A small crafts shop in Nantucket set off a cultural war this summer. John Sylvia, who runs the Four Winds Craft Guild, a store selling hand-woven baskets, carvings, artwork, and jewellery in Nantucket, hung up a sign. It read, “NO INFLUENCERS”. His wife, Jessica Jenkins, posted a photo of it on Instagram. Oh boy.
Paige Paul (formerly Lorenze), who has 1.2 million followers, commented: “If you call yourself a feminist but proudly put up a ‘No Influencers’ sign, it’s worth asking who you are attempting to delegitimize, and why…” Levi Coralynn (also more than 1 million followers) posted a video saying, “hating influencers has become a socially acceptable way to hate women”.
It’s like watching a game where one team is playing football and the other is playing squash. As Sylvia later explained to the Cut, a local Nantucket publication, he wasn’t trying to be antagonistic. He just wanted to maintain a pleasant atmosphere in his shop.
Meanwhile, Paul et al insist they’re being oppressed. But is it oppression if the point of contention is simply their obnoxious behaviour?
Influencers are always chasing vibesy backdrops, but this can lead to scenic destinations being overrun and even closing down due to overtourism. It’s irritating for locals, and can be actively damaging for business owners, when regular customers can no longer stand the clatter of selfie sticks in familiar cafes, restaurants and shops.
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Plus, not all “free publicity” is good publicity. Earlier this year, a careless online remark from a creator who found a grilled cheese sandwich overpriced led to a pile-on that sank two San Francisco Bay sandwich shops.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t great, unproblematic female influencers, or to exempt the misogynistic horrors touted in the manosphere. You don’t have to look far to find a socially acceptable way to hate women. But when your career is filtered entirely through the lens of your personal experience, it can become very easy to ignore other people’s.
As Paul pointed out in her original response, the “creator economy is overwhelmingly driven by women”. That’s true, but not only in the sense she’s talking about. A significant proportion of creators’ businesses prey on their female followers’ insecurities, urging them to part with their hard-earned cash to buy “skincare”, fast fashion, and other products they don’t need.
Others exploit the fact that women are woefully underserved by medical systems to shill fake “cures”. Bottom line: too many do not care where the products they’re hawking come from, or at whose cost.
The day before Coralynn posted her retort to the “No Influencers” sign, she shared a post sponsored by Victoria’s Secret. In 2020, a New York Times investigation found that the men who ran the company perpetuated a culture of sexism, bullying and sexual harassment.
A few weeks later, Leslie Wexner stepped down as CEO amid a backlash over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. His exit was meant to herald a cultural shift for the brand, but in 2022, Victoria’s Secret financed an $8.3m settlement to resolve a major wage-theft case involving 1,250 laid-off Thai garment workers. Most Thai garment workers are women, and many are migrants. Both groups overwhelmingly hold more precarious, lower-paid jobs.
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That’s barely scratching the surface. In 2023, a group of digital creators posted glowing reviews after accepting a PR trip to a Shein factory – just as the fast-fashion brand was facing allegations of forced labour and human rights violations.
Back in June, Kylie Jenner, who has often complained about paparazzi invading her privacy, launched a collaboration with Meta glasses. These have already been dubbed “pervert glasses” due to the high concentration of creeps who use them to film people without their consent.
Being a female creator does not automatically make you a feminist, and calling out selfish behaviour does not automatically make you a bigot. And for most influencers, most of the time – sorry, you’re not that famous; you’re just being a dick.
