The internet is often lauded as a technicolor cyberscape where lonely queer kids in flyover states can find like-minded people and feel less alone. If you spend enough time online, it’s easy to fall into a false sense that everything everywhere is super gay. There can seem to be countless safe spaces online; a platform like Tumblr can be seen as a fountain of “new” sexualities and identity labels; on TikTok, any pop-cultural obsession or niche-interest can be. But, utopian as it can sometimes appear, it’s also impossible to forget that the internet is also where some of the most aggressively straight people live and seethe — from 4chan’s incels to Reddit’s… redditors to the newest transphobic movement: Super Straight. 

Claiming to be a movement that represents a new sexual orientation, Super Straight is supposed to be a designation for people who are so straight that they can’t possibly be attracted to a trans person. It gained a growing ubiquity this week, mainly because of how quickly and aggressively its posts and hashtags are being chased off social media platforms.

On Tuesday, the Super Straight subreddit was banned from Reddit for “promoting hate towards marginalized or vulnerable groups.” On TikTok, all that remains of the movement are videos using #superstraights — a hashtag that’s actually used on videos that criticize and parody the movement, as well as host necessary conversations about transphobia. These videos have collectively amassed over 3 million views. Meanwhile, the original hashtag — “#superstraight” — doesn’t yield any results. Instead, a message from TikTok explains that “this phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines.”

The movement’s merchandise website: www.superstraight.net appears to no longer be available. (Please name a straighter domain.) The movement’s only stable-ish online presence is an Instagram account that collects memes and TikToks that elaborate on what it means to be Super Straight. And perhaps the straightest post of them all is the first post: a screenshot of an Urban Dictionary entry that defines “super straight,” as “a sexual preference in which one prefers only the opposite sex with the exclusion of transgender people. The Super Straight flag consists of black and orange.” It feels very apt that the Super Straight flag bears the exact same colors as the Grindr logo. On a good day, its merch could be mistaken for Pornhub merch. Everything about it is divinely meme-able.

There’s more to the Super Straight movement than just being super-straight and selling merch, though: It also stands against cancel culture and appears intentionally committed to co-opting elements of LGBTQ+ discourse in a weird attempt to Uno-reverse criticism. By calling Super Straight sexuality, tagging the letters “SS” to the front of the LGBTQ acronym, bearing a flag, and explaining that, since Super Straight is a sexual orientation, it is not transphobic, Super Straights hope to confound the “blue-haired girls” who would argue that not being attracted to trans people does not make you part of an oppressed identity group.

Every identity is “valid” as long as it is true to the person claiming it. But, if your identity is based on stigmatizing trans people, then your identity is genuinely transphobic. Stating this doesn’t invalidate your identity, it’s just being honest. Nobody is required to date or have sex with trans people, but it’s eerily violent to organize an identity and a movement around excluding them. For Super Straights to do just that, while claiming that they’re persecuted is the ultimate irony. But, lucky for them, there are no political, medical, or religious institutions out to exclude and exterminate them, or pretend they’re just some transgressive novelty of modernity. Even though, that’s exactly what Super Straights are — a novelty, a footnote, a trend soon to be forgotten.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

The Accidental Sex Couch That Took Over TikTok

The Dark Reason Calico Critters Took Over TikTok

Goodbye, Pandemic. Hello, Pandemic Nicknames.

As a fat fashion fiend, outfit inspiration strikes in all kinds of ways. From films (think Jennifer Coolidge in A Cinderella Story) to my Instagram feed (shoutout to Lotte Van Eijk in particular), seeing representation of not just clothing styles I like but how they look on bigger frames has been an essential ingredient in me taking fashion risks and serving up risqué outfits over the years. For others whose internet intake isn’t as framed by fat liberation as mine, #outfitinspo can often be synonymous with thin, white bodies. 

Kaylin, a TikTok user who shares plus-size fashion inspo, tells me that growing up, she would always refer to Pinterest for style ideas. That said, a lot of the looks on Pinterest were predominantly shown on thin, white bodies and Kaylin wanted to use her platform as an opportunity “to show other plus-size women that Pinterest is for us too.” This video concept — pulling images of outfits modeled on thin women from Pinterest and recreating them on mid-size and plus-size frames — is not Kaylin’s alone. It has turned into a TikTok trend, with large numbers of large women getting involved in showing what different outfits can look like on different bodies. 

