Jordan Peterson, the right-wing culture warrior on an all-meat diet, became the “main character” of Twitter after posting a bizarre tweet declaring a Sports Illustrated cover “authoritarian” and “not beautiful.”
The Canadian professor and self-help author found fame through criticizing identity politics while dispensing simple life advice; while his fame has somewhat diminished since, Peterson is still considered an important influencer on the right-wing media circuit.
Peterson is notorious for framing minor cultural changes as tyrannical, and pushes the idea that preferred pronouns, casual sex, and student activism are threatening to erode the foundations of Western civilization. But Peterson pushed his dramatic perspective too far when posting a Sports Illustrated cover of Yumi Nu, a conventionally attractive model boasting thick thighs, and declared the photo to be an example of “authoritarian tolerance,” for some reason.
It goes without saying that physical attractiveness is entirely subjective, and despite Peterson’s personal preferences, a lot of people find Yumi Nu to be extremely attractive. If Peterson doesn’t, that’s ok - frankly, no one asked his opinion on the matter.
Hence, Twitter responded with baffled amusement.
Peterson’s statement even alienated some of his own fans, who confirmed they were not being manipulated by nefarious authoritarian forces - there is no MK-Ultra program brainwashing the public into appreciating thick thighs.
Peterson, famous for decrying the youth of today as hyper-sensitive snowflakes, took great offense at being the subject of online mockery. Having presumably read his replies and searched his own name, Peterson announced he was leaving Twitter, declaring the platform to be uniquely damaging to mental health (and to be fair, he’s got a point).
Peterson posted a detailed breakdown of how he was planning to separate himself from the platform, and his intent to write an thinkpiece highlighting the toxicity of Twitter. All in all, it was a pretty reasonable statement, in line with how cancelled celebrities tend to behave after getting their feelings hurt - next stop should be a 3-hour appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, and maybe a Netflix special.
But it wasn’t to be - a couple of hours later, Peterson was tweeting again, drawing attention to hot button issues, seemingly unable to separate himself from his phone.
The culture war never sleeps, and Peterson seems to view himself as one of the most dedicated soldiers on the battlefield. After all, Western civilization isn’t going to defend itself - there are beauty and gender norms being challenged every day!
While Peterson is right to prioritize his mental health over the endless absurdity of the culture war, he can’t expect his inflammatory opinions not to spark pushback and mockery; the man should take his own advice - put down the damn phone, and clean his room.
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