Sydney Sweeney Conquers All

 Sydney Sweeney now dominates the culture. 

Ben Shapiro says that, aside from prompting outrage on the left, boosting her career into the stratosphere, and selling a lot of jeans, she is also splitting the MAGA base. Blonde power!

There are, Shapiro says, two kinds of Trump supporters: the conservatives, and the anti-woke. The anti-woke love the Sweeney American Eagle ads, because they are a poke at the woke. The conservatives, like him, will dislike them, because they are immoral, using sex to sell a product.

I agree with him on the first part of this. Joe Rogan, Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr., are not conservatives. Trump himself is not a conservative. But by becoming a mad cult, the woke left united everyone else in opposition.

And his analysis works in my case. I am not a conservative, never was, but I support MAGA from a distance. I can respect the conservative position, but I have always been a liberal, in the proper sense of that term. And I rejoice in the Sydney Sweeney ads, because they are anti-woke.

But I disagree with Shapiro that they promote sexual immorality, or that they are using sex to sell a product—which would be, in effect, prostitution.

Sex itself is not a bad thing. Sex is a very good thing, so long as it is directed, as is proper, to male-female companionship and the procreation of children.

And I see the Sweeney ads as promoting exactly this. Not casual sex, but companionship and procreation. The tag line, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes” makes this about as direct as it could be: you are attracted to Sweeney because, having good genes, she would make good children. 

People also comment on her “girl next door” vibe. This speaks of companionship as opposed to callous lust. Aside from cleavage, Sweeney is really not showing much skin. She is quite modestly clad in most of the commercials, by current standards. Arms covered, legs covered down to the floor. Loose jeans not showing the shape of her legs. Shoulders covered. Midriff covered. Usually just head and hands visible. "profile and hands, please." That's all you get. 

If she nevertheless provokes lust in you, I’d say that’s on you. Surely we can appreciate feminine beauty without immediately thinking about jumping into bed.

I’d say she comes across instead as the kind of level-headed, just-folks woman most men would want to show a ring to, and settle down with, if they could.

I think Shapiro has slipped into puritanism. But maybe that’s why I’m not a conservative.