When political arguments begin using human bodies as evidence, a critical line has already been crossed. This week, the body of actor Sydney Sweeney was once again conscripted into America's relentless culture war, this time at the instigation of billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk's Provocative Posts Spark Backlash
The owner of Tesla and the social media platform X ignited widespread criticism after publishing a series of sexualised memes. These were a response to footage of Sweeney at the Los Angeles premiere of her film, The Housemaid, where she wore a low-cut white dress. Musk escalated the typical online chatter by sharing an AI-generated image that implied her breasts were so large they caused spinal pain. He followed this with another post joking about 'double-stacked equipment.'
While Musk has a long history of provocative and often embarrassing online behaviour, the reaction to these specific posts on December 18, 2025, proved more revealing. Criticism was swift but notably inconsistent. On X, users pointed out the oddity of a 54-year-old billionaire publicly fixating on a woman in her twenties. One user, @greendragonhq, wrote: 'She’s 30 years younger than you. Weird.'
On Reddit, the tone was sharper. User Ill-Moment-7309 commented: 'Like imagine being the richest guy alive and still choosing creepy uncle at the premiere as your vibe.' However, scrolling through the responses unveiled a troubling narrative. Some suggested Sweeney might not mind the comments, or worse, that she deserved degradation for being a perceived Republican.
The Political Filter on a Woman's Body
This exchange highlights the uncomfortable core of this story: Sydney Sweeney's body is no longer merely being sexualised; it is being filtered through stark political assumptions, even by those who claim to oppose misogyny. Throughout much of 2024, Sweeney's conventional attractiveness and choice of clothing have been framed by some as evidence that 'wokeness is dead' and that audiences are rejecting inclusivity for old-fashioned glamour.
In this ideological reading, her physical appearance is twisted into a rebuttal to body positivity. This flimsy logic gained traction after she hosted Saturday Night Live, with viral posts declaring her appearance marked the end of progressive cultural dominance. This context is crucial for understanding the morally inconsistent reactions to Musk's comments. Basic decency now appears contingent on where people believe Sweeney sits on the political spectrum.
A Shift in Sympathy and Conservative Recasting
The erosion of sympathy did not occur overnight. It accelerated earlier in the year when Sweeney fronted an American Eagle campaign with the slogan 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.' The pun on 'genes' drew accusations of echoing eugenics rhetoric, a criticism that intensified after reports surfaced that she was a registered Republican. Although Sweeney has never publicly commented on her political views, others were quick to decide what her body represented.
Former President Donald Trump seized the moment, praising the campaign and using it to rail against 'woke' advertising. This helped recast Sweeney as a conservative cultural asset, a symbol to be claimed rather than an individual to be left alone. Since then, the tone of discourse has shifted, with concern over how her body is discussed noticeably softening in some left-leaning spaces.
The implication, even among well-meaning liberals, became clear: if she is conservative, the usual rules do not apply. As one Reddit user, Icecreamsandwiches1, astutely noted: 'Misogyny from gross billionaire men is okay if it’s directed at women I don’t like hehe.'
Misogyny does not become acceptable because a woman votes differently. Objectification is not harmless because someone is assumed to be on the 'wrong' side of a culture war. Suggesting conservative women deserve less respect is not progressive; it is reactionary. Musk's comments were offensive not because of who Sweeney might be, but because they reduced her to anatomy for a powerful man's amusement.
What makes this moment truly revealing is not the billionaire behaving badly, but how readily that behaviour was excused by people who would have vehemently defended any other woman. Musk's posts demonstrate how quickly political tribalism erodes empathy. Once a woman's body becomes ideological property, basic human decency is often the first casualty on all sides.
