"Saeko" Tweet / Could You Please Address Me as Saeko

Submission 342

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About

The "Saeko" Tweet, also known as Could You Please Address Me as Saeko, refers to a viral tweet sent by transgender Twitter / X user @Saeko_Cut in early October 2024 in which she outlined an interaction with a new therapist who used her deadname and refused to address her by the Japanese name, "Saeko." Many agreed with Saeko that the therapist was wrong to deadname her but the tweet also received backlash from many users who believed that it was problematic for Saeko to choose a Japanese name, assuming that she was white. Critics believed that she was fetishizing Japanese culture akin to the Weeaboo stereotype and Thing, Japan discourse. Saeko defended herself on the app by saying she wasn't white but many were skeptical of the claim as the post garnered virality.

Origin

On October 8th, 2024, X^[1] user @Saeko_Cut tweeted a conversation between her and her new therapist that starts with the therapist saying, "Nice to meet you, [DEADNAME]" and Saeko responding, "Could you please address me as Saeko." The therapist purportedly refused to call Saeko by her name, saying, "As a professional I don't think I can ethically do that, [DEADNAME]." Over two days, the tweet received roughly 35.8 million views, 81,000 likes and 1,500 replies (shown below).

Spread

Later on October 8th, 2024, many X users replied to @Saeko_Cut's tweet and offered support, such as X^[2] user @MaidenOfAir, who wrote, "Saeko is a great name" and "I actually think it’s more unethical to call someone by the wrong name, actually," gaining over 11,000 likes in two days (shown below).

During the same timeframe, others questioned Saeko's name, such as X^[3] user @fakecel420 on October 8th, who was sorry about Saeko's therapist situation but also remarked, "how are you a white woman named saeko… at least be a little embarrassed," gaining over 34,000 likes in two days.

Later on October 8th, @Saeko_Cut replied to @fakecel420 on X,^[4] writing, "I'm not white." The reply received over 1,000 likes over the same timeframe (thread shown below).

Virality also ensued in the tweet's quote retweets (QRTs) over the same timeframe.

For instance, on October 8th, 2024, X^[5] user @hah1hikaa quoted Saeko, attaching a screenshot of two of her previous tweets. One read, "I've been flirting with a girl who dirty talks in Japanese. It's pretty clear which one of us is happier!" and another read, "You will never know how it feels to have a Japanese name and hear it pronounced correctly in a soft moan."

X^[5] user @hah1hikaa captioned the screenshot, "I'm sorry you're being deadnamed but can you address this…" receiving over 113,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Also on October 8th, X^[6] user @shuiniprotect quoted the original tweet with a photo of a white man in a kimono, captioned, "'Could you please address me as Saeko.'" The QRT received over 146,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Later on October 8th, 2024, X^[7] user @wudabed unearthed a previous thread from @Saeko_Cut in which she explained why she chose a Japanese name. She wrote, "I chose Japanese name because my native language was made extinct by white settlers, and I refuse to use a name of those who destroyed our civilization. So I stole from a different empire instead" (shown below).

The QRT from October 2024 that questioned the thread received over 43,000 likes in two days.

Tweets about the "Saeko" tweet outside of its immediate orbit also surfaced in the following days. For instance, on October 9th, X^[8] user @g0rillawarrior tweeted, "u let a white person get a little bit queer and suddenly they’re japanese," gaining over 160,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Memes with videos also surfaced about Saeko in the following days. For instance, on October 9th, X^[9] user @blizzy_mcguire tweeted a video of two women dancing, captioned, "Saeko and her therapist when they work it out on the remix," amassing over 11,000 likes in a day (shown below).