Cavinder twins aren't hot girl victims - they're control freaks

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/cavinder-twins-arent-victims-theyre-control-
freaks/

Welcome to the big leagues, Haley and Hanna.

This week, the 22-year-old Cavinder twins — two seismic figures in the
ever changing college sports landscape — were profiled by Ethan Strauss
for the Free Press, in a piece entitled: “The NCAA has a ‘hot girl’
problem.“

After publication, the Cavinders cried foul saying the story was filled
with “sexist tropes.”

The backlash was swift and long — their grievance statement almost as
lengthy as the piece itself. They said the interview was “obtained under a
false pretense,” and that they had chosen to do the piece with the Bari
Weiss-led outlet because it was “woman ran.”

“We were specifically told via the publication the context would be to
‘see the Cavinders as a very important story not only in the context of
women’s college sports but new media culture and business. They’re
building a hugely successful brand, and they’re at the forefront of a new
space, and we think that’s exciting and newsworthy,’ ” they wrote on
Twitter.

They said that after letting him follow them around all weekend and
sitting for an interview, they were ultimately reduced to being hot —
despite him only asking one question about their looks.

The athletic blonds rose to fame draining uncontested three-pointers on
TikTok, but here, they lobbed up a brick.

Strauss, who is one of the most incisive writers in the sports world,
delivered exactly what was promised, along with essential commentary on
the role aesthetics play in this new NIL ecosystem for women, where
classic beauty transcends performance stats.

Perhaps, the piece could have had more froth and frippery: they wanted
more about their work ethic, the young girls they “work hard to inspire”
and I can assume, extra color from the weekend. For that treatment, Vogue
— another female-led publication — would have been suitable.

But this backlash is what happens when objective journalism collides with
the heavily filtered world of social media, where influencers are their
own writers, editors, publishers and publicists.

Content creators, many of whom are Gen Z, are accustomed to molding their
desired personal narrative: dispatching flattering blips to the world in
bite-sized pieces.

It’s pretty handy when you’re building a brand, but it’s hardly a practice
that provides critical perspective to one’s place in a sweeping cultural
moment.

Something similar happened in November when the New York Times published a
feature “New Endorsements for College Athletes Resurface an Old Concern:
Sex Sells.”

LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who is reportedly the NCAA’s highest earner and
was interviewed for the story, took a dig at the nuanced piece, posting a
photo of her from the photo shoot, captioned, “Is this too much?”

To deny that beauty and sexiness aren’t a component of both the Cavinders’
and Dunne’s allure, is to deny reality.

As a features writer, I’ve had run-ins with content creators and
influencers, who have bristled under the pen of another writer.

They’ve complained about everything from including a basic well-known fact
like a former romantic partner or the art we’ve chosen for a story.

I’ve had frantic calls from one young woman insisting that she did not
approve the image we used. Yet she sat for the portrait and we don’t give
photo approval to subjects.

It’s not that the Cavinders or Dunne are thin-skinned. It’s that they and
other creators are operating under the coddled delusion that their
friendly lens is the definitive one.

Personally, I like the Cavinder twins.

Last June, on the eve of NIL’s first birthday, I interviewed them about a
myriad of topics and found them to be self-assured, warm and approachable.

That was a honeymoon period where we were seeing the new NCAA rule take
shape and morph in real time.

Now that the Jell-O is starting to mold, there’s valuable analysis to be
taken from their story — in the broader scope of NIL.

This latest piece was not a hit job, nor was it a hand job.

The Cavinders weren’t duped. They were simply forced to watch their movie
made with someone else in the director’s chair.

--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.