If you’ve spent more than five minutes on social media lately, you’ve probably seen her. Sydney Sweeney is everywhere. She’s on your TV in Euphoria, she’s on billboards for American Eagle, and she’s seemingly in every second movie trailer. But lately, the conversation around her has shifted from "look how talented she is" to a much more heated debate about Sydney Sweeney fake feminism.
Is she a business-savvy mogul reclaiming her power, or is she just leaning into the oldest, most traditional male-gaze tropes for a quick buck?
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Honestly, the answer is complicated. You can't just put her in a box. In late 2024, Sweeney herself threw some major shade at the industry in a Vanity Fair interview, calling out the "women empowering other women" mantra as a total front. She basically said that behind the scenes, it’s all fake. This comment blew up, especially because she was responding to some pretty nasty remarks made by veteran producer Carol Baum, who publicly called her "not pretty" and said she "can't act."
The "Great Jeans" Scandal and the Culture War
The real firestorm kicked off in the summer of 2025 with that American Eagle campaign. You know the one—the "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans" ad. On the surface, it’s just a pun about denim. But the internet didn't see it that way. Critics jumped on the wordplay, arguing that "jeans" was a dog whistle for "genes."
Because Sweeney is blonde, blue-eyed, and fits a very specific Eurocentric beauty standard, the backlash was intense. Some people went as far as calling it eugenics-era rhetoric. It sounds wild when you say it out loud about a clothing ad, but in the context of 2026’s polarized culture, everything is political.
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- The Left's Take: Critics argue she’s a "symptom" of a regressive cultural shift toward traditional whiteness and conservative values.
- The Right's Take: Many conservative commentators celebrated the ad as a "win" against wokeness, viewing Sweeney as a return to classic, unapologetic beauty.
- The Business Side: Regardless of the politics, the ad was a massive success. The collection sold out, and American Eagle’s stock even got a bump.
The Bathwater Soap and the Male Gaze
Then there’s the Dr. Squatch collaboration. Selling soap allegedly containing a "touch" of her bathwater? Yeah, that happened. For some feminists, this was the breaking point. The argument is that by leaning so hard into being a "fantasy," she's setting the movement back decades. It feels like the opposite of empowerment when you're literally selling your objectification.
But Sweeney’s defense is usually centered on the "get your bag" philosophy. She’s been very open about her finances. In several interviews, she’s mentioned the high cost of being a star—the publicists, the stylists, the travel. She views these deals as a means to an end. She even admitted that starring in Madame Web was a tactical business decision to build a relationship with Sony executives so she could get her own projects, like the Barbarella remake, greenlit.
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Is Hollywood's "Empowerment" Actually a Front?
When Sweeney called Hollywood feminism "fake," she touched a nerve because she’s not entirely wrong. We see the "Power of Women" events and the glossy magazine covers, but the industry is still cutthroat.
Sweeney pointed out a "generational problem" where women are taught that only one of them can be at the top. This scarcity mindset creates a culture where women tear each other down instead of lifting each other up. Her comments echoed the frustrations of other stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway, who have also dealt with being the "internet's punching bag" at the peak of their careers.
The nuance here is that Sweeney is trying to be a producer. She’s taking "a seat at the table" to have creative say over budgets and casting. To her, that is feminism. It’s the "Lean In" style of empowerment where you play the game to change the rules. But for those watching from the outside, seeing her play into the male gaze for a soap ad makes that message feel a bit hollow.
What We Get Wrong About the Controversy
Most people think this is just about "haters" vs. "fans." It's deeper. It's a clash between two different types of feminism:
- Choice Feminism: The idea that any choice a woman makes is empowering because she chose it (especially if it makes her rich).
- Structural Feminism: The belief that individual choices don't matter as much as the overall message they send to society.
Sweeney is the poster child for Choice Feminism. She knows sex sells. She knows her brand. And she’s making millions off of it. Whether that’s "fake" or just "smart" depends entirely on which lens you’re looking through.
Actionable Insights: Navigating the "Sweeney Era"
If you're trying to make sense of the Sydney Sweeney fake feminism debate, here are a few ways to look at it without getting lost in the rage-bait:
- Look at the Producer Credits: Don't just watch her movies; look at who is making them. Sweeney is often an executive producer on her hits, like Anyone But You. This gives her more power than just being an actress for hire.
- Follow the Money: Understand that in 2026, celebrity is a business. When a star does something "controversial," ask yourself if it's a genuine mistake or a calculated marketing move. Glen Powell recently admitted that they leaned into dating rumors to sell Anyone But You because they knew it would work.
- Separate the Art from the Ad: You can appreciate her performance in The White Lotus while still being critical of a "bathwater soap" campaign. Being a fan doesn't mean you have to agree with every brand deal.
- Question the "Scarcity" Narrative: When you see a veteran in the industry attacking a newcomer, remember Sweeney’s point about the "only one at the top" mentality. Often, the loudest critics are the ones who feel threatened by a shift in the status quo.
The debate isn't going away anytime soon. As long as Sweeney continues to dominate the box office and the billboard charts, she’ll be the lightning rod for our collective feelings about gender, power, and what it means to be a "feminist" in a capitalist world.