Shadowing Practice: yet another unfortunate Sydney Sweeney ad - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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September 9th was a big day.
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Not only did I unexpectedly run into my college situationship, but I also had the misfortune of seeing Sydney Sweeney's latest ad campaign.
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Normally in these videos, I talk about why other people are mad
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and then try to give a general landscape of the discussion, but today I'm going to be yapping from the heart, so more of my thoughts and feels will be in the mix.
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Maybe this will resonate with you if you've been having similar thoughts.
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It's worth noting that some people are coming into this conversation mad already.
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I'm people.
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So here's a little bit of lore.
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Sydney is an actress who skyrocketed to fame after she got a leading role in the hit show Euphoria.
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This is her third major scandal now in a series of unfortunate ad campaigns, so she's a repeat offender, which is why so many people are already fed up with her. In 2025,
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she collaborated with a soap company called Dr. Squash to sell
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bars of soap containing her actual bath water in them called Sydney's Bathwater Bliss.
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There were 5,000 of these made and they sold out in seconds.
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Then, a couple months later, the infamous American Eagle ad dropped.
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The tagline was Sydney Sweeney has great genes
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and in one of the promotional videos she says genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color,
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personality, and even eye color.
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My genes are blue.
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And people were like yikes that's giving eugenics.
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Then of course we have this most recent ad for a sports betting platform called Novig.
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In the promotional video she was barely covering her body with various sports equipment.
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Like pretend these are footballs.
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Sports.
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Just sports.
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And that repeats for like a minute.
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The message that I've received through Sydney's career choices is that she's willing to do anything for a check.
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I think a lot of people feel the same way, which is why they no longer respect her.
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I mean, there's lots of reasons not to respect her, but that's one of them.
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In a 2023 interview, she stated that she takes brand deals because she has to, because they don't pay actors like they used to, and laments various managers and agents taking their cut of her earnings and whatnot.
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A lot of people roasted her for this because by this point, she's a lead on Euphoria, aka one of the biggest TV shows in recent years.
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So someone in that position very much has the liberty to be selective with their brand deals.
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And that's why that justification doesn't hold up for me, to be honest.
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And furthermore, some people have even gone as far as to label it empowering somehow.
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They're like, well, she's taking money
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and making bank from the gross weirdo losers who sexualize her
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period queen go off i don't like this argument just
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because a woman chooses to do something doesn't automatically make it empowering even
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if she herself believes that it is in my eyes at least with like dr squatch
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and novik we'll get to american eagle later
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sydney has agreed for these companies to straight up exploit her
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body now this is where it gets a little complicated
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because an ad can be sexual without it being exploitive
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and it's also not necessarily the nudity itself that makes it exploitive either.
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It's the intention, execution, context,
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target audience, like all these things comprehensively are what people have clocked immediately as being degrading for Sydney.
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Like it's literally, it's so obvious off the bat.
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And like, that's why a lot of women are like, well, this is weird and counterintuitive and a source for confusion
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because logically it doesn't make sense to actively surround yourself with people who don't fundamentally respect you, which is what she continues to do.
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The purpose of these advertisements is to draw on the male fantasy of Sydney Sweeney.
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They only see her as an object of their lust.
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There's no artistry, no commentary.
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The context and execution and intention is simply objectification for male consumption.
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It feels very reminiscent of porn, from like the way she talks to the positions she's to the words
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that she's saying and they don't disguise it at all.
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I mean the Dr. Squatch ad is literally like a porno on purpose
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and Novik basically portrayed Sydney as the intersection between gambling
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and porn addicts and somehow she was like yes sign me up I'm sold.
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I think Sydney Sweeney rubs a lot of women the wrong way
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because she continues to pander to the type of men
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that we don't respect like someone who'd drop eight bucks on
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a bar of soap to get the tiniest morsel of Sydney's used bath water
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or someone who'd start gambling because a partially nude Sydney told them to.
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For the record, I'm not saying you're a bad person
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if you find Sydney hot or that portraying yourself as sexy to sell a product is automatically degrading.
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It's just frustrating because, especially as a woman, it's so easy to see
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that Sydney's getting the short end of the stick in this transaction compared to the consumers
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and the companies that she's working for.
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And that's why we're confused and yapping about it.
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She's Caleb Heron pulling his pants up for a bit
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and we're Cooper trying to let her know that everybody's actually laughing at her, not with her.
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Because this shit is embarrassing, and oh my god, don't even get me started on her responses to the backlash.
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When people got upset about Dr. Squatch, Sydney said, It was mainly girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting.
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They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi's bathwater, referencing the movie Salt Burn.
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But that's the thing, girl.
