“Woke” Social Media User Hilariously Trolled Over Her “Decolonized Christmas”

A California social media influencer known online as the “Gluten Free Girlfriend” has found herself the subject of widespread ridicule after sharing her idea for a “decolonized Christmas” on TikTok.

Elise Bonilla-Myers recorded herself sharing holiday recipes and shopping tips that, in her opinion, put native cultures and women at the forefront. 

Highlights

• Influencer was mocked after promoting a “decolonized Christmas” built around Indigenous recipes and gifts.
• Viewers argued Christmas predates colonization and evolved through centuries of global migration.
• Critics said her approach oversimplified a holiday shaped by countless cultures and traditions.

Her approach was criticized almost instantly, with netizens pointing out not only that Christmas predates colonial settlement in the Americas, but that the tradition has developed over centuries, incorporating countless cultural elements and food ingredients along the way.

An influencer was blasted online after she tried framing Christmas as a holiday that should be “decolonized”

Elise began by introducing what she described as “the perfect Christmas cookie.”

“The perfect Christmas cookie is griddle masa made from a form of corn flour mixed with lime or culinary ash,” she said, explaining that the process makes the nutrients “more bioavailable and it becomes more tender.”

She added that the rounded dough was sweetened with honey before being grilled until brown and finished with an agave glaze.

Her tips centered on ingredients like corn, which she said were native to the Americas, and avoided wheat, barley and rye, crops she usually doesn’t use due to the gluten-free nature of her channel.

Except this time, she specifically avoided using them due to their Eurasian origin.

The influencer advocated for consuming food made only with American ingredients and buying from “native” businesses

Aside from content with food, the influencer also said that “decolonizing Christmas” extended beyond food and into how she approached gift-giving this year.

She explained that every present on her list would come from what she described as “native owned” businesses.

Among the shops she promoted were an “Indigenous, Hispanic and woman-owned tea business,” a Navajo purveyor specializing in traditional corn products, and a Snoqualmie tribe-based company offering goods sourced from the Pacific Northwest.

To further support her theme, Elise said she went shopping at a Los Angeles market operated by a local tribe.

The event featured more than 30 vendors selling artwork, crafts, wild rice, and other items tied to regional Indigenous traditions.

In her view, sourcing gifts this way was an essential part of keeping her holiday “aligned with Indigenous values” and moving away from what she called the “colonial consumerism” of typical Christmas shopping.

Viewers pushed back against her narrative, pointing to the Holiday’s origin as a multicultural tradition