RIP Dasha Nekrasova, an edgelord death by cringe

In case you can’t sense the dread in the air, fascism is ramping up pretty intensely right now – whether it’s the ongoing genocide in Gaza or US politicians giving Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress a standing ovation, which incited protests in Washington DC on Wednesday (July 24). Between this and the upcoming US elections, where the only options remain a post-assassination and alt-right Donald Trump or a newly Brat-ified Kamala Harris, who – coconut memes or not – is still a cop, being a fascist is perhaps the most mainstream it’s been since Nazism. Which begs the question, why the hell is Dasha Nekrasova shooting at a target in a keffiyeh?

By now, the Nekrasova pipeline is pretty well laid out. Dirtbag-leftist-Bernie-supporter transforms into alt-right-mouthpiece-InfoWars-contrarian, who edges too close to the sun – including really nice stuff like encouraging pro-ana (‘she likes when people say it’, denying sexual assault, using racial slurs, and popularising trad cath aesthetics (find it all on Red Scare) – is getting the big paycheck she’s presumably been grifting for with roles in TV show Succession and, more recently, Bertrand Bonello’s film The Beast. Her recent shoutout in Charli XCX’s Brat track “Mean Girls” has seen her re-enter mainstream discourse, or at least introduce the post-pandemic relic that was once D**mes Sq**re to a mainstream audience. Perhaps Charli didn’t understand the political conflict here when she aired her support of Kamala Harris (girl, so confusing) since Nekrasova is cosying up to all kinds of shadowy alt-right figures, such as far-right billionaire venture capitalist and tech bro Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, AKA the right-wing leader of neoreactionary politics, and JD Vance, who’s recently been appointed Trump’s running mate.

None of this has seemingly stopped the 32-year-old from edgelording – the latest attempt to enrage the libs being the image of her and her boyfriend dressing a target in a keffiyeh. It’s clear that for Nekrasova, this is meant as a troll or some elaborate cosplay, since politics is nothing but an aesthetic to be played with or used as a fashion statement – as per Kanye West’s 2022 ‘White Lives Matter t-shirt’ or Praying’s recent ‘Melania Trump’ hoodie. It’s ironic, until it’s sincere.

In 2024, Thiel’s intent to fund New York’s brat elite and make fascism appear ‘cool and sexy’ has worked for a number of reasons I outlined in an article two years ago. It’s even echoed in the scene’s music – think much-hyped acts like Snow Strippers or The Dare – who sing empty tracks that tow the disaffected line. Hiding fascist or trad views (whether buried in postpostpost irony or not) behind a ‘sexy-cool’ exterior is a much-used tactic – it’s what the IDF did when they deployed hundreds of hot-girl soldiers to post GRWM clips before enacting state-sanctioned violence. But, while it might still be cool in some privileged (and predominantly white) clout circles to pretend politics isn’t that deep, times have changed – fascism is becoming increasingly normalised within western society, and speaking out against it is becoming an increasingly dangerous act. Acting like some Republican lolcow is literally the most boring establishment position to have right now – but that’s death by cringe, folks.