Ulta Beauty bombarded with transphobic hate over video with trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney
TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney. (Getty/ JC Olivera)
US retailer Ulta Beauty has been inundated with anti-trans hate after it platformed trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.
In episode two of Ulta Beauty’s “The Beauty Of” series, gender-fluid Latinx hairstylist, David Lopez, sat down with Mulvaney to discuss all things “girlhood”.
The video, which has been viewed more than 14,500 times on YouTube, sees the pair discuss “the good, the bad, and the silly moments that come with finding girlhood”.
However, since it was posted, Ulta Beauty has been bombard with hate and forced to disable the comments under its YouTube video.
Trans ? Girls ? Can ? Do ?It ? All! Tune into the latest episode of The Beauty Of… where host @DavidLopezzz sits down with guest Dylan Mulvaney to chat all things girlhood ? Watch now: https://t.co/tCRfEryYkZ pic.twitter.com/uaXJqEBQI9
— Ulta Beauty (@ultabeauty) October 13, 2022
The brand has taken time individually respond to hateful and transphobic comments on Twitter.
“We want our channel to be welcoming to people from all walks of life — even people you may not agree with,” Ulta Beauty said.
In a separate tweet, Ulta wrote that the purpose of its series is to “feature conversations that widen the lens surrounding traditional beauty standards”.
It noted that some conversations hosted will “challenge perspectives and opinions”, but the brand said it believes “constructive dialogue is one important way to move beauty forward”.
“The intersectionality of gender identity is nuanced, something David and Dylan acknowledge themselves within the episode. Regardless of how someone identifies, they deserve our respect,” Ulta said.
Since coming out on Instagram, Mulvaney, who has 8.3 million followers on TikTok, has been posting a “100 Days of Girlhood” series (which has now extended well into the 200s).
In the Ulta Beauty interview, she touched on the backlash she has received for her videos.
“I get a lot of hate about calling myself a ‘girl’ and not a ‘woman.’ And because you know that term, they think I’m infantilising myself or that you know, once you turn 18 you’re no longer a girl” Mulvaney said.
“So I think some of that’s rooted in transphobia… I think in womanhood, I get shamed a lot for liking pink and liking glitter, and I’m like, ‘Why does that bother you so much?’ They think I’m lowering their standard of being a woman.”
Prior to embarking on her “gender identity journey”, Mulvaney said she never found herself beautiful. She said she “didn’t think boys were allowed to be beautiful” and being “handsome didn’t feel right either”.
The TikTok star spoke openly about the grief she felt leaving behind the Dylan she formerly knew.
“I had all these, some untrue ideas, like maybe I won’t find love now,” she said.
Iin the future Mulvaney hopes to have a family, she shared.
“I know I can find love, I know I can still be a performer, I know I can have a family. I want to be a mom one day — and I absolutely can!
“And that’s why the narrative still has a long way to go because when I was grieving ‘boy’ Dylan, I didn’t know those things were even accessible to me, because there was so much shame and stigma.”
Mulvaney grew up in a Conservative household, which she said formed her idea of trans people and left her with internalised transphobia.
“There’s so much to unpack. When you’re trans and you’re still judging the community and I’ve had to get over that because of the religious beliefs I’ve had and what I’ve seen on TV…We’ve got to change it,” she said.
Mulvaney also explained that she goes by the pronouns she/they because “the ‘they’ still feels good”.
