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Thursday, May 14, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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OP
OPINION
ON

A

s the semester winds down
while the weather warms up
across the state, it’s easy to for-
get that we are in the midst of a global
pandemic. But while the pandemic may
have slipped our minds, it certainly hasn’t
escaped that of Gov. Gretchen Whit-
mer, who announced the extension of
her stay-at-home order through May 28.
This decision has garnered severe back-
lash, both from her constituents and the
Republican-controlled Senate in Michi-
gan, and has even brought the Michigan
political landscape under the searing eye
of national politics.
But Whitmer is no stranger to sending
ripples through national politics, having
delivered the democratic response after
President Donald Trump’s State of the
Union address back in February. Now
she is rumored to be a potential running
mate for Joe Biden. Recently, Whitmer
has also been the subject of Trump’s
infamous Twitter tirades, and has been
labeled “that woman from Michigan.”
Beyond her involvement in politics, how-
ever, Whitmer displays an unwavering
commitment to the safety and wellbeing
of Michiganders, demonstrated by the
extension of the emergency order, regard-
less of political backlash.
Whitmer’s approach is one that takes
the best interest of Michiganders into
account and is done so out of genuine
compassion for her constituents, not polit-
ical gamesmanship. Nevertheless, she has
faced harsh criticism from politicians and
protestors in Michigan’s capital alike. Just
because these critics can’t witness first
hand the catastrophic havoc wreaked by
the virus doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
After all, any issue that preys thousands
of Michiganders’ lives should transcend
party lines and amass unilateral support.
Unfortunately, the political landscape in
America is so marred by divisive discord
and blind ignorance that many are unable
to expand their views to consider more
than themselves.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown
the ever-widening chasm of political dis-
parity into focus, and, rather than being
an agent to catalyze unity, it has only
served to worsen these tensions. This
is not a time to be restrained by political
ties but rather a time to come together
in solidarity to solve the issue at hand.
In refusing to budge in her approach to
the pandemic when human lives are at
stake, Whitmer intends to do just that. It
is refreshing to come across a politician
who genuinely values human lives and
is undeterred in the wake of backlash.
Unfortunately, these qualities are incred-
ibly rare, the highest office in America
being corrupted by the antithesis of
the qualities displayed by Whitmer. In
response to Whitmer refusing to com-
promise by opening the economy at the

cost of lives, Trump urged Whitmer to
“give a little, and put out the fire.” Nev-
ertheless, Whitmer holds steadfast in
the wake of a political storm, refusing to
lower herself to political quibbles when
Michiganders’ lives are at stake.
Her actions in response to the corona-
virus pandemic prove her a leader well
equipped to deal with a crisis (namely that
she won’t urge citizens to ingest chemi-
cals) and demonstrate a selflessness and
genuine concern for her people that make
her a great governor and a praiseworthy
politician. But, unfortunately, Whit-
mer has become the latest scapegoat in
Trump’s pattern of blaming others for his
blunders. While she should be heralded
as having her constituents’ best interests
at heart, instead she is falling victim to a
sick double standard present in politics,
wherein women are criticized harshly for
doing the same thing that men do. After
all, how is Whitmer’s approach any dif-
ferent than Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s in New
York? Sure, New York has more cases,
but with Michigan still within the top 10
states with the most cases, Whitmer is
simply heeding Cuomo’s warning as “the
canary in the coal mine.”
On top of criticism from Trump,
Whitmer is facing criticism in Michi-
gan’s capital of Lansing. Michigan saw
its largest protest yet, dubbed Operation
Girdlock, with many gathering outside
the Michigan capitol building. The nar-
rative these protestors have adopted
is one that criticizes Whitmer’s lock-
down, saying it jeopardizes their liberty
and infringes on their constitutional
rights. These protestors seem to argue
that, because they personally haven’t
witnessed the havoc caused by the
coronavirus, they shouldn’t be inconve-
nienced by its effects.
These protests have even been com-
pared to Rosa Parks’s infamous protest
during the Civil Rights Movement by
the Trump administration. Apparently
what these valiant protestors fail to
realize is that a crucial part of the Civil
Rights Movement was nonviolence,
which their possession of assault rifles
directly contradicts. Also, it is impossible
to equate systematic racial oppression
to government intervention designed to
safeguard the health and wellbeing of
an entire population. Furthermore, the
fact that swastika and noose flaunting
protestors are being compared to Rosa
Parks is a testament to the gross igno-
rance that festers in the White House. In
addition, many protestors flouted Whit-
mer’s guidelines, not social distancing
and not wearing masks.

Whitmer’s strong COVID-19 response

MADELEINE LAPIERRE | COLUMNIST

Madeleine LaPierre can be reached at

madlapi@umich.edu.

