Sensual viral social media challenges speak to a larger conversation on misogyny, Black femme creativity, and the power of the erotic.
I don’t own a TikTok account, but that doesn’t stop me from viewing re-posted, and screen recorded TikTok videos across all popular social media platforms. Ever since 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon’s “Renegade” choreography uploaded to TikTok in late 2019, the world of dance and entertainment pivoted to meet the demand for (seemingly) simple, yet captivating social media challenges. Adults have created unique challenges as well, such as the #DontRushChallenge, and most recently #BussItChallenge, and #SilhouetteChallenge, which are the most sensual and erotic challenges to date. It’s also worth mentioning a common factor in these viral challenges are that Black girls and women are the originators, and usually the “Black side of the internet” sees them first.
In summary, challenge participants perform a before-and-after switcheroo; going from regular-degular bystanders, to high femme video vixens from the comfort of their homes. The #SilhouetteChallenge differs slightly from the #BussItChallenge because the set-up suggests that participants behind the red filter are nude, or wearing little to nothing. People participate for varied reasons: to show off cute looks while ongoing #StayAtHome orders dampen the idea of COVID-free social gatherings for another year; to promote sensual or explicit material they create or sell; to feel good about their bodies. All reasons are valid. Both the #BussItChallenge and #SilhouetteChallenge have sparked interesting reactions from the internet community. Ordinarily, anyone who likes attractive people could sit back, watch this suggestive adult material, and thank God(dess) it’s free to view over, and over, and over again. However, it seems that these viral videos are prime source material for misogynoiristic ideology to rear its ugly head once again.
Sensuality and Online Harassment
Most likely unknown to the originator of the #SilhouetteChallenge, the red filter TikTok offers for videos can be digitally manipulated to the point of reverting back to the original video color, contrast, and saturation. Is it assumed that someone could essentially screen record a challenge video, manually remove the filter out of a naked person’s video, and re-upload the video without the original content creators’ permission. Regardless if the “hack” works or doesn’t, warnings spread across social media threads almost as fast as the challenge itself.
While men and masculine people have also joined in on the #SilhouetteChallenge, neither men nor women have publicly advocated for digitally manipulating their videos, even if they’re posing nude. Men who feel entitled to seeing breasts and genitals un-filtered, could easily go to a porn website and enjoy content there. However, the point isn’t to see nude bodies at all- it’s to employ fear, shame, and guilt onto [Black] women who creatively express their erotic power outside of the “male gaze”. Specifically, Black African men were sharing this creepy information as a “deserved punishment” for Black and African women choosing to show one’s skin for online attention.
Humorous Sensuality, or Mocking the Erotic?
As expected, comedians and social media jokesters capitalized on the popularity of both #SilhouetteChellenge and #BussItChallenge by creating parody videos. This parody #SilhouetteChallenge video by comedian Tahir Moore has so far received over 360,000 views on Instagram Reels. Each parody video serves its own purpose of making light of tense situations- videos of women “caught” by their male partners while recording a challenge; men’s “penis” reveals of unusually long, fallace-like objects; or bait-and-switch “calls for repentance” to the viewer. Some parodies are funny, but do we really need to make light of our erotic power through mockery?
Comedians can be both funny and sexy, but rarely do they employ sensuality without a gag or prop. The jokes people commonly use to deflect from sensual media heavily rely on [insert]-phobic or gendered tropes and stereotypes to land the punchline. People who consider participating in an erotic challenge are often deterred by parody versions, or fear going viral and face sexual harassment, or the brunt of mean jokes.
Here’s some questions I’d encourage content creators to answer before uploading erotic parody content:
Do you know how to embody pleasure, exude sexual desire, and encourage audiences to laugh and be turned-on?
Do you display a de-sexualized version of your body because subconsciously, you’ve never been an object of conventional desire and sexual attraction?
Is your body meant to be laughed at, or enjoyed fully by yourself and/or others?
By uploading this video, are you unconsciously encouraging people to make fun of other bodies similar in shape and size?
What does it mean to bring humor into the bedroom with intention and not distraction?
As an alternative, I’d love to see erotic content on social media used as a tool for body positivity, and unconventional embodiment of erotic power. People of all ethnicities go out of their way to harass Black women on the internet, but when Black men mock Black women’s sexuality, they further perpetuate the devaluing of our bodies and creativity. The internet is a wild space to seek validation and popularity- everyday we witness the best and worst sides of humans through viral videos. It’s become commonplace to expect criticism for uploaded content, even if it’s not explicitly requested by the creator. As we continue to find our niche of pleasure online, it’s even more important to live unapologetically in our bodies away from keyboard (AFK). The media we produce, like, share, comment on, or record has a ripple affect on how we value ourselves and others.
Comments