@kaylinpete

3 Pinterest inspired looks on a size 22📸✔️ #plussizefashion #plussize #pinterestlooks #pinterestinspired #fyp #foryoupage #greenscreen

♬ Fantasy – Mariah Carey

Brooklyn, who has over 38,000 TikTok followers, explains that she didn’t realize this was a trend when she started recreating Pinterest fashions for her followers. “My inspiration for making these videos came from seeing comments on thin women’s fashion videos along the line of ‘I can’t pull this off,'” she explains. “Those comments were really getting to me mentally, so I decided to use that as motivation to try out different outfits and prove to these plus-size women — and myself — that we can look good in the same outfits thinner women are wearing.”

@brooklyndallen

yall… ngl this is my FAVORITE fit i’ve recreated #FanEdit #STEMLife #fashion #plussize #style #pinterest #pinterestoutfit #bodypositivity #selflove

♬ positions – Ariana Grande

The notion of feeling “too fat” to pull off certain looks has been embedded in the psyche of fat people for decades. It feels especially poignant that in researching this trend, one of my first finds was a Pinterest board titled “Outfits I’m Too Fat For.” What the creators partaking in this trend hope to achieve is for nobody to feel limited by their body when approaching fashion creatively.

“I remember being a teenager and feeling as though I couldn’t express myself with certain clothes and I would often feel like an outcast to society,” says Trinity, who has over 78,000 followers and is the creator of the trend’s most successful video, currently at 837.6k views. “There are children and teenagers that hardly see anyone their size on social media and I feel that if they see someone like them [doing TikToks], they can realize, Oh there are people like me, not feel discouraged to dress to their liking and stop feeling isolated from fashion — and the rest of the world.”

@trinity..avila

who should i do next ? #greenscreen #fyp #plussize #pinterest #4u #FallFashion

♬ Stuck in the Middle – Tai Verdes

Kaylin agrees: “All body types can look good and be trendsetters in fashion and, not to sound cliché, but it’s exciting to think about future generations being exposed to way more body positivity in media because of movements like wearing Pinterest looks on different body types in TikTok videos. That would’ve boosted my confidence at 10 years old tremendously.”

As a fat lib veteran who has been writing about fat fashion and body confidence for over seven years, it’s thrilling to watch Gen Z push for better inclusivity on TikTok. It’s reassuring to know that this generation will not allow fat liberation to fall into being a passing trend. Of course, from censorship to toxic comment sections, there are many issues with the platform yet to be resolved. “There are so many hateful comments,” laments Brooklyn. “While I’ve trained myself to stop seeing fat as an insult, I can sense someone is using it with negative intentions. It’s still hurtful at times. It’s also hard to get exposure on the app and I find that videos I post where I am dressed in a more revealing or sexy way are often shadowbanned, put under review, or even taken down for ‘violating community guidelines.’ Then I’ll see a video of a thin woman in a far more revealing outfit or even a bikini and just feel hurt because my body is seen as a violation on the platform while theirs is celebrated and pushed out on the For You page.”

That said, everyone I spoke to wanted to emphasize that the positives of being plus-size on TikTok far outweigh the negatives. “We are all just so kind to each other and really hype each other up in our posts,” Brooklyn enthuses. “I get so many comments from people saying we share similar or even the exact same body type and that my videos make them feel confident and seen. It makes me proud that I am able to do that for others.”

Representation is, has, and always will be important. Representation is revolutionary. Whether it’s as simple as showing what a tennis skirt looks like on a size 22 rather than a size 10, or analyzing the intricacies of thin privilege, TikTok creators are finding more ways to push for progress and inviting wider audiences to learn and call for change with them. By recreating Pinterest outfits and providing representation of many different kinds of bodies, they’re helping their peers to find the beauty in being plus-size — regardless of anything the comment section has to say. 

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

The Complexities Of Plus-Size Workout Clothes

Loungewear Is Rooted In Double Standards

5 Plus-Size Models On Self-Love, Tokenism & Icons

After so many of us living in isolation for the better part of last year, things could be looking up. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday night plans to speed up the vaccination process, opening up vaccines to all U.S. adults by May 1 with the hopes that people can start gathering in small groups again by the Fourth of July. And suddenly it’s starting to look like we might have some semblance of a more normal summer, including the reintroduction of casual hookups.

“While it was different for everyone, we all lost something,” Biden said from the White House East Room on Thursday, adding that the last year has been one of “collective suffering, a collective sacrifice.” The president said that as vaccine supplies continue to increase in the coming months, he will direct states to make them available to all adults by May 1 while also launching a website to help people find doses of the vaccine.