ELIZABETH PEPPERCORN | COLUMNIST

Q

uarantine has left mil-
lions of teenagers, includ-
ing myself, in search
of ways to fill their time
while socially distancing. Some
have turned to painting, Zoom
calls, cooking or learning to play
new instruments. However, one
of the most popular ways young
people are escaping boredom is
through the social media plat-
form TikTok. With endlessly
entertaining minute-long clips,
it is easy to lose track of time on
the app. While it can be a fun
and creative platform, it can be
extremely dangerous for mental
health and body image, espe-
cially with such a young audi-
ence.
“In terms of its difference
from other social media, it
does not stop,” LSA sophomore
Shubhum Giroti said. “On Ins-
tagram or Facebook, you fol-
low what you follow and then at
some point, you reach repeated
content and get off the app. The
difference with TikTok is that
it literally doesn’t stop. You can
spend one minute or 12 hours
in a row on it. I think that it is
extremely unhealthy.”
A unique feature of TikTok
is the For You Page. The FYP is
made up of content recommend-
ed for the user based on algo-
rithms that determine what that
user likes to see. By consistently
displaying new content, it has
become one of the most addic-
tive social media platforms. LSA
sophomore Megan Shohfi claims
that “it is the most addicting app
(she has) ever had.”
If the algorithm is based
on what viewers like to see, it
should be things they are inter-
ested in and want to see and
have a positive impact on men-
tal health, right? Unfortunately
not. For many people, the vid-
eos that they might spend more
time watching are not healthy.
For example, Shohfi’s FYP is
made up of lots of health and fit-
ness videos. However, she notes,
she often sees an “unhealthy
diet culture. The way that some
influencers use TikTok to pro-
mote unhealthy eating habits
frustrates me because younger
girls probably see that and think
that it is normal. I see things like
only drinking water for break-
fast and extreme diets.”
It is hard to control which
videos hold our attention. Many
videos on my FYP promote

unhealthy habits as well. I find
myself watching them because
I am so shocked and confused
about how they are real. What
TikTok sees, however, is that I
am taking the time to watch the
full video. Therefore, more vid-
eos like this appear on my FYP.

TikTok has a very young
audience. Nearly 40 percent of
users in the United States are
teenagers or younger and more
than 25 percent are in their
20s. Many users are in their
formative years and are at risk
of being heavily influenced
by social media. The intense
diet culture of the app has the
potential to begin or intensify
body image issues for all users,
but can especially affect young-
er teens who are already going
through a period of higher inse-
curity and confusion.
When
interviewees
were
asked about the typical famous
TikTok male and female, very
different
descriptions
were
used. The typical female was
described by all as skinny,
white, good looking, good at
dancing and usually showing
lots of skin. On the other hand,
the typical male was described
as average and funny. My
12-year-old brother once said to
me, “girls just have to be pretty
and wear a bikini” when dis-
cussing how to get famous on
the app.
I am a strong believer that
women should be able to wear
and do whatever they want in
their posts. However, many
young females are getting the
impression that what soci-
ety values are their bodies
and looks. When they see that
famous females are skinny,
pretty and happy, they may
think that they would be hap-
pier if their lives were more
similar to those famous TikTok
users. “A lot of famous TikTok
people are famous because they
are good looking and seem to

have fun lives,” LSA sophomore
Benjamin Servetah said. “It
seems like their lives are bet-
ter and it can cause you to feel
worse about yourself.”
Social media allows people
to only present the best ver-
sions of themselves. Users wit-
ness beautiful, skinny, famous
people that seem happy and can
feel bad about their own situa-
tion. The possibility that any-
one can reach fame on the app
is exciting, but it also means
that those who do not get many
views or likes may feel that the
community
is
disapproving
of them and that they are not
attractive or funny enough.
The app has many fun and
interesting features. As with
any social media platform,
people
can
express
them-
selves and relate to others.
Even the dancing culture has
positive features, as dancers
have found an outlet to share
their talents. From painting
to cooking to fitness, TikTok
allows people to be creative
and gain recognition for their
talents. However, there are
little to no positive impacts on
mental health. Even famous
TikTok users have begun to
speak out about the massive
amounts of hate and judgment
they receive on their bod-
ies and choices. Addison Rae,
one of the most famous female
TikTok
dancers,
recently
spoke out on Twitter about the
body-shaming comments she
receives after being compared
to a whale multiple times on
the app.
The app has the potential
for
creativity
and
spread-
ing positive messages that
could potentially help men-
tal health. For this to become
reality, however, users must
be aware of their interactions
with the app to maximize the
benefits. If people stop liking
and giving attention to videos
with negative ideas about body
image and unhealthy messag-
es, those videos will gain less
traction and show up on fewer
people’s FYP. The culture of
the users must change for the
app to change. Awareness and
a conscious effort to spread
positivity can put TikTok in
the right direction.

The dark side of TikTok

Elizabeth Peppercorn can be

reached at epepperc@umich.edu.

However, there
are little to no
positive impacts
on mental health

Read more at MichiganDaily.com