‘Survivor 40’: Sarah Lacina Calls out Sexism in the Survivor Community

Iowa-based police officer Sarah Lacina returned for her fourth time to compete in Survivor 40: Winners at War. Even though her aggressive gameplay earned her the win in Game Changers, she admittedly walked away from the season feeling like a bad person because of the way others made her feel.

While she has continued to play hard this season, Sarah has noticed her moves aren’t receiving the same attention from fans as others. Therefore, she called out the “sexism” in the Survivor community in a tweet before deleting her Twitter account.

[SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information released in Survivor 40: Winners at War Episode 12.]

Sarah Lacina upset over previous gameplay in bonus scene

After Sarah Lacina and her alliance eliminated Tyson Apostol for a second time, she spoke with Kim Spradlin-Wolfe at the water well in a bonus scene. The Iowa-based police officer admitted the game is turning “personal,” which is what happened when she won Game Changers.

Due to her aggressive gameplay, Sarah received a “bad rep,” and multiple jurors blasted her. Even though they ultimately awarded her the win, she ended up feeling like a “terrible person.”

Therefore, Sarah hesitated when asked to return for Survivor 40: Winners at War because she didn’t want to walk away from it the same way she did Game Changers.

Kim comforted Sarah by holding the police officer as she cried and continually reminded her that this is only a game. Many fans view male and female gameplay separately and don’t always like it when a woman plays more aggressively.

Some viewers, including the Iowa-based police officer, attribute that to “sexism” in the Survivor community.

Sarah Lacina calls out sexism in ‘Survivor’ community

In Episode 12, Kim concocted a plan to blindside Tony Vlachos and included everyone except for him and his number one ally, Sarah. Her idea eventually got back around to them, so they decided to target Kim instead.

At Tribal Council, Tony offered to play his immunity idol for Sarah as she became paranoid by everyone whispering. He openly suggested it to her right before Jeff Probst read the votes, but Sarah wisely declined as she ended up receiving no votes that night.

Jeremy Collins also had a 50/50 coin gifted to him from Michele Fitzgerald but didn’t play it as he trusted Tony. Many viewers congratulated Jeremy’s “risky” decision but ignored her move to reject the idol, prompting the Iowa-based police officer to call out their “sexism.”

She explained that if a man turned down an idol, voted correctly, and then received a fire token from the person they eliminated, fans would call him a “boss.” However, “no one bats an eye” if a woman does the same thing.

Many Reddit users agreed with Sarah as they also think men get more attention for big plays. Additionally, several viewers have passed her decisions off as “someone else’s move.”

Some disagree as the Survivor community has praised several women for aggressive gameplay, including Cirie Fields, Parvati Shallow, and Kelley Wentworth.

They also believe Sarah is overshadowed by Tony’s flashier game and larger-than-life personality, which is why it can be easy for viewers to overlook the Game Changers champ.

Additionally, they believe Kim would have given her a fire token regardless as the two seemed close from their interactions in bonus scenes. Only a few hours after posting her tweet, Sarah decided to delete her Twitter.

Survivor 40: Winners at War airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.