Blaire White is a famous trans conservative political commentator with over 1 million subscribers on YouTube. Most of her content consists of critiquing "woke" TikTokers who create somewhat cringe-worthy videos. I used to find Blaire White extremely unbearable in the past, and I still do. However, after watching some of her recent content, I actually feel empathy for her, and I can relate to her to some extent.
I grew up in a strict Muslim household in the Middle East, which wasn't easy as a gay individual. When I finally had the opportunity to leave that environment, I ended up in a relationship with an extremely racist and abusive man who frequently criticized people from brown backgrounds in Asia, labeling them as lazy and uninteresting. At the time, I was an 18-year-old traumatized young person with no support system, while he was nearly
30. He often ridiculed my interests and lifestyle, making me feel ashamed for not being as "westernized" as he was. Despite excelling in university, I still felt ashamed of my background and who I was as a person. I started striving to change my lifestyle and behavior to fit his expectations of what was "good." I felt ashamed and angry when I saw people from backgrounds similar to mine acting awkward or peculiar in public. I believed it gave everyone the wrong impression about me and made people hesitant to befriend me. Fortunately, I didn't have a platform like Blaire White to voice my opinions, but my behavior was eerily similar to hers. Instead of attacking the trans community, I would criticize Arabs and South Asians who weren't exactly like me. When there was a terrorist attack, I would become upset if every brown person I knew didn't actively condemn it, as if they were all responsible for the attacks.
I've seen many of Blaire White's recent videos, and I strongly identify with her perspective. She emphasizes that trans people can't afford to appear unusual online right now because the world might view them negatively. She mocks and criticizes anyone who doesn't fully "pass" as a trans person, suggesting they are insincere and shouldn't identify as trans. She also criticizes non-binary individuals for wanting to be included under the same transgender umbrella, which she believes is right.
In several videos, you can clearly see Blaire's frustration when discussing certain trans content creators she finds cringe-worthy and annoying. She worries that if others see these people as odd, they will view her the same way. Instead of creating her own content and emphasizing the importance of individuality and the dangers of generalizing, she follows the path of many transphobes: she seeks out cringe-worthy trans content online and shames the individuals, not only for their views but also for their appearance, in an attempt to appeal to her conservative audience.
She called Matt Walsh's movie "What is a woman?" a "fascinating movie" and ranked it 4.9 out of 5 (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzCs23OVnso&ab_channel=BlaireWhite ). Blaire herself admitted that the movie is biased and doesn't portray trans people positively. It fails to feature trans people who are content with their surgeries and living happy lives. So why would she rate it so highly? If an "educational" movie misses something so crucial, how can it receive such a positive rating? The issue with her praise for the movie isn't just that she's trying to gain favor, but she's supporting a film that could fuel further transphobia. If you genuinely care about trans issues and believe it's important to cover both the positive and negative aspects, you wouldn't recommend such a movie. What's the point of doing this? Is it to earn approval from conservatives so they see that not all trans people hated the movie? Furthermore, Matt Walsh has explicitly stated that he doesn't want trans surgery only banned for kids but aims to make it illegal for everyone. (Source: https://www.mediamatters.org/matt-walsh/daily-wires-matt-walsh-praises-russias-proposed-draconian-anti-trans-law ). Blaire, if Matt's goals are achieved, you could face legal consequences. You might argue, "Liking his movie doesn't mean I support everything he does!" However, that's a weak argument. Supporting a dangerous individual just because you agree with certain points they make is problematic. Imagine if a racist, advocating for the reintroduction of segregation, created a biased film about issues in the black community and made some points you agreed with. Praising that movie would undoubtedly lead your audience to follow that racist individual more closely. If you fail to grasp how dangerous this is, you may not fully understand how the world works.
As much as Blaire would like to pretend that she's content, I know from experience that living a life where you constantly feel the need to speak up and work hard for acceptance from a community that harbors animosity is incredibly frustrating. She promotes personal accountability, but when it comes to the government introducing new anti-trans laws, she places less blame on the government and more on the trans community for their online behavior. (source: https://youtu.be/XgwO5sqy0V4?si=Jx6Eib-Z9t8eaJ7C ). If a government body forms opinions and policies based on TikTok content instead of examining facts and data, the issue lies with the government's generalization.
Ultimately, if you genuinely seek acceptance and hope to make people realize you deserve respect, you must stress the importance of individualism and criticize organizations that generalize entire communities. This doesn't mean you can't address negative behaviors among some trans individuals, such as criminal activity. However, Blaire's approach appears to involve hunting down any online trans person who doesn't resemble her or holds unconventional views. She passionately condemns these individuals but seems to shy away when it comes to defending herself or the trans community. Approximately two years ago, she participated in a conservative debate panel where a conservative woman disrespected her for being a trans woman, and she did little to defend herself. Where is the passion? Where is the desire to stand up for the trans community now? Why not confront these individuals in the same way you criticize "woke" trans TikTokers? (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeuEJk_du3s&ab_channel=Vaush )
As much as I empathize with Blaire, she has chosen to channel her frustration in a manner that harms the trans community. Sympathizing with her has become challenging. Her experiences of being bullied seem to have turned her into a bully herself.
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