9gag analysis draft 3

Pop Culture and Feminism Blog, draft 3

From the mega-movie star to the basement dwelling forum troll, everyone with an internet connection can not only consume obscene amounts of pop culture, but also add tidbits of their own. Blogs, forums, image boards, online games, social networks and never ending news reels are just a few of the ways that the relentless stream of mostly useless buzz and banter gets pipelined into our brains. Like drops in a wave, individual bits of pop culture are small and easily forgotten, but the sum of their weight and its impact upon modern life in America is unquestionable. How we speak, what we do, our perception of ourselves and the world around us are all impacted. It is a subtle thing, like a colored set of glasses we all chose to unknowing wear. Its only on the rare occasion that we look at something without these glasses that we suddenly realize how much of a difference they make.

A few days ago I was browsing yet another web based image board. A collective dumping ground for all things lol-worthy called 9gag. Maybe the funnies weren't as good that day, or maybe it was tad too early in the morning, but somewhere along my usual cycle of mindlessly scrolling through pages of funnies I started to pick up on a pattern. It seemed like more and more people were starting to post sexist quotes and pictures, and more often than not they were never intended to be funny. These kinds of things happened sometimes. It's usually just one guy with a folder full of pictures and an axe to grind, but something that day caught my attention. One picture in particular stood out to me, I've attached it below.

I will admit that I laughed for a good minute when I saw this, but after I was done laughing I began to wonder what exactly I had been laughing at. The irony of someone who had been the butt end of many a stereotype joke laughing at a stereotype joke cannot be overlooked here. Irony aside, here was a perfect cross section of pop-cultures assessment of women. In principle no different from the Neo-Nazi cartoons that portrayed me as a long nosed, hunch backed swindler out to earn money and backstab my friends. Countless examples of women in pop culture could have their perceived characters plotted on this graph. For example Penny from the Big Bang Theory would fit nicely in the overlap of nice and attractive. The graph, and the character, then imply that she is therefore dumber than the average brick. Or take the character of Velma from the old Scooby Doo cartoons. She would fit in the smart/nice category and is therefore unattractive. Why is that? Who has the right to define social roles in such a way? And more importantly, what is it that causes these stereotypes to be so prevalent?

The best way to begin looking for an answer to my first question is with another question. What exactly does this "cross-section" of women's character represent? What makes it so funny? As with any good stereotype, this image takes a complicated subject and boils it down to simple generalization meant to help us understand things that we care enough to examine, but don't care enough to know. According to the picture, there are only three important characteristics to women. They are looks, kindness, and (give the author some credit here all of you who have been spitting at the screen) intelligence. You can almost taste the bitterness of the poster. The image blatantly says that anyone interesting has flaws that make them bad people, and those without flaws don't know what good for them since they clearly ignore every good guy (aka the author).

The analysis makes me ask two question. First, why is it that someone who appears to have no major flaws would not know what's good for them? Just because someone shows no interest in the author does not mean that everyone they do show interest in is a bad person. The pop culture representation of "nice guys always lose" is a good way to attract viewers by helping single guys feel that pretending to be victim is ok, but it by no means represents reality. Rather than moping, "nice guys" who get rejected constantly should find out why they are being rejected, and address the issue as best they can once they know.

The second question that my prior observation raises is perhaps as important, if not more so than the first. Why is it that if someone is intelligent and kind then they have to be ugly? What exactly does it mean to be kind or ugly? Such qualities are personally defined and socially influenced. This point alone is enough to invalidate the argument the image is attempting to make. More importantly, this point allows one to not take offense at such ideas and viewpoints.

To elaborate, we live in a country of free speech and free thought. As such, each is granted the liberty of seeing the world as they see fit, and nobody is given the power to pronounce absolute truth. In philosophical terms, absolute truth would be universal, unquestionable, a sort of law of gravity for human conduct and world view. It is my personal understanding and belief that no such law exists, and that all understanding is subjective to the person, their upbringing, and the culture that surrounds them. I could go on and on to justify this point, and will gladly share my views if asked. However, that is an argument for another time. For now simply accept that this blog is written by me, a subjectivist, through my own subjective world view and understanding.

Continuing on the previous train of thought, if we live in a free country and we all see the world differently than it is not my place, or your place, or anyone place, to tell another that they haven't the right to speak their mind. To demand tolerance and equality while avoiding hypocrisy, one must be tolerant of others intolerance and inequality. When faced with a contradictory view, one may argue but one cannot repress. One may keep their silence, but one should not ignore. One should learn, and hope to be learned from. An open mind and willingness to learn are the only things that can bring mutual understanding.