Edited by: Gauri Jhangiani (ASP 2019)
My favourite thing on social media is when certain people (cough, cough: men) dedicate their time and energy on pages centred around sexist and misogynistic memes, and then when these “people” proceed to share them. I’ve learnt that much of this is shared as clickbait intended to attract the attention of feminists. The other reason is that “people” who’ve either been recently dumped, had an argument with a girl, or are in general so narrow-minded that they wouldn’t recognise their ignorance if it bit them in the ass, feel the need to let their feelings be known to the world. Most of the time, reacting to their shit on the internet is a waste of time resulting in all caps arguments and a final declaration of “you just can’t say anything without getting offended these days.”
It’s important to note how often the idea that political correctness is stifling comes from people who are so used to exploiting their privilege that they don’t recognize the implications of their words. Something I do is try to keep quiet when people are offended by things I don’t necessarily understand. That being said I am a girl/woman/female and I identify as such, pronouns and all. And I am also a feminist, a title I claim proudly. As a feminist, it is hard for me to let the “hilarious”, and occasionally dangerous, backlash the movement has received on social media slide.
These memes, I’m guessing, are created from a place of insecurity and some “people”, regardless of whether or not they know it, aren’t ready to give up their complexes be on level ground with the rest of us. But there is real danger in the comic sans words because most of them attack loud, outspoken women and essentially discredit their arguments and opinions through jokes about hormones and PMS. Now I am one of the most argumentative, opinionated people I know (sometimes good, sometimes not so good), but the point here is that a) I’m like this all the time and b) I don’t get PMS. I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty of it, but I don’t suffer mood swings of any kind during that time of the month. I certainly can’t explain my reactions of overreactions with the excuse of biology or chemistry or whatever. It’s me. It’s my own mind and my rationalization of whatever situation that made me react. I am wholly responsible for it. Sometimes that can go wrong, and I can make an incorrect judgement, but it will have been my incorrect judgement. When girls and women get angry, or sad, or decide to express their opinion at a higher decibel than normal, it doesn’t mean that they’re crazy monsters ready to destroy ‘man’ kind, but that they are tired of whatever’s making them feel this way. When expressing emotions, we are demeaned for being irrational and memes justify all our angry reactions, which makes all battles, from relationship issues to the third-wave feminist movement difficult to fight, because they are simply cast off as a product of Shark Week.
Allow women to raise their voices. Allow us the courtesy of acknowledging that we may have a point and that we are screaming because that’s the only way people listen. It’s not always a last resort for a failed argument to show some emotion. Feminism is fueled by our emotions, and that aside, if our emotions are not respected, where does any of humanity stand?
To the people sharing sexist memes, they’re really not that funny, and I’d suggest you find a better way to deal with your frustration. Maybe embark on a quest to find a sense of humour? And to everyone else, regardless of gender, your emotions are valid, don’t be afraid to communicate them.
* The knife has a point