A Guide to Children’s Culture for Out-of-Touch Adults: What Is a “Venus Belly”?
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How are you, dear adult? In this edition of “The Adult Guide to Kids’ Culture for Unrelated Adults,” you’ll find a new slang expression, a TikTok prank where AI brings a homeless person into your living room, the possible start of an AI war, and a viral video of students kicking a Nazi out of class. There’s plenty here, so tuck your napkin in and eat.
What is the belly of Venus?
“Venus belly” is a slang term for a woman’s belly that is slightly plump, but not overly so—a small pouch that can be shown off under tight clothing. For example:
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The name comes from Ancient Greece, where Venus was depicted as, well, fleshy, as you can see in these three ” seated Venus ” statues:
While women’s bellies aren’t new, the term “Venus belly” (and the acknowledgement that many find this feature highly attractive) is. I believe old slang terms like “zaftig,” “fat,” “stacked,” and “built like a brick outhouse” aren’t specific enough, and specificity is important when it comes to objectification. If the internet is forced to objectify women (and it seems to), at least “Venus belly” has a historical basis and is more positive and healthy than the sexualization of extreme thinness. So yes, it’s a little creepy, but “a little creepy” is the best we can hope for these days.
Homeless AI Prank
If your child sends you a photo of a homeless person sitting on the couch and asks, “What should I do?” don’t panic. It’s (probably) a prank. A new internet trend is to scare parents and other loved ones by posting an AI-generated image of a homeless person and then posting a video about it on TikTok, like this:
and this:
You might think you’ll be clever and trick your child, but I warn you, it won’t work. They’ll immediately recognize the fake, add a sarcastic emoji, and leave you in read mode, as you can see:
Two Stories of AI Backlash
Artificial intelligence is great for taking photos of people in awkward situations on your couch, but the way it’s capturing everything valuable about humanity isn’t so great. Fortunately, there’s evidence that AI-powered destruction of humanity will meet at least symbolic resistance, and that the backlash against AI is growing.
New York Doesn’t Need an AI ‘Friend’
In 2024, the world first learned of the “Friend” pendant —a small, artificially intelligent device worn around the neck, whose sole purpose is to simulate human interaction. Now that the pendant is available for purchase, the company that created it has launched an advertising campaign, which, unfortunately, is going extremely poorly.
In New York City, posters featuring the “Friend” device in the subway and on the streets are being mercilessly and creatively vandalized, like this : people write messages like, ” Artificial intelligence will facilitate suicide on demand . It’s not your friend.” I’m not necessarily a supporter of vandalism, but I’m making an exception in this case.
Tilly Norwood, the first “AI actress”
A few days ago, Variety magazine published an article about Tilly Norwood , an “AI-generated actress” whose creator, comedian and producer Elin Van der Velden, lied about Norwood “getting noticed by numerous talent agents.” Below is Norwood’s first video role, created by the “AI-generated talent studio” Xicoia:
Apparently, this video is considered “hilarious” in the UK. Be that as it may, shortly after Norwood was announced, actual talent agencies responded with, ” Screw this bullshit! ” as did the Screen Actors Guild, the Screen Actors Union , and everyone else with a clue.
But with the emergence of her name, disturbing news about Norwood’s past also came to light, as you can see in this post by X:
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Leaving the actress to seek “alternative” work in the entertainment industry .
By the way, if you want to know who will be the first true AI superstar, it’s Johnny Extreme! Created in three and a half seconds by Stephen Johnson Studios, Extreme has attracted countless talent agents with his bad-boy persona and constant rule-breaking. He’s a fluke looking for a place. Here’s his audition video, suckers:
(If you want to hire Johnny Extreme, please send me money.)
What does “my steak is too juicy” mean?
The phrases “my steak is too juicy” and “my lobster is too oily” are internet slang used to express complaints about something one should be grateful for. To see this in context and return to the topic of “Venus Belly,” click here .
Viral Video of the Week: How to Treat Nazis
This week’s most viral video came from the University of Washington, where an attention-seeking Nazi interrupted a psychology class by grabbing the microphone, making an Elon Musk hand gesture, shouting insults and obscenities, and calling sexuality classes “degenerate nonsense.”
The students respond by booing him and throwing him out of class, led by the tough professor who had been harassing him. But they don’t beat him up, as he’s trying to provoke. Instead, they keep him in the saddle and wait for the authorities to come and take him away. (Although for his efforts, the agitator receives a generous dose of pepper spray in return.)
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Here’s the perspective of a criminal who was stupid enough to publish his complete humiliation.
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It’s easy to look at these noisy weirdos and think they represent the interests of many people, but as this video shows, that’s not the case in real life.