TikTok Creator’s Fame Quickly Turns to Notoriety After Misogynistic Past Resurfaces
Published Nov. 30 2022, 10:46 p.m. ET
We are so glad that the men finally understand that those shirtless selfies aren't for us girlies. Honestly, it's kind of a red flag. Now a man playing the piano and holding puppies? Green flag. A man holding a fish? Red flag. A man cooking the fish? Green flag. And it's all thanks to TikTok.
One of the many reasons why we love TikTok is that it has finally taught the fellas what the "female gaze" is. And we thought we found a man who understood the assignment in creator @strangek3vin. But we were wrong. Very wrong.
First off, what is the "female gaze" and how does it relate to Strange Kevin?
The "female gaze" was originally a term coined by feminists in reference to Hollywood and the lack of gender representation across film. Oxford defines the term as "the ways in which women and girls look at other females, at males, and at things in the world. This concerns the kinds of looking involved, and how these may be related to identification, objectification, subjectivity, and the performance and construction of gender."
Today, the "female gaze" mostly refers to how a woman views the world, and more specifically on TikTok, how women view men vs. how men think women view men. Now enter TikTok and Strange Kevin.
What happened to Strange Kevin on TikTok?
Strange Kevin, known as @strangek3vin on TikTok, although that account has since been deleted, was known on the app for creating sketch and reaction videos. Most recently, he went viral for nailing the female gaze in a short video. Strange Kevin still has an Instagram and YouTube page under the same name.
OK cool. Now why was Strange Kevin canceled? Here's a breakdown of the controversy.
Creator @centennialbeauty breaks down the controversy explaining that:
"Kevin is now facing intense backlash after videos from his past resurface. In the videos, he can be seen acting out domestic violence scenarios, including pretending to beat up his girlfriend for getting pregnant and pretending to smack his girlfriend against the table. It's very graphic and very inappropriate."
Creator @ziora.exe spliced together multiple of these very disturbing sketches of Strange Kevin acting out the violent scenarios. But that's not all, creator @auntkaren0 found a (trigger warning) TikTok of a girl who had a bad interaction with him.
Aunt Karen also found Strange Kevin's since deleted discord server, which allows minors to join in. People are introducing themselves with their age, location, and even pictures. This all means that Strange Kevin is getting sent pictures of minors with no moderation.
Strange Kevin addressed some of the allegations in a live stating very adamantly that he wasn't the guy in the video saying that "this is a crazy look bro... not only are y'all attacking the gay man, but y'all are confusing him another Arab man... this is such a bad look. This is such a f--cking bad look." Essentially, Strange Kevin is calling those who believe it to be true "racist" and "homophobic."
That reaction video felt like gaslighting. How quickly Strange Kevin's 15 minutes of fame have turned to notoriety.