Sydney Sweeney and her, um, assets have become the focal point of a bizarre debate about the "end of wokeness" - and if you're confused, well, you're not the only one.
The Euphoria star, 26, hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the first time over the weekend, but one clip from her appearance has generated particular interest online.
The clip in question was taken from the end of the show as Sweeney farewelled the audience, thanking the cast and fellow guests, country singer Kacey Musgraves and her Anyone But You co-star, Glen Powell.
For the segment, the 26-year-old was dressed in a low-cut black number that amplified her cleavage.
The debate was primarily sparked by conservative commentator Richard Hanania, who shared the clip - which has since been viewed over 40 million times - in a post to X with the caption: "Wokeness is dead."
Fellow right-wing provocateur Ian Miles Cheong agreed, sharing the same footage with the caption: "Wokeness is so finished. These two videos are among the most viral across TikTok and X this week."
The second video showed a muscled, tattooed tradesman panelling a ceiling and straddling a ladder, impressively manoeuvring the equipment with just his legs while heavy metal pulsated in the background.
While many expressed their confusion at the link between Sweeney's appearance and the end of "wokeness", others were quick to jump on the bandwagon, with one X user declaring in Cheong's comments: "Boobs and hard work! Back to what makes America great!"
"Real woman and real man. You love to see it," said another X user, who describes themselves as "pro-life" and "pro-freedom".
It appears some right-wingers have linked Sweeney's cleavage - and the stereotypically 'masculine' display of the chiselled tradesman - to the return of more traditional gender roles, values and ideals. This was explained by one X user, who responded to a confused viewer's request for clarification in the comments.
"Wokeness doesn't like traditional femininity or traditional masculinity and wouldn't like these two videos," they claimed.
Others were quick to condemn the connection between the two, with many declaring that Cheong and Hanania's conclusions made little sense.
"Has nothing to do with it. Just googled 'woke' and the definition is [to] 'alert to injustice in society'. Not sure how that relates to Sydney Sweeney and her rack at all," one weighed in.
"Conservatives keep trying to change the game here, OK? Libs never said women can't show cleavage. We are the people who are supportive of women owning their own sexuality! OK? We invented that," writer Ben Dreyfuss responded.
"Wow u guys are normal!!!" another joked. "'Boobs on my TV?? DAMN THE WOKE LIBERAL AGENDA MUST be DEAD'."
"I'm so confused because I thought woke was sexual stuff but now it's not? Lmao I'm [confused]," one shared.
The adjective 'woke' was initially derived from a term used by Black Americans that referred to being alert to and aware of "racial prejudice and discrimination" amid the civil rights movements of the 20th century. However, in the 2010s the term started to encompass a broader range of social issues, including awareness of sexism, the denial of LGBTQIA+ rights and racial injustice.
Since then, it's appropriation by conservatives has become so broad, it's been difficult to assign any defined meaning at all to the term - sometimes resulting in on-air meltdowns when people are asked to explain what 'woke' actually means.
The strange debate came after SNL's writers faced backlash last week for a teaser trailer in which Sweeney made jokes about her physical appearance.
In the clip, she appeared alongside musical guest Musgraves and SNL cast member Heidi Gardner, who declared: "Girl power! Love this group of three strong ladies. I bet so many women are gonna tune in this weekend."
Sweeney replied, "Weirdly, a lot of my fans are men," to which Musgraves added: "Hmm, I wonder why."
The response to the trailer was largely critical, with several condemning the writing as "lazy" and leaning into misogynistic jokes.
"They've got 48 hours to come up with some better material," one clapped back, while a second stated: "Sydney Sweeney is more than her boobs. Do better SNL."
