The Negative Peace and Performance of White Identity Politics

Prompt No. 48: Unfollowing Sprees, Rise of Conservatism, Morgan Quaintance’s “South”

“When an individual enters the presence of others, they commonly seek to acquire information about him or to bring into play information about him already possessed. They will be interested in his general socio-economic status, his conception of self, his attitude toward them, his competence, his trustworthiness, etc… Information about the individual helps to define the situation, enabling others to know in advance what he will expect of them and what they may expect of him.  

- Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

A couple of weeks ago, white women went on something of an unfollowing spree. Armed with step-by-step instructions from progressive TikTok creators, they searched social media for influencers supporting Donald Trump and removed anyone listed under the Mutuals tab. The exercise presumed family, friends, and acquaintances consuming content created by conservatives accepted, if not held those same intolerant beliefs, as well. However, the unfollowing spree was too little, too late, and entirely too indirect. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, social conservatism is at its highest (38%) in roughly a decade, and social media trends reflect this shift. Tradwives continue to dominate popular culture with hardly any pushback outside of their performative anti-feminism. These Christian and Mormon influencers, the vast majority of whom are thin, white, and blonde, continue to thrive despite the dangerous illiberalism of their faiths. For example, the leader of a Texas faction of Mormon moms, Aaryn Williams, went viral recently for her racist and homophobic comments during her appearance on Big Brother. Williams’ excused her behavior by posting a clip from the season where she apologizes to her castmates for saying things that were inexcusable and said due to the stress of the show. Besides, it was back in 2013; she’s supposedly a very different person now.