The Boiler Summer Cup isn't a game

Getting filmed in a disco trying to pick up girls for fun and posting it on TikTok might sound like a pastime from American Pie, but the problem is that we are not in a movie. The #boilersummercup is a real challenge and targets a specific category of prey, namely girls who don't meet the aesthetic standards identified as 'standard' and throws them into the crosshairs of body shaming for a game of power assertion, The word 'boiler' coined from internet and dialect jargon belies the fatphobic streak of today's beauty standards, revealing a failed commitment to greater social inclusivity in media conversations of recent times. The term not only discriminates against growing girls who are overweight, but also those who self-determine by loving their bodies in their naturalness, without falling victim to the Diet Culture promoted by the #thatgirl current. The challenge imposes an asphyxiating and misogynistic judgement on girls, which can result in extreme reactions such as locking oneself in the house to avoid being the object of ridicule, an event that happened last week following the spread of the challenge on TikTok. "The fatter the girl you bang, the more points you get" is the slogan of the competition, where by now the score goes hand in hand with the insults earned on TikTok, where the players called out by the use of the hashtag, already at 1.4M views, have unleashed a social chain reaction.

On the one hand there are the boys looking for approval from their peers who find the game amusing, those who denounce the disrespectful behaviour, and then the girls, both those who consciously identify themselves as the category in question - and currently create content rebelling against the spread of online grooming videos - and the Italian female community of TikTok, who repost stitches of the videos in question attaching insults and disdain. Many say they are afraid to go clubbing now, underlining how the challenge subjects them to group violence and makes them feel unsafe to live common experiences, while others instead joke "Finally you have an excuse to go with girls in the flesh without suffering the judgement of your friends", underlining how it is always the dynamics of the herd that imposes standards of beauty that must be accepted and how this exclusive wave can actually be liberating for some, without having to take a stand on choices other than those considered accepted by the group.

TikTok's summer challenge should be denounced on the grounds of the violation of the right to the image of underage girls, victims of behaviour verging on cyberbullying and misogyny, attributing a vulgar label to girls who are extremely sensitive to judgement at a delicate age for their identity formation. Being the victim of such an episode could result in a deep drop in self-esteem and cause a lack of trust in relationships as well as relationship trauma. Despite the impact that the challenge might have on girls, the male audience that is not outraged on TikTok countered by recalling the #hotgirlsummerchallenge, the points 'challenge' to have a memorable summer after two years of pandemic based on having fun without inhibitions and especially without getting engaged. Although this female challenge also had a fraternity nature, the challenges - even the hot ones - did not go to the detriment of the freedom and self-expression of the male audience, causing trauma and applying psychological violence on those who quietly went to enjoy an evening. Among the thousands of videos posted about the summer challenges, one user's comment stands out: 'But not a normal summer?

The only positive point of the challenge is that in the bad, female solidarity becomes stronger: many girls have come out in support of those who are afraid or feel in danger, and profiles such as that of Caterina Guerra on how to build the right armour to be exempt from male judgement and live well with one's own body.