TikTok Users Get Real About Monkeypox to Fight Stereotypes, Reduce Stigma
“Hey guys, this is what monkeypox looks like,” begins a video(Opens in a new window) viewed over 25 million times by TikTok user @tonanty. “My whole body is basically covered, and it’s not fun. Get the vaccine and stay safe because this is really painful.”
Tonanty has posted 16 videos chronicling his journey from peak symptoms through healing(Opens in a new window), plus theories on how he contracted the virus(Opens in a new window). He's among a group of TikTok users who are fighting back against rapidly emerging stereotypes about the disease.
"So I was debating doing a TikTok on this since I didn't know if I should be telling the whole world, but as much as I'm on TikTok I haven't found anyone out here like, 'So this is what it is,'" says user @make_that_make_sense in a video(Opens in a new window) viewed 2.5 million times. He goes on to show a rash that has put him out of work for two weeks.
"I feel like people have it and they don't want to admit they have it because it's embarrassing. And even for me to tell my job, it's an embarrassment, so if you have questions feel free to reach out. It's going around, so be careful."
Just as everyone has been adjusting to a world where COVID is the “new normal” (an increasingly meaningless phrase), enter monkeypox. Like COVID, monkeypox is a virus, but it behaves differently – causing a rash of painful lesions among other symptoms(Opens in a new window), including fever, headache, muscle aches, and sore throat, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)(Opens in a new window).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared monkeypox a global health emergency(Opens in a new window). As of this writing, the United States has just over 6,300 confirmed cases(Opens in a new
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