We all know the internet is a very horny place. There is no contesting this. In fact, the internet has become such a horny place that in 2018 Twitter finally embraced it with the horny on main movement, in which everybody just sort of unabashedly let their freak flags fly—whether it be the form of the Beto Sex Tweet or Bowsette phenomenon.
And with the outpouring of fervent sexual urges on the internet naturally comes creative new ways of expressing said urges, which bring us to the latest phrase blowing up on Twitter. “Top me,” or alternatively “top me I deserve it,” started sprouting up on lesbian Twitter back in January.
Mostly, it seems to have gained popularity as a way of reacting to the Oscar-nominated film The Favourite—starring Olivia Colman as Queen Anne of Great Britain, and Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone as two cousins vying for her attention that results in a salacious same-sex love triangle.
Colman picked up with Oscar for best actress on Sunday. But people seem especially enamored with Weisz in particular, who has received the lion’s share of the memes directed at her.
https://twitter.com/catexblanchett/status/1082070348055658497
https://twitter.com/ethiopienne/status/1099828560204890113
rachel weisz, for the sake of my gay ass please top me pic.twitter.com/QRtT1KH8Y1
— nadia (@bluntkidman) February 5, 2019
I finally watched The Favourite. Rachel Weisz can top me anytime. pic.twitter.com/TXI2l6eTvB
— shiv’s daughter (@for_cersei) February 23, 2019
https://twitter.com/hopelesslyysad/status/1096945878579990529
The exact origins of the phrase are unknown, although an Urban Dictionary entry from earlier this month defines it as: “Wanting someone to beat you up … He/She/They can top me any day!”
A search on Twitter likewise turns up examples from mid-2018, before the phrase really picked up steam, as you can see in this example in this fangirling meme featuring Tessa Thompson in Thor: Ragnarok and Hannah John-Kamen in Ant-Man and the Wasp.
https://twitter.com/Iokified/status/1004382769407975424
The Rachel Weisz incarnation of the meme quickly outgrew itself and sort of imploded, as you can see by tweets documenting the phenomenon from comedian Samantha Ruddy:
lesbian twitter has made a full transformation into Rachel Weisz, Top Me twitter
— Samantha Ruddy (@samlymatters) January 7, 2019
I miss “top me, Rachel Weisz” twitter :(
— Samantha Ruddy (@samlymatters) February 12, 2019
When asked for some insight of how she thought it became a thing, Ruddy told the Daily Dot simply enough that Weisz was just “super toppy in The Favourite and I think that’s probably where it came from.” In other words, it just goes to show that not everything on the internet requires a super complicated explanation.
Additional examples eventually began emerging, spotlighting other strong, assertive women, and the people—queer or otherwise—who fantasize of being dominated by them:
https://twitter.com/atomictheron/status/1096472384410931200
https://twitter.com/gracesfonda/status/1098889250026721281
https://twitter.com/jaurebrwve/status/1096891115301683201
Not surprisingly, the character of Alex Chapman (Laura Prepon) from Orange is the New Black received a few nods directed her way:
https://twitter.com/JunkieForOITNB/status/1099276350362406912
https://twitter.com/vausechapmanss/status/1099680699223658497
As did up-and-coming Captain Marvel superhero Brie Larson—in her stunning Academy Awards look:
https://twitter.com/mcurevengers/status/1099825092664745987
TOP ME PLEASE pic.twitter.com/sJWYRT2iEO
— irene (@sufjanfilm) February 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/filmacademys/status/1099824909981671424
And, for some reason, Jason Momoa’s pink Oscars scrunchie got thrown into the mix:
https://twitter.com/sassyblackdiva/status/1099829594415235073
It seems only a matter of time before the phrase and meme get appropriated by straight, cis Twitter, and inevitably jumps the shark. But for now, let’s hear it for all the badass bitches out there and those who stan for them.
https://twitter.com/loveyoujodie/status/1101140275290882048
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