I'm a Male. I'm a Man. I'm a 'He'

Submission 29,369

Part of a series on Preferred Pronouns. [View Related Entries]

About

I'm a Male. I'm a Man. I'm a "He," continued I Don't Get Into That Mentally Ill Stuff, is a TikTok sound that was surfaced from an old white man living in one of the most racist towns in America (Harrison and Zinc, Arkansas) after he was asked what his preferred pronouns were within a YouTube video uploaded by YouTuber Poudii in October 2022. After the sound landed on TikTok, it was lip-dubbed by multiple creators who also raised their eyebrows for each Vine boom sound effect, making a Chad face.

Origin

The towns of Harrison and Zinc, Arkansas became known online as the most racist towns in America due to the Ku Klux Klan's (KKK) headquarters in Harrison, AR. Starting in 2020, multiple YouTubers made videos about the towns in which they would visit and perform stunts that countered the environment's ideology. On July 27th, 2020, YouTuber Rob Bliss was the first to highlight the town's racism when he uploaded a video titled, "Holding a Black Lives Matter Sign in America's Most Racist Town." The video received roughly 11.9 million views in two years (shown below, left). On May 6th, 2022, YouTuber JiDion visited Harrison, AR with fellow YouTuber Brandon Buckingham, gaining roughly 9.7 million views in five months and predominantly surfacing discourse about the town's racism once again (shown below, right).

On October 15th, 2022, YouTuber Poudii uploaded a video titled, "For $500 'Act Black' in America's Most Racist Town," in which he went to Harrison and its neighboring town Zinc. He referenced JiDion's video as his inspiration. At the 11:34-minute mark, Poudii is talking to a man who lives in the area and asks him, "What's your pronouns?" The man angrily replied, "I'm a male. I'm a man. I'm a 'he.' I don't get into that 'mentally ill stuff'" (shown below). Over the course of 13 days, the video received roughly 1.9 million views.

Spread

On October 16th, 2022, TikToker^[1] 4oncy reposted the aforementioned clip from Poudii's video to the new platform, gaining roughly 52.5 million plays and 8.5 million likes in 12 days (shown below, left). Thereafter, multiple TikTokers started lip-dubbing the sound^[2], which amassed roughly 49,700 videos in 12 days. The first-known TikToker^[3] to use the sound was kezzaphobia on October 16th, receiving roughly 1.4 million plays and 376,800 likes in 12 days (shown below, right).

More notable and verified TikTokers weighed in on the trend, additionally lip-dubbing and raising their eyebrows for every "Vine Boom." For instance, on October 21st, 2022, verified TikToker^[4] Dove Cameron posted an iteration, gaining roughly 4.7 million plays and 1 million likes in one week (shown below, left). On October 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[5] emilseljeseth, also known as the Kazuya Guy, uploaded an iteration, gaining roughly 1.9 million plays and 282,600 likes in five days (shown below, right).