An opinion piece by Alex Channing
Molly-Mae Hague is a 22-year-old British influencer who gained widespread fame as the runner-up of the fifth series of Love Island in 2019. Since her appearance on the show, Molly-Mae has amassed over 6 million Instagram followers and has gone on to work with fast-fashion giant Pretty Little Thing, reportedly being paid an enormous monthly six figure salary as the brandÔÇÖs Creative Director. SheÔÇÖs recently come under fire for comments she made regarding wealth, poverty and success on ÔÇÿThe Diary Of A CEOÔÇÖ podcast on the 13th December 2021. In early January, clips began to circulate and go viral on social media of Molly-Mae making tone deaf comments likeÔǪ
ÔÇÿWe all have the same 24 hours in a dayÔÇÖ
ÔÇÿIf you want something enough you can achieve itÔÇÖ
ÔÇÿIÔÇÖve worked my absolute arse off to get where I am nowÔÇÖ
According to Molly-Mae, all anyone needs to do to become as wealthy as her is to just work a little bit harder. Following these statements, the influencer was torn apart on Twitter and other social media platforms for making the fairly outrageous claims. While it is ÔÇÿtechnically trueÔÇÖ that we all have 24 hours in a day, Molly-Mae is completely dismissive of the extremely difficult social and economic situations that millions of people in British society have to face. People have disabilities, experience abusive childhoods and have poor mental health, all of which can restrict oneÔÇÖs ability to perform. People up-and-down the country are discriminated against on a daily basis for their race, sexuality and countless other characteristics which deprive them of the big opportunities which led to Molly-MaeÔÇÖs level of wealth and status.
I can appreciate her success on a personal level; however, her mindset regarding poverty and success is deeply damaging, especially when communicated to millions of young, impressionable followers. While individual success stories can be aspirational, itÔÇÖs deceitful to claim that hard-work will always lead to success. The reasoning behind it makes no sense. If I threw a stone at a window and it didnÔÇÖt smash, I could say as a universal truth ÔÇÿyou can always throw stones at windows and they will never smashÔÇÖ. IÔÇÖd pretty soon be proved wrong. ItÔÇÖs a good thing to promote our collective success, but successful people need to be educated and honest when discussing these things, and not just spout about this ÔÇÿgrindsetÔÇÖ culture.
There is absolutely no level playing field for people in the UK. We still live society with literal Lords and Ladies and a laughable state of wealth distribution, where the richest 1% have 237 times the wealth of the poorest 10%. People who are born into families with millions and billions have powerful connections, access to better education and healthcare and by giving them significant advantages from the point of birth and perpetuating economic inequality. But perhaps some people think they should just listen to Molly-Mae and work harder and use their 24 hours wisely to get to this unobtainable level.
Does this explain why relative poverty among working households is at a record high of 17.4%? That is millions of working people living in poverty. It is these exact workers that do some of the most essential, grueling jobs in society; having to work night shifts and wake up at 4am to clean hospitals, stack shelves and drive buses. These are the types of difficult jobs that keeps society functioning, but are paid the meagre £8.90 minimum wage. This is what hard work and toil is. Lounging around in a luxury villa for 2 months, only then to go and sign a major deal with a fashion brand and build a fortune on the backs of Leicester garment workers paid as little as £3.50 an hour, is not. Being made to work in conditions of modern slavery with no COVID precautions to provide for yourself and your family is extremely hard work Molly-Mae, so why are they not rich and famous?
At the end of the day, Molly-Mae is a white, attractive, able-bodied, heterosexual woman, who grew up in a loving, financially stable household. Fair to her, she was successful in building an Instagram following and getting scouted for Love Island, but people can decide for themselves how much ÔÇÿhard workÔÇÖ goes into that. I certainly do not think appearing on a reality show for 2 months is hard work. Her (apparent) charisma gave her millions of fans, but is that hard work? Since Love Island, Molly-Mae has gained numerous brand deals, but on the podcast, The Diary of A CEO sheÔÇÖs constantly talking about her manager, Fran and the amount of work she does for her while crediting her with finding these amazing opportunities. Hard work?
I do not think Molly-Mae is self-made and definitely do not think she has worked as hard as she claims. I think she has been dealt an extremely lucky hand over the past few years and it is disingenuous for her to pretend otherwise. It is okay for her to be proud of her achievements, but she really should be encouraging her following to do what makes them happy, and not to just work hard and follow some abstract notion of ÔÇÿmoney-movesÔÇÖ. People should absolutely have aspirations and strive towards what they want in life, but young, influential figures such as Molly-Mae need to be humble and truthful about how they got to where they are. These powerful voices of our generation need to be pointing their followers towards awareness of systemic social problems that cause poverty and deprivation in the first place, so we can collectively change them; not just espouse hollow right-wing narratives about toiling your hours away to make something of yourself. I hope this was a beneficial 5 minutes out of your own 24 hours. Stay humble x
Featured image: Instagram @mollymae
