Mia Khalifa Ditched Her Famous Glasses Because Kids Who Looked Like Her Kept Getting Sexualised

If you are a woman, especially a woman of colour, who has worn black-rimmed glasses at all in the last seven years, chances are you’ve heard the words “you look like Mia Khalifa” more than once.

Sadly Mia Khalifa, former pornstar turned sports commentator, is aware of this and the impact it has had on young girls — and has emotionally shared that this is why she’s ditched her notable black frames in a viral TikTok.

In line with the ‘You Were Only Seventeen’ TikTok trend that uses Cage The Elephant’s song ‘Cigarette Daydreams’ to help people share stories where they were forced to grow up quickly often after being sexualised from a young age, @oreo_mlkshake shared her experience growing up and wearing glasses.

“I can’t wear glasses because the high school boys kept saying I look like Mia Khalifa and it makes me uncomfortable,” @oreo_mlkshake said before sharing that she was only 13 when it happened.

In response, Mia Khalifa sobbed as she duetted the TikTok and apologised to @oreo_mlkshake in her caption: “I’m so sorry. I don’t wear them anymore for this reason.”

In August of 2020, Mia Khalifa actually auctioned off her “infamous Mia Khalifa glasses” for a reported $100,000 USD with 100 percent of the proceeds being donated to the Lebanese Red Cross following the devasting Beirut explosion as her way of giving back.

But while Khalifa’s comments were flooded with people telling the former adult entertainer that it was never her fault, Mia Khalifa continued to shared her regret, adding that the sexualisation of young women “breaks my heart for so many girls”.

“I’m so so so so sorry. I don’t wear them anymore either because this breaks my heart for so many girls,” Khalifa added.

“No you don’t understand. This wasn’t ever your fault,” @oreo_mlkshake responded. “You’re an inspiring woman. We all love you, Mia.”

“Thank you. I know that deep down, but the guilt is crushing,” Khalifa continued on her Instagram Story in response to everyone reassuring her that it’s not her fault in any way. “I wish I could protect every little girl from the male gaze. I know how I feel when men harass me in public, it kills me that other girls get the same abuse just for looking like me.”

“I’m simply heartbroken over the thousands of young girls whose innocence has been stolen by being objectified and sexualised by men because they look like me. I’m sorry,” she continued on Twitter.

But as Mia Khalifa’s video went viral with 37 million views in just two days, women around the world put their black-rimmed glasses back on to prove to Khalifa that she has nothing to feel guilty for as the only people at fault are the men who sexualised young girls for wearing glasses.

“Oh my God, I love you guys so much… I don’t even know what to say, this is so beautiful,” Khalifa said in response. “Y’all keep my head above water constantly, and always right when I start to feel like it’s too much to deal with. I love you so much.”

Mia Khalifa has been very vocal about her negative experience in the porn industry, and last year 1.8 million people rallied behind Khalifa as she tried to have her porn scrubbed from the internet during the #JusticeForMia movement.

Despite only doing porn for three months, Khalifa shared that those three months were the “lowest, most toxic” of her entire life, and that her videos continue to haunt her to this day.

In the time since her porn career ended, Khalifa has posted a number of videos and tweets that touch on the real mental and financial impacts the porn industry left her with, and often urges young women to not fall into the same trap she did.