How these Australian women became a global target of online misogyny

Last Monday, the 27-year-old cofounder of TBH Skincare, Rachael Wilde, and five of her employees recorded a 19-second TikTok about the clothes they were wearing that day. By the end of the week they were facing a global wave of mockery and abuse with self-described misogynist Andrew Tate encouraging his 9.7 million followers to get in on the action.

The video, released on the company’s social media accounts, was filmed as part of a trend in which young women rhythmically hype up each other’s outfits. Earlier this month, the originators – who went viral for the refrain “boots and a slick back bun” – told The New York Times that “99.9 per cent of the response has been women uplifting women”. It’s since been recreated by celebrities including Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones.

“Gen Z boss” Rachael Wilde in one of her now-famous minis. Credit: Louise Kennerley

But TBH’s catchy clip, featuring Wilde as “Gen Z boss and a mini” and other members of the marketing team with self-chosen descriptors like “itty bitty titties and a bob”, has resulted in the predominantly female-staffed business becoming worried about the safety of its employees.

“We have taken this seriously and put in place appropriate measures to support and protect our staff during this time,” says Craig Schweighoffer, CEO of parent company York St Brands.

This popular Aussie skincare brand has been courting virality for a while. Last year Wilde and her team pulled a stunt where she pretended to be Margot Robbie on the streets of Sydney. It now has 2.8 million views. Another clip featuring Wilde being told popular TikToker Indy Clinton has “accidentally leaked” their new product before launch has 3 million views. Their sponsored ads on Facebook feature a branded street banner of a screenshot of Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce liking one of their Reels on Instagram.

“From the early days of the business, our social media channels were the primary place we connected with new and existing customers,” says Wilde. “Having fun and being playful is at the core of our ethos.”

But “Gen Z boss and a mini” is their biggest success yet – and the first time something has “taken on a life of its own”.

When the team woke up on the morning after the clip was released, they were excited to see the video had more than 1 million views. And though there were a few negative comments – mostly making fun of them for being cringeworthy and “so millennial core” – Wilde says “it was only when our video was reposted on X [formerly Twitter] that we noticed things really started to shift.”

One repost asking “Is this the longhouse?” – a term used by far-right communities online to describe a society they see as favouring women – racked up 42 million views. Another captioned “the HR department 1h before doing engineering layoffs” has 12 million. By the weekend Andrew Tate had also shared the clip on X, saying “if you do not escape The Matrix [his description of mainstream society] women like this will be your boss”.

This led to a surge of sexist commentary, with many comments coming from verified X accounts saying women should go back to the kitchen (among worse, more personal insults).

This is part of a documented trend on the platform, with hateful messages reportedly skyrocketing since Elon Musk’s takeover. Last year X staff told the BBC the company can no longer protect users from trolling and is arguably encouraging it by reinstating profiles of people who had been banned. Andrew Tate was banned in 2017 for disseminating hate speech but allowed back when Musk took over. He’s now very active, regularly endorsing racism, homophobia and misogyny.

“The conversation quickly shifted from a ‘silly TikTok’ to a global back-and-forth on women in the workplace,” Wilde says. “There is definitely an underlying message here that implies women cannot … film fun trends like these and at the same time be intelligent, talented individuals.”

Wilde says she and her team have “tried not to get tied down in the negative commentary”. At one point they made another TikTok chanting some of the insults in the same fashion, such as “gender pay gap, bring it back!”. They’re currently promoting a “Gen Z boss and a mini bundle” on their website, taking advantage of the huge spike in traffic – particularly from the US.

“It definitely hasn’t been bad for sales,” she says.

While this incident does raise questions about what risks staff at internet-savvy companies are being asked to take on in an increasingly hostile social media environment, Wilde maintains that “content is a huge part of what we do”.

“It doesn’t feel right to step away from this in fear of being trolled online.”

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