Quarantine Entertainment: Women of YouTube

5 Women Content Creators to Watch During Quarantine

By Gretchen Gales

I don't doubt that like me, you have also been spending a lot of time listening to music, podcasts, and other media to pass the time or listen to while working from home. So why not take a moment to discover someone new? 

YouTube's content tends to be dominated by many male content creators (many I enjoy watching myself), but if you're looking to diversify your subscription list, now is the perfect time to dive in! From beauty channels to wicked good research and commentary content, check out some of my own favorite creators. 
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iilluminaughtii

This channel is perfect for listening to social commentary about various topics, but what iilluminaughtii really slays is her well-researched analysis "Deep Dive" videos about multi-level marketing schemes. She also critiques questionable businesses and charity organizations by bringing in reputable data and sources to expose their iffy (sometimes downright immoral) practices. Some of her most popular videos are on Autism Speaks, LuLaRoe, and PETA, just to name a few. 

Another great thing about the channel is that iillumanaughtii provides content warnings and time skip options if certain sections could be upsetting to some viewers. Overall, if you love a mixture of commentary, research, and a charming animated avatar, hit subscribe. 
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Theresa is Dead

Do you love makeup with a side of sass, cuss words as punctuation, and crazy subway stories from the Big Apple? Theresa is Dead, who insists that she is very much alive, has a fantastic mix of makeup-related videos, including Get Ready With Mes (GRWMs), tutorials, declutters, and other fun spins on common beauty guru channels. The channel is perfect for the consumer with a love of alternative fashion, retro culture, horror, and a splash of mainstream beauty all mixed together. Overall, Theresa is Dead is an incredibly relatable content creator who keeps it real from start to finish.    
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READY TO GLARE

An Italian YouTuber who takes on social issues, politics, and problematic people, READY TO GLARE presents her content in a conversational style mixed with some good ole' fashioned sources. Her content covers bizarre and highly suspect fandoms in a humorous way that doesn't take away from the core issues at hand. Sometimes her videos feature strange crime cases with moral grey areas and other times the morality of the people and groups she covers isn't very grey at all, trust me. In the past, she has covered sketchy beauty gurus, Columbiners, and Lena Dunham. Recently, she has also covered two people featured in The Tiger King: Doc Antle and Jeff Lowe.  Plus, her overall aesthetic is spooky chic. What's not to like?
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​Smokey Glow

Smokey Glow's channel is like listening to a friend as you BOTH get ready in the morning. Hannah mixes her joy of makeup with conversations about making ethical purchases as a consumer of ALL things as well as keeping your consumerism in check. 

While she does standard makeup reviews, Hannah also has several cool series like "Yass or Pass!?", rant videos (which are less rants and more thoughtful dissections on controversial subjects, in my humble opinion), and makeup hauls/declutters. She's also a friendly face to look forward to in your subscription box and lifts up other content creators regularly. Thanks to her, I've been able to avoid buying "gimmecky" products and wasting money and boosting my mood when I'm putting on my own makeup in the morning. 


​ReignBot

If you deal with anxiety the way I do — which is to substitute it with a different kind of anxiety — ReignBot has the spooky and strange content you need. Everything from bizarre cultural phenomenons, creepy footage, and true crime can be found on her channel. Like illuminaughtii, ReignBot is a commentary-style channel with plenty of excellently-presented research to give her verdicts on each video.

There are several series she has on the channel for your viewing pleasure: The contrast of her down-to-earth personality with hair-raising content just works.