Musical talent Harry Styles took to Instagram on Wednesday to post a photo and caption in response to commentary from conservative author Candace Owens.
“Bring back manly men,” Styles captioned a photo of himself on Instagram. In the photo, the “Falling” singer is wearing effeminate clothing and eating a banana.
Earlier this month, Styles became the first male to land a Vogue magazine cover, and he did so wearing gowns, skirts, and dresses. The creative’s shoot was praised not just inside the space of fashion but hyped for “challenging gender norms” and influencing younger generations.
Pushing-back on the praise, Owens said in a viral tweet, “Bring back manly men” — the same phrase used in the Styes post.
“There is no society that can survive without strong men,” she asserted at the time. “The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence. It is an outright attack. Bring back manly men.”
There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this. In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence.
It is an outright attack.Bring back manly men. https://t.co/sY4IJF7VkK
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 14, 2020
Owens flagged Styles’ Instagram post as an example of her influence and doubled-down on the “Bring back manly men” sentiment via two tweets posted Wednesday morning.
“When people try to tell me I don’t have influence, and then [Harry Style] dedicates an entire post to my tweet,” she wrote in the first tweet, captioning Styles’ Instagram post. “I inspire global conversation. #BringBackManlyMen.”
“Shots fired,” Owens said, adding six laughing emojis.
When people try to tell me I don’t have influence, and then @Harry_Styles dedicates an entire post to my tweet.
I inspire global conversation. #BringBackManlyMen
Shots fired.
😂😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/qaIxnQRb0J
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) December 2, 2020
In the next tweet, the BLEXIT founder used a photo of Styles to emphasize her point in a clever and lighthearted manner.
Writing “#BBMM,” an acronym for “Bring back manly man,” Owens captioned a photo of Styles from his acting role in the Christopher Nolan World War II film “Dunkirk.”
#BBMM
🇺🇸🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/euvRMydjQc— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) December 2, 2020
Owens has undeniably become a lighting rod in the mainstream culture. This summer, the commentator was the subject of a raunchy Dave Chappelle bit.
“To every Democrat tweeting me the clip of #DaveChappelle insulting me: I’m not a leftist,” Owens said in response. “I have a sense of humor & I think comedians SHOULD make fun of people. Dave Chappelle is one of the greatest comedians of all time and I made it into one of his specials. That’s POWER!”
“We’ve arrived too suddenly into a culture where people can’t laugh at themselves, or want to restrain comedians. I will never be a part of that culture,” she added in a follow-up post. “[Dave Chappelle] —you are legend and I’d love to meet you and challenge you to say any of that to my face! All love!”
Similarly, when Owens was the butt of a joke in a sketch from comedian Tim Dillion, she laughed it off.
Dillon’s video mocked all things coronavirus, and included the comedian, dressed as the virus, joking: “Candace Owens doesn’t even believe I’m real. Let me catch that b****. Let me catch that b**** in a Whole Foods. I’ll go right up her nose.”
“This is absolutely hilarious,” Owens responded, quoting the video, “My dad is Bill Gates. My mother is a bat.”
Dillon appreciated Owens’ response: “This is cool. [Candace Owens] can take a joke which is more than I can say for some liberals,” he wrote. “Speaker Pelosi your move.”