Transphobia has no place in our lives, much less Jackie Aina's Twitter account (which she has un-deleted). So when one user decided to post an extremely rude transphobic comment regarding a photo of her, Aina shut that garbage down immediately. And in her take-no-nonsense manner, she went on a blocking spree against followers who "liked" the tweet and defended the trans community at the same time.
Here's the tweet that kicked off the transphobia.
Aina posted a red carpet video of herself looking like a full platter. She dazzled the red carpet in a sequined green gown with a thigh-high slit and captioned the video "hips on parentheses"; in other words, her bangin' hips look like this ( ). To say she looks amazing is an understatement.
Jerks on the internet couldn't help themselves *facepalm emoji*
"Before I throw the heart eyes. This a woman woman right?" wrote Twitter user @1stClass_Keem. HOW. FREAKING. RUDE. Completely not OK, completely gross, and absolutely transphobic and uncalled for. Aina was not going to let this one slide.
First, she mocked him, which he totally deserved.
"You look like you bite people I’m truly not interested," Aina replied, and I AM LIVING. She managed to, in one fell swipe, dismiss his unsolicited opinion about her appearance AND his thirst. Truly the icon we need.
Next, Aina took aim at anyone who thought that transphobic comment was funny (it's not.)
Aina wasn't done. After putting @1stClass_Keem in his place, Aina went on a blocking spree against anyone who "liked" his transphobic comment, and while I have no idea how many people that entailed, it seems like a lot, considering his tweet has 725 likes as of press time.
@1stClass_Keem tried to dig himself out of a hole ...
… and it went about as well as you'd expect. After Aina called him out, @1stClass_Keem backpedaled by insisting it was a compliment. She, like the rest of the world, was not having it.
FIRST OF ALL, it was not a compliment. Not in the slightest. A compliment that comes at the cost of transphobia reveals deep-seated prejudice toward trans and gender non-conforming people.
Second, he condescends her by telling her to "chill." It's an age-old tactic used to silence women, tied into the hysteria stereotype — a stereotype that women of color feel even more potently through the "angry black woman" archetype.
Aina took the time to educate this fool, but she shouldn't have to do it.
It's worth applauding Aina for deconstructing transphobia in a quick, succinct way. "Asking if someone is a 'woman woman' is rude," she wrote, explaing that the "insinuation of … looking 'manly'" is often directed toward "darker-skinned black women."
It's wonderful that Aina stood up against this gross behavior, but she shouldn't have to do it by herself. Everyone should take a stand against comments like this. Aina laments that "fellow cis women with small platforms didn't step up — and many of them [egged] him on" — and bid them all farewell with that block button. Good riddance to this trash on her timeline.
