Written by Chloé Cerisier
Sydney Sweeney is everywhere. She’s on your screen, starring in the new romcom, ‘Anyone But You’. She’s taking selfies with the latest Samsung Galaxy phone. She’s selling her bathwater. And lately, she’s been making news for her great “genes” (or was it jeans?).
The latter arrived in late July in the form of an American Eagle campaign for denim. In one advert, the camera pans over to Sydney Sweeney lying down, as she’s zipping up her blue jeans and performs what is now a viral line: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.” In another cut, she says, “My body’s composition is determined by my genes,” as the camera zooms in on her cleavage. The commercials were a clear reference to Sweeney having “great genes,” while wearing “great jeans”. If it was meant to be a funny play on homophones, it quickly spiralled into a broader discussion around beauty standards, white supremacy, and the denim industry.
The main critique of the campaign lies in the meaning of having “great genes”, suggesting the existence of inferior genes. Some have argued that the ad alludes to eugenics, a pseudo-scientific theory based upon the human race improving itself by breeding out “less desirable traits”. Therefore, Sydney Sweeney, a conventionally attractive actress, arguably represents what the brand considers “great genes”. I may even venture to say that she represents what part of the American population may deem as admirable genetics: white skin, blonde hair, blue eyes. Many, therefore, felt the campaign was playing into the current rise of right-wing glorification of whiteness in America. After all, it has not even been a year since President Donald Trump, who was at the time out of office, identified “bad genes” as the cause of crimes committed by immigrants.
Politicians quickly stepped into the debate. Vice President JD Vance announced on the ‘Ruthless’ podcast that “The lesson they’ve apparently taken is, ‘We’re going to attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful.’” Governor Ted Cruz wrote on X, “Wow. Now the crazy Left has come out against beautiful women. I’m sure that will poll well….”. Even President Trump wrote on his social media Truth, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there. […] Go get ‘em Sydney!”.
However, beyond being a semantic conversation, it is also important to remind ourselves of the backstory of denim wear. Before denim became typically fashionable, it was seen as a fabric of control. After the abolishment of slavery in the United States, many formerly enslaved people became sharecroppers working on the same land, under the same white authority, but now earning just enough for it not to be denoted as slavery. Across the U.S., they wore the same blue denim uniform, chosen for its durability and utility. Within prisons, incarcerated men, many of them Black, were forced into labour while wearing denim jumpsuits. Plantation owners and prison officers saw clothing as a way to mark the enslaved, with blue denim visually standing out within a crowd. If someone were to run away, their clothes would betray them. The fabric that Sydney Sweeney is now selling as a symbol of her “great genes” was once called “Negro cloth”.
