Gendered Policing of Authenticity: How Cancel Culture Disproportionately Targets Female Influencers

Authenticity & Emotional Labor 

Authenticity has become an increasingly valuable commodity in influencer culture, shaping how creators—particularly women—are expected to behave. Unlike their male counterparts, women are far more heavily policed in how their authenticity is performed and perceived in the media. For example, when exploring influencer snark and the dynamics of online cancel culture, Rauchberg and Maddox (2025) note that the inconsistency is prevalent; an influencer must be authentic but also stable. Their content is expected to be polished, but therefore risks being ridiculed as fake. As a result, emotional labor has become a balancing act. Specifically, some female influencers are expected to remain in a constant state of control and happiness. This expectation in female influencers to stay emotionally controlled, be happy, and maintain self-control can constitute a form of emotional labor that requires an unstable balancing act of self-management to satisfy audience demands. 

Policing Authenticity 

The need for emotional labor among influencers, particularly females, feeds into broader policing of authenticity. When female influencers fail to uphold audience expectations, they are ridiculed. On the contrary, male influencers offer a strict distinction, as they are rarely subjected to scrutiny. In this context, digital gossip and watchdog journalism become central forces in shaping narratives of accountability. For example, according to Geusens et al. (2023), these drama and commentary channels see themselves as “truth tellers” who act as a basis of investigative reporting. Other influences, like snark, offer sarcastic criticism that attempts to hold influencers accountable as well (Rauchberg & Maddox, 2024). Female influencers are criticized for their need for authenticity, while male influencers are seen to be easily spared in comparison. Ultimately, policing authentically holds influencers accountable to their market logic of “realness” but not evenly.

Absence of Male Accountability 

Whereas women are constantly scrutinized for their behavior by gossip forums and commentary channels, male influencers are ultimately invincible. We learned from Raunchberg and Maddox (2025) that snark pages are dedicated to surveilling female influencers, showcasing how the scrutiny is directly female-based. On the other hand, male creators do not face the same level of day-to-day surveillance. We can see the reinforcement of this ideal through gender coding within online industries: beauty, lifestyle, and motherhood are each interpreted as feminine. By contrast, male celebrity cancellations show audiences often rationalize their actions. The gender disparity in this research exposes how the concept of accountability doesn’t operate as an equal force, but perpetuates social hierarchies that excuse male influencer behavior (Duffy, Miltner, & Wahlstedt, 2022). At the same time, women’s authenticity is continuously questioned for deviation. 

Feminist Tension 

Not only do the issues stem from the lack of equal accountability, but they are also shaped by the dynamics within feminist spaces themselves. Rauchberg and Maddox (2025) highlight that most snarkers are young white women who view influencers as more reachable than celebrities. According to scholars, this relationship cultivates the concept of horizontal hostility–women targeting others within their own gendered industry. Although Rauchberd and Maddox caution that feminist critique walks on a fine line with misogyny. By way of explanation, spaces that claim to hold influencers accountable can also be responsible for the production of patriarchal norms. The criticism that women influencers receive is often framed as feminist standards–authenticity, modesty, nurturing–but it only reinforces gender stereotypes. For this reason, women are labeled “too much” or “not enough” resulting in heavy expectations. 

Given the above sections, we developed the following question for inquiry to guide our influencer comparisons.

How do online public discourses, such as popular media critiques and blogs, document the gendered expectations of authenticity among women versus men influencers who were canceled for similar reasons online?

Influencer Comparison

Finally, we will apply the concepts discussed above in real-time influencer comparisons. We looked at the case studies of four pairs of influencers. This includes Bryce Hall & Emma Hallberg, David Dobrik & Brittany Dawn, Jake Paul & Gabbie Hanna and Ned Fulmer & Colleen Ballinger. Each of these cases involves different types of cancellation, including cultural appropriation, scams, fan behavior and sexual misconduct. When analyzing both Bryce Hall & Emma Hallberg, we found that the concepts of an absence of male accountability and the push for authenticity in female influencers were manifested in the case study. This was also true for David Dobrik & Brittany Dawn. On the other hand, we found that Jake Paul & Gabbie Hanna discuss emotional labor & the concept of criticism beyond personality. Similar to the case of Ned Fulmer & Colleen Ballinger.