The process thus far has varied state by state, with many hurdles in the way of easily getting vaccinated as many people are “searching day and night for an appointment,” said Biden. But “finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do. In fact, it may be the most American thing we do,” he said. Because a year into the pandemic, people across the country are exhausted by collective grief and loss and need something to look forward to.  

With some newfound hope for vaccinations speeding up nationwide, the question now remains: Will this be the summer of casual sex? 

Many people certainly seem to think so, as lots of tweets have been churned out with excitement for a horny, post-vaccination 2021 summer. Since the start of pandemic lockdowns last year, sex has been on a lot of people’s minds, with many of us longing for sexual intimacy, especially those weathering the pandemic alone. It’s to be expected, of course, since the federal government in 2020 advised people who don’t live together to stay apart for the foreseeable future to slow the spread of the deadly virus. 

Throughout the pandemic, people have been navigating sexual and physical intimacy in different ways. Some people stopped having sex altogether, while others increased communication about boundaries and COVID risk factors before meeting up with someone new.

“What this means for the future is that we’re going to see a wide range of reactions as we come out of lockdown,” Justin Lehmiller, a research fellow at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, told Vox last year. He later added, “Long-term abstinence, especially when it’s not by personal choice, is something that most people find very difficult to stick to.”

Some U.S. leaders recognized how hard things have become for a lot of single young people. Just last week, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders went viral on Twitter after addressing the Senate floor about the trauma and mental health risks of a year spent mostly at home and in isolation due the pandemic. “You’ve got young people who want to go to school, who want to socialize, want to date, want to do things that young people do,” the senator said. “And they can’t do it and have been unable to do that for the last year, and that has resulted in a very sharp increase in mental illness in this country.” Bernie’s call to help young people get back to having sex and dating did not go unappreciated.

While many people can look forward to the prospect of having more sex in the near future, we should also still be taking necessary precautions to keep ourselves and each other safe. New COVID cases have continued dropping across the country, but experts worry that this could also lead to more surges as people start relaxing safety measures. Meanwhile, Republican governors like Texas’ Greg Abbott are starting to lift statewide restrictions to get “back to normal” before mass vaccination efforts have been fully rolled out. And even as more and more people continue to get vaccinated, people should continue wearing masks and social distancing in public, and discussing COVID risks before meeting up with strangers.

Now that the federal government seems to have a plan to roll out more vaccinations, people are ready to get to it. For the first time in an entire year, there is some hope that we can gather with our families, hug our friends, kiss and cuddle our partners — and make up for lost time hooking up with strangers.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Shop These Remote Control Sex Toys

Why Using The Word Partner Feels So Complicated

How Polyamorous People Are Surviving The Pandemic

The day has finally arrived: Selena Gomez‘s highly-anticipated Revelación is out now. As with any new music release, all eyes are on the supporting visuals, from the music videos to the promotional images — and, in the case of this beauty brand founder, the products used. Unsurprisingly, Gomez paid special attention to her makeup for this drop, not only as the face of Rare Beauty but also given the importance of this project as her first-ever Spanish-language EP in homage to her Mexican heritage. 

With the album out today, we got an exclusive look at the makeup used for the images, including the exact products worn by Gomez. The rich, rosy look, which was achieved by the singer’s go-to makeup artist, Hung Vanngo, gives a luminous monochrome feel with similar shades on the eyes, cheeks, and lips — all done with intention. “There was a new sense of power I felt singing in Spanish, so I really wanted my look to reflect that empowerment,” Gomez tells Refinery29 of the makeup, which also featured a sharp cat-eye and brushed-up brows. “The makeup is simple yet strong, with a bold brow, liner, and glossy lip.”

Each shade came courtesy of Rare Beauty’s 2021 spring collection, which features blended hues of neutral pinks and muted berries — a very fitting look for the arrival of spring in a few days. The hues also complement the floral headpiece and ribbons featured in the promotional images, produced by a mainly Latinx team with hairstylist Orlando Pita, photographer Camila Falquez, and set designer Gerard Santos.

For Gomez, makeup and music have both proven to serve as catalysts for healing — especially as she advocates for mental health. When launching Rare Beauty last year, the star shared how the company was born out of her personal desire for a brand that promotes self-acceptance and supports mental health. With that, she launched the Rare Impact Fund last summer to raise funds and help bring mental-health services to underserved communities. A focus on self-restoration also inspired Gomez to connect with the Spanish language for this musical project and, in doing so, tap into her Mexican roots. “Maybe embracing that part of me can be a source of healing for somebody else,” she recently told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the EP release. 

