, being looked down upon, or discrimination in the workplace.
Uniting trans people together to help spread awareness of these injustices is exactly what Dylan Mulvaney is doing.
Jenner, though trans herself, greatly hurt not only Mulvaney but the entire trans community. By speaking about the TikToker, Jenner showed that there are always people that will not see eye to eye with others, even if they are part of the same community.