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Jacob Elordi wasn't actually selling his bathwater, now was he?
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Because that would be stupid and ridiculous.
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And then with Novig, she originally posted the ad herself via a reel on Instagram, which first of all, I'm not really sure how ads are regulated nowadays on social media and TV,
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but I definitely think that there should be some more thought
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and intention behind where this is being advertised because of the nudity and gambling of it all.
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Hello.
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Like this can't just be showing up anywhere, but I definitely don't recommend watching the ad.
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It's not worth bleaching your eyeballs over.
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But if you do happen to head over to Instagram, follow me instead.
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I can't promise you any dirty bathwater though, which may be a deal breaker.
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Anyways, in response to the backlash, she went onto her Instagram story and posted various covers from ESPN's The Body Issue, which featured partially nude athletes.
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Mind you, this was Sydney's big like, gotcha moment.
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She's like, see, look at all these people who are also basically naked.
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Who's the hypocrite now?
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You dumb bitch.
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ESPN was celebrating the diversity of what an athletic body looks like by highlighting extremely accomplished,
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successful, impressive individuals in their sport.
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You were posted up naked for quite literally no reason at all to promote sports gambling how is
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that an effective comparison in your favor at all
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and again at least for me the nudity itself isn't the complaint it's the context
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and intention behind it i know
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that simply existing as a woman especially is grounds for objectification
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and obviously the blame for that behavior lies with the ones doing the objectifying, not the one being objectified.
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However, Sydney is actively promoting the objectification of herself the type of attention
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that is disrespectful and degrading and unwelcome is what she's seemingly embracing with open arms
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and that's why people are like girl what are you doing in my opinion it's hypocritical to actively
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and knowingly and intentionally put yourself in these positions
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and then get mad or confused when the outcome is people objectifying you
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because that's the primary intention of these advertisements you literally cannot argue otherwise not only is
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that the primary intention it seems to be the sole intention
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like i don't i'm not really sure what other argument you can make
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and you know maybe this is her way of coping with the sheer amount of objectification
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that gets thrown her way which i can't even imagine what that's like it's
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so horrible to deal with and because like now
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that maybe she feels like she's in on it it gives her a feeling of control a sense of control
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and if that's the case, that honestly breaks my heart.
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In 2024, an interviewer said to Sydney, after your SNL episode, I was struck once again by the way people talk and write about your body, including at times in a politicized way.
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Does that conversation reach you and what is your reaction to it?
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Sydney said, I see it and I just can't allow myself to have a reaction.
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I don't know how to explain it.
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I'm still trying to figure it out myself.
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People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want
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because they believe that I've signed my life away, that I'm not on a human level anymore because I'm an actor.
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That these characters are for everybody else but then me as Sydney is not for me anymore.
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It's this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over.
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I think that what Sydney is failing to understand or acknowledge is
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that her complicated relationship with objectification and being perceived actually stems from the patriarchy
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but instead she seems to be perceiving it as well women are always shaming me
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and making me feel shitty about myself for existing whereas men embrace
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and celebrate me under these same circumstances and i think
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that she potentially feels ostracized from women
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and feels like women have turned their back on her or
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that they don't fuck with her because of like jealousy
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or internalized misogyny
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or whatever the case may be whenever she's tried to cater to women by taking on different roles like christy
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or by starting her own lingerie brand for women even though
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the tagline is from sydney's boobs to yours those things have flopped exponentially hard compared to
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when she makes business moves that cater to men like dr squash
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which sold out instantly
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so i feel like she's viewing it as we've turned our backs on her
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but from our perspective she's turned her back on us it
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feels like a betrayal to see her perpetuate harmful ideologies
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and pander to individuals who don't view you as people who
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don't respect you literally at all two things can be true
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at once objectification will happen regardless of what you do how much
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or how little clothing you wear and the blame for
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that doesn't fall on the person that's being objectified but with
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that being said in a complicated way she's also blatantly encouraging her own objectification
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and that part is what she has choice and agency over
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which is what a lot of people are critiquing her for like you're an equity holder
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and strategic partner in novig babe like let's be
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so for real the The other thing that she doesn't seem to care about
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or acknowledge is that her actions have consequences that affect more than just her.
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I don't think that Sydney is setting women back necessarily, but I do find her behavior insulting.
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And I've seen people make the argument where her Novig ad was particularly harmful
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because the sports industry already has so much rampant misogyny that, like, it felt like a slap in the face.
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It's also annoying because she never takes accountability for anything.
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She either plays the victim whenever it's convenient, plays dumb, or she's like, I'm right where I want to be.
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Are you though?
