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Payal Desai is a lifestyle influencer with a significant following on TikTok and Instagram. Formerly a teacher in New Jersey, Payal has become a full-time content creator. The mum of two boys shared her opinion about the viral Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad.
In an Instagram video shared on Tuesday, Payal Desai said that the ad brought back memories about her insecurities as a person of color. She also said the ad might have a negative impact on children of colour.
“I really wasn't going to weigh in on this, but here we go. It is so difficult to grow up as a person of color, specifically a woman and view yourself as beautiful in any sense of the word growing up in this country,” she said. “I remember growing up in a predominantly white community, wishing myself out of this body, out of this culture. Take my name if it meant I could wake up blonde-haired and blue-eyed, never having to explain who I am or worry about being accepted.”
She further went on to call the American Eagle ad “off-putting “ and spoke about the debate going on about the political ideologies the advert might represent.
“I can't help but think about the thirteen-year-old brown girl who gets all her denim at American Eagle,” she continued. “Who already struggles to see her beauty, her worth in a world that continues to value white Eurocentric beauty standards, which I naively thought by this point we would have moved the needle on.”
“It took me so long, too long in my life to look in the mirror and see beauty, and I hate that that continues to be a shared experience for young brown girls in this country,” Payal Desai concluded the video.
Netizens react to Payal Desai’s video
Payal Desai’s video has circulated all over social media, with numerous netizens having something to say about her opinions. @CollinRugg shared the content creator’s video via his official X account. The post was captioned :
“NEW: Woman says the American Eagle Sydney Sweeney ad brought back her childhood trauma as a "brown girl." "It is so difficult to grow up as a person of color, specifically a woman, and view yourself as beautiful in any sense of the word." The professional victims are relentless.”
Collins' post received several reactions as netizens expressed their opinions about Payal’s video. Several X users didn't support Payal’s views.
“If your self worth crumbles at the sight of Sydney Sweeney in jeans, I’ve got news for you: The problem isn’t whiteness. It’s you,” @HANKonX commented.
“Beautiful girls whinging about other beautiful girls being beautiful just want people to tell them they're beautiful. That's all that video was about. She knows she's beautiful. She just has to hear it constantly,” @DieMadTerf tweeted.
“What childhood trauma. Stop being insecure and get over that she’s a beautiful girl,” @mamacita4life2 added.
Payal Desai received more backlash.
“That isn’t a thing that “brown girls” do. There are just as many white girls who feel that way about models like Miss Sweeney. She’s a model. Ya just have to get over it, just like guys who are under 5’7” have to get over the fact that most women like tall men. Here’s a fact. Most women are not as attractive as her. If that includes you, well, get over it,” @Patriot_Barry commented.
“So that’s your problem, not Sydney Sweeney’s or American Eagle’s. It’s off-putting to you, your issue. So why am I supposed to care?” @ed_shawstein commented.
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