US woman who records using superglue as hairspray viewed more than 28 million times

Singapore — A woman in the United States has been in the news for having used superglue as hairspray, ending up needing the help of a plastic surgeon to remove the adhesive after a few months.

Ms Tessica Brown, 40, recorded her plight and uploaded it to TikTok, where her story has been viewed all over the world more than 28 million times.

Many people have mocked her, although others have been sympathetic.

Ms Brown, who is referred to in the media as Gorilla Glue Girl because of the spray adhesive she used, is reportedly considering suing the company that manufactures it, earning her more scorn.

This scorn can be seen even in Singapore, with retired diplomat Bilahari Kausikan writing:  “I wonder how she managed to stay alive long enough to commit this act of stupidity.”

And blogger Michael Petraeus, who is known as Critical Spectator, used Ms Brown as an example in the argument that some people should not be allowed to vote. 

Mr Petraeus, a big supporter of the PAP government, wrote: “If you lack the intellectual capacity to comprehend that putting a strong adhesive on your head may not be a good idea, you should be stripped of your right to vote and shouldn’t hold any position of responsibility (perhaps having children would be a bad idea too…).”

Ms Brown has at least one son. After having received much criticism, especially on social media, she said in an interview: “I told my son today ‘I wish I could just go back’ because I’m over it. I’m over it.”

However, Mr Petraeus also took aim at those who supported Ms Brown. “The GoFundMe campaign she launched to pay the bills of the treatment to clean her scalp has already raised over US$18,000 out of the US$1,500 goal. So, it turns out, a lot more people are not exactly bright either.” (That’s S$23,885 out of a target of S$1,990).

He then went on to criticise democracy itself for giving everyone the right to vote, in some countries even those who have been convicted of crimes.

Mr Petraeus wrote that a “higher weight of the vote” should be given to reward individuals for what they have accomplished “instead of motivating duplicitous candidates to manipulate dimwits to cast their votes on them”. 

He seemed to advocating for a social credit system, similar to China’s, but one that would influence politics.

“In other words, good, valuable, accomplished, successful, honest citizens could be rewarded with a greater weight of the vote — what, in turn, would provide a greater check on the people in charge,” he wrote.

He added that founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew once suggested that two votes be given to couples between 35 and 60 who have children, “as they have both a larger stake in and have provided a larger contribution to the society”.

The result of giving greater weight to more accomplished people, as well as suspending the votes of “thousands or millions of absolute nincompoops” would be that populism’s appeal would lessen.

He called for steps to be taken towards reform “before people putting superglue on their heads or swallowing Tide Pods for likes on YouTube and TikTok fly the country (any and every country) into the ground”. /TISG

Read also: Calvin Cheng bans Critical Spectator from his page due to “white supremacist” idea

Calvin Cheng bans Critical Spectator from his page due to “white supremacist” ideas