To see more behind-the-scenes of the beauty look of Revelación, be sure to check out the video below.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Following a sixth allegation of sexual assault and misconduct against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman joined the growing call for Cuomo to resign. On Friday morning, Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman wrote a joint letter saying that there was no real alternative for the governor other than to step down.

“As members of the New York delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, we believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney General, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York State legislature, including the State Senate Majority Leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges,” Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez wrote in their statement.

Their statement comes in response to the most recent — and most serious — allegation against Cuomo. According to a new report, an anonymous staffer said that sometime last year, Cuomo called her to his Executive Mansion where he non-consensually reached under her blouse and fondled her. In response, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also spoke out for the first time asking for Cuomo to leave office.

“It’s deeply troubling. The specific allegations that the governor called an employee of his, someone who he had power over, called them to a private place, and then sexually assaulted her is absolutely unacceptable. It is disgusting to me, and he can no longer serve as governor,” de Blasio said during a press conference.

This is the first time that de Blasio has spoken out about the assault allegations. Cuomo, whose term would come to a close in 2022, is now the subject of other calls for resignation or even impeachment. On Thursday, New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie also demanded an “impeachment investigation” into the allegations — a process that would involve interviewing witnesses and studying evidence of the allegations as a first step towards full impeachment.

In addition to these calls, more than 55 Democratic legislators from New York state have signed a letter requesting Cuomo’s resignation in light of the stories of harassment and abuse, as well as accusations about misreporting on New York’s COVID-19 death data within nursing homes.

Cuomo was first accused of harassment by Lindsey Boylan, a former aide, in December 2020. Boylan, who is now running for Manhattan Borough President, shared her story on Twitter and then in an essay, after which others stepped forward to detail similar accounts of harassment and abuse. Cuomo is also under investigation for allegedly covering up the number of deaths in New York nursing homes in the early months of the pandemic. According to a 76-page report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, nursing home residents that had been transferred into hospitals after contracting COVID-19 were not accounted for in reporting the number of deaths within the homes themselves.

Prior to these public statements demanding Cuomo leave office, the New York governor commented on the allegations on Wednesday night. “I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are gut-wrenching. I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the result of the attorney general’s report,” he stated.

It is unclear if Cuomo is prepared to step down or face a full impeachment trial at this time, though he has previously stated that he does not plan to resign from his post.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Cuomo Should Be Held Accountable By His Own Party

Lindsey Boylan Wrote An Essay About Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo To Answer For Nursing Home Deaths Cover-Up

Finding Freedom By Letting Go of Everything

HERjouney with Selena Sage

Tell us about yourself! 

Selena Sage, Zen Author and host of “Live Free with Selena Sage” Podcast (selenasage.com), lives on the island of Santo Antão in Cabo Verde, Africa with her rescued dog, Naoya.

How long have you been on a self-healing or spiritual journey?

It feels like my whole life, but solidly 3, out of the almost 4, decades of it.

What event, situation, or life circumstance sparked your journey?

Not agreeing with a statement a Catholic priest made that messages/prayers go through the Pope to reach God. Even at age 8, I felt that my prayers were received directly by God.

What’s your primary practice?

Remaining as Unborn Awareness (Zen + Advaita inspired).

How has it benefited you mentally, physically/materially, and/or spiritually?

The benefit is peace. My lived reality is freedom.

Have you faced any challenges since beginning? How did you overcome?

The biggest perceived challenge was not fully understanding what seemed to be basic guidance from masters. For a while, it technically made sense, but my experience was not in alignment with their described experiences.

I overcame by continuing to read and learn from other masters. Personally meeting Advaita Master (Sri) Mooji was the greatest blessing that made it all make sense.

Share one of the biggest winks or nods from God/The Universe that let you know you’re on the right path!

I left my successful, and lucrative, corporate career and moved to a remote island with no plan. But in the 5 years since that move, somehow things just kept working out. I remain immensely thankful.

Advice or counsel for those looking to get started on the journey!

Recognize that the journey is not a distance, but a depth. Experiment with new teachers and practices…always starting from (as) a blank slate.

When you can answer, “Who am I?” without reference to your personal identity, you’ll already know you’ve arrived. Full love and blessings to you!

Also: Thanks CurlyNikki for making space for these beautiful conversations! Going natural gave me the freedom to move abroad without worrying about my hair. I love you! Namasté.

Keep up with Selena on IG! 

How are you finding freedom where you are? Tell us below!

What’s your story? Respond to the questions/prompts above, and submit to nikki@curlynikki.com using ‘herjourney’ in the subject line!