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Not to get parasocial, but there seems to be so many parallels between Sydney and her character Cassie on Euphoria, which again is the role that she's most known for.
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Cassie has dealt with being sexualized and objectified from an extremely young age, which manifested in a complicated relationship with boys and sex
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and her identity that eventually devolved into seeking validation from a toxic abusive man above everything else
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and starting an only fans that primarily capitalized on like taboo fetishes
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that like put her in these weird humiliating degrading situations
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and it felt like there was no line
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that cassie wasn't willing to cross or position she wasn't willing to put herself in
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and at the end of the day i feel like what
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she needs to ask herself is like why do you think these men are cheering
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and why do you think they're the only ones.
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But honestly, even without all of this, people are well within their right to dislike Sydney because of the MAGA of it all.
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Going back to the American Eagle ad, the main complaint about the jeans versus jeans wordplay was that having a blonde white woman bragging about having good jeans,
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although some argue it was meant to reference her like attractiveness and figure, others point out that it perpetuates white supremacy and eugenics.
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She decided to straight up ignore the backlash for months before finally responding saying, I know at the end of the day what the ad was for and it was great genes.
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It didn't affect me one way or the other.
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Then in a separate interview, the interviewer tried to give her a chance to redeem herself by saying, well, you know, maybe specifically in this political climate,
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white people shouldn't joke about genetic superiority.
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That was kind of the criticism broadly speaking.
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I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about that specifically.
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And Sydney responded, I think that when I have an issue, i want to speak about people will hear oh oh
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and then we have the context of her mom's infamous western
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slash country themed 60th birthday where some guests were seen wearing
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red hats saying make 60 great again even though that's more
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indicative of where her family stands i guess it does seem likely
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that she's a trump supporter especially considering she hasn't said otherwise
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so to have an ad that you star in potentially perpetuating white supremacy
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and saying that it doesn't affect you while also promoting in your latest ad
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that there's no betting on wars or deaths and
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that there's no politics all the while trump supporters have embraced you as a figurehead
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and you know this and you have nothing to say about any of
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that is wild so anyways i just wanted to come on here
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and yap a little bit about
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that also i haven't seen you guys in a second
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and i missed you thanks Thanks so much for being here as always.
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I love you and I'll talk to you later.
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Bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 189 sentences and 2502 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:43. The speaker talks fast, about 197 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| intention noun | /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/ | A course of action that a person intends to follow. |
| complicated adjective | /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/ | Difficult or convoluted. |
| gene noun | /d͡ʒiːn/ | A theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms which may take several values and (in principle) predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form… |
| gambling noun | /ˈɡæm.bl̩.ɪŋ/ | An activity characterized by a balance between winning and losing that is governed by skill and/or chance, usually with money wagered on the outcome. |
| actively adverb | /ˈæktɪvli/ | In an active manner. |
| soap noun | /soʊp/ | A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products. |
| embrace verb | /ɛmˈbɹes/ | To clasp (someone or each other) in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug. |
| eagle noun | /ˈiːɡəl/ | Any of several large carnivorous and carrion-eating birds in the family Accipitridae, having a powerful hooked bill and keen vision. |
| jeans noun | /d͡ʒiːnz/ | A pair of trousers made from denim cotton. |
| backlash noun | /ˈbækˌlæʃ/ | A suddenly reversed or backward motion, such as of a rope or elastic band when it snaps under tension. |
| necessarily adverb | /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ | Inevitably; of necessity. |
| confused adjective | /kənˈfjuːzd/ | unable to think clearly or understand |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
| bath noun | /bɑːθ/ | A tub or pool which is used for bathing: bathtub. |
| naked adjective | /ˈneɪkɪd/ | Bare, not covered by clothing. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. |
| go off verb | To explode. |
| point out verb | To identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body. |
| show up verb | To appear, arrive, or attend, especially suddenly or erratically. |
| sold out adjective | Completely sold; of which no more is in stock. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 56 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, doesn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: bath /bɑːθ/, clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, furthermore /ˈfɜː(ɹ).ðə(ɹ)ˌmɔː(ɹ)/, athletic /æθˈlɛt.ɪk/, athlete /ˈæθ.liːt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: intention /ɪnˈtɛnʃn̩/, backlash /ˈbækˌlæʃ/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, execution /ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/, partially /ˈpɑɹʃəli/
- Long words — get the stress right: complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, potentially /pəˈtɛnʃ(ə)li/, execution /ˌɛk.sɪˈkjuː.ʃən/, promotional /pɹəˈmoʊʃənəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like intention, complicated, gene.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've received · have even gone · has agreed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are already fed · are passed · are regulated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | offender, which is · way, which is · people who don |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.