Natalie Wynn

More commonly known as ContraPoints on YouTube, Natalie Wynn is a trans woman from Baltimore, Maryland with over a million subscribers from making insightful progressive video essays on gender, sexuality, feminism, ethics, facism, and politics. She uses various forms of comedy like dark humor and parody to commentate on these issues on her channel. Natalie is also known for her elaborate background sets and costumes that capture different aesthetics for each of her videos, and she even acts as many different characters who represent certain viewpoints.  

Natalie first started creating YouTube videos in 2015, two years before she started transitioning. Her experiences of living as multiple sexes have given her more insight on gender issues that cisgender people are less likely to find themselves. For example, she gained a greater understanding of the differences on how men and women live. On her 2019 video titled “Men | ContraPoints,” she criticizes men’s rights activism through skeptical but sympathetic lenses. She addresses the problems men exclusively go through that women don’t, such as toxic masculinity and male expendability.

“On the left, the whole idea of a men’s movement is basically taboo because the men’s movement we all know is basically just a backlash to feminism, and at worst, it’s just straight-up misogyny… I think what would actually improve life for most men is a positive ideal of 21st-century manhood.”

Natalie Wynn has always put herself in a vulnerable position on the internet, as a trans lesbian writing about progressive politics on the internet. She has been attacked by many transphobic groups on the left and right for preaching her ideas, yet she continues to speak her beliefs. This is why she is not only an inspiring icon to many of her LGBT+ fans, but to her cisgender and straight fans who she educates on what they can do to improve as allies. 

On her latest video, a user named New School Vintage commented, “as a straight guy that is just interested in general knowledge about, well, how our world works… Your essays are incredible. Well thought, developed, and fun. I hope this channel’s audience isn’t niche because everyone should watch ‘em.”

References 

New School Vintage. (2020). Re: J.K. Rowling | ContraPoints [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gDKbT_l2us 

Fleishman, J. (2019, June 12). Transgender YouTube star ContraPoints tries to change Alt-right minds. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-transgender-youtuber-contrapoints-cultural-divide-20190612-story.html

ContraPoints. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 8, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ContraPoints 

Wynn, N. (Director). (2019, August 23). Men | Contrapoints [Video file]. Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://youtu.be/S1xxcKCGljY