[Company name]

Feminist Memes-
Liberating masses of
Patriarchy with Humor
How have feminist memes shaped the cultivation of feminist spaces
online?

Rashi Agrawal 2016IPM082

1-20-2018 Sec ‘A’
Feminist Memes- Liberating masses of Patriarchy with Humour
Conventionally, the Internet has been another one of all the places infested with patriarchy.
However, this notion has been altering and is being denounced through social media. This
paper puts forth the argument that memes, which have become a vehicle for the changing
discourse of political and social backdrops, have induced the cultivation of feminist safe
spaces online. While the internet has been examined as a utilitarian space for social
movements, it also acts as a cultural space for personal and community expression about
critical social issues. And feminism, at this time, is outspread enough that it can be called a
revolution is one of the burning social issues. While examining the particularities of the
memetic form – often catchy humour and simple imagery – the paper examines meme culture
as a vehicle for political and social critique.
‘Bad texts make good memes in contemporary participatory culture', suggests that important
cultural and political work is being done and expressed via ‘the waste materials of everyday
communication' (Berlant, 1997: 12). The paper asks critical questions- what makes a meme
feminist, and what significance feminist memes can have in contemporary political debates
and public culture? And how have feminist memes shaped the cultivation of feminist spaces
online? We analyse how memes construct networks of feminist critique and response,
mobilising the derisive laughter that energises current feminism. The timeliness, humorous
affect and media techne of meme propagators become significant infrastructures for feminist
critique, what is termed as ‘doing feminism in the network'.
In his book, The Selfish Gene (1976), Richard Dawkins first coins the word meme. He uses it
to explain how cultural information proliferates. The context in which we use the word meme
today has developed to internet memes. These are a subset of the general idea of memes as
described by Richard Dawkins. Internet memes are a form of an idea which spread via social
media through the masses for humorous purposes. With the growth of social media, the sway
of these memes has only heightened. They have become an intrinsic part of the millennial
culture. They are the grammar of the current web-generation.
Feminism is a political movement. At this time, it is outspread enough that it can be called a
revolution. A revolution for equal rights-for both men and women, which patriarchy has been
denying the people for aeons. It started out as a campaign for women to get basic,
fundamental rights. Now, it has also incorporated in the harm caused to men because of the
traditional gender roles.
Feminist memes are memes which take a specific feministic stand. Memes have become so
critical as whenever used they retain an inexplicable autonomy from the rest of the content.
With a subject like feminism, people don't pay attention to the subjective lines. Thus, memes
are the best way to spread information about feminism.
Safe spaces are spaces that refer to an independent space wherein individuals who feel they
are being discriminated can come together and share their experiences. Many people believe
that this hinders the people from getting in contact with sensitive information which can be
harmful. A feminist safe space can be where people who believe that men and women both
should have equal rights, and they come together to share their experiences facing inequality
and support others who have suffered the same.
Memes take a casual approach to address severe issues. These memes are often so relatable
that they strike a chord and resonate with their audiences. They instantly make you wonder
about the gender disparity that exists in our society, even in the matters of remote importance.
Memes take up the issues that aren't talked about as openly, that are serious and have become
a taboo in the society, like menstruation, sex, masculinity, and put a light-hearted spin on
them so they seem much less threatening to discuss when you can comfortably laugh about
them. That's where the feminist memes come into the picture. Feminist memes, meaning
memes carrying a feminist notion, become a safe gateway to talk about feminist ideas in a
casual, non-serious and engaging way. They subvert the harmful stereotypes propagated by
the countless sexist memes, fighting sexism with humour. Feminist memes work towards
normalising and widening the discussions surrounding feminism. The most basic function of
a meme is to create humour. When this humour is presented with a negative cultural
connotation, it becomes challenging to combat it. In good humour, negative messages are
instigated and anchored into people's minds. Attempting to resist them with sensible
arguments doesn't really work, instead becomes a never-ending circle of altercations that
ultimately turns nasty. The best way to fight humour is with more humour. And that's
precisely what feminist memes do. Memes are an efficient way to reach out to millennials
and to drive the point home.
The meme thus not only represents an innovative form of feminist Internet content, as we
think it most certainly is; it also reveals participants' construction of, and location within, a
larger feminist-identified network connected through laughter. Feminist Internet memes
‘propagate feminism in the very midst of the workings of current popular and digital culture'
online (Trakilovic, 2013: n.p.).
As memes turned into a form of communication, more and more topics opened up for
discussion. Traditionally, specific subjects were there, which no one was supposed to talk
about like mental health. They started to seem much less threatening once people started
talking and laughing at them. Similarly, feminist memes have become a portal to leave the
academic matters behind and talk about the issue at hand. This has led to the widening of
discussion. For anyone who'd never really engaged with feminist ideas on anything more than
a surface level, feminist memes have normalised and widened the debate.
Given the ubiquitous violence of online misogyny, feminists have had to develop strategies
to affirm their use for social media platforms. The Girl Army Facebook group offers a case
study of one such strategy—the digital cultivation of separatist safe spaces that exclude men,
the primary perpetrators of online misogyny. While they may not solve the problem of online
harassment, separatist digital communities aim to provide marginalised users with safe spaces
in which to speak freely, seek support, and organise action against injustices faced outside the
group's boundaries. (Clark, 2017)
Memes demonstrate some critical movements in how the thoughts, feelings and ideas are
circulated in the digital culture. The first movement is related to the narrowing of the gap in
between readership and authorship. This means that in the digital lifestyle, the substance of
the meme is critical rather than the question of original production. Even if the origin of the
meme is unknown, its influence remains invariable. This is owing to the fact that a viral
meme is shared so frequently that the source is almost always not clear. Second, this
participation requires sophisticated mobilisations of social knowledge which construct forms
of sociality which are not equally open to all digital users. The vivid imagination of the
digital culture along with assumptions related to the usefulness of the social content in visibly
operationalised in these shared spaces of meaning. Post-feminist narratives, of how identity
operates in the world are too constricted for the youth to make some interpretation from their
lived experience. But, when they are transformed in the form of memes-in a visual and
humorous format, they become part of the literature required by youth to feel central in these
cultural spaces. (Kanai, 2016) (A, October-December 2016)
Feminist memes are memes which carry a feministic notion of their content. They are memes
created to counter the misogynistic opinions and ideas already so prevalent in the digital
media. These memes deploy humour as a weapon of cultural and social critique in response
to the public discourses of misogyny. Culture jammers use a similar tactic to grab attention
and attract bystander participation. They use humour without logic which facilitates the
reception of counter-hegemonic messages and draws and sways more people. This tactic
resonates with the strategy used by misogynists to spread misogynistic ideologies.
In the process, feminist memes can create ad hoc feminist publics in some unexpected
places, including decidedly non-political, corporate spaces. These corporate areas or sites
may not be feminist in orientation, but humorous and logical feminist interventions through
viral memes claimed them as such. Online commentary and review sections on Amazon.com
became productive spaces for the creation, collection and circulation of timely feminist
critique and community building. Infrastructure for feminist networked response and
consciousness-raising developed. Many websites such as Amazon, Facebook, Tumblr came
to be recognised as feminist safe spaces where feminists could share their stories and
experiences without any fear. These sites were relatively much more sheltered than Reddit
and other massively trolled online venues known for their misogynistic posts. Through these
networks, people who share and create feminist memes created, curated and cultivated new
and old discursive safe spaces from which feminist critiques of sexism and misogyny in
national political discourse could be articulated, in ways that were both informative and
hilarious. (Rentschler and Thrift 2015)
We can safely say that there has been the cultivation of feminist safe space online. Taking an
example of the #MeToo campaign where women and men shared their experience of facing
inequality over social media platform. They garnered support from fellow feminists and also
provided support to others who suffered in the same way. These social media platforms
provided safe spaces in a way where women and men alike were able to speak independently
of any fear.
These thoughts are not shared by the generality. There is a belief that the rise of feminist
memes and thus feminists have led to a more ferocious fight from the people possessing
misogynistic ideologies.
In recent years, online misogyny has risen in response to the heightened visibility of feminist
figures and cultures in the popular media landscape, initiating "a new era of the gender wars".
These gender wars would be harsher and more brutal than the previous one. Thus, there is no
safe space for feminists on the digital platform. It is a mere illusion, which will break as soon
as the misogynists intervene again. These violent and anti-feminist actions of online
misogyny would then function as a new form of backlash against feminist movements. This
would again compel them to oppression and silence their participation in public and social
spheres of life. (Banet-Weiser and Miltner, 2016)
Feminist memes deploy humour as a weapon of cultural and social critique in response to the
public discourses of misogyny. Thus, when people air their ideas or share their experience of
facing inequality, they feel the pressure of being humorous or else their ideas may not get any
response or put the whole movement down. Worse still, victims of harassment are often
reluctant to speak out against online misogyny for fear of appearing humourless, weak, and
censorious or opening themselves up to more attacks (Jane, 2014).
As memes transformed into a type of correspondence, an increasing number of points opened
up for discourse. Generally, particular subjects were there, which were not meant for
discussion like psychological wellness. They began to appear to be considerably less
debilitating once individuals started talking about them. Correspondingly, feminist memes
have turned into a gateway to desert the academic aspects and discuss the problem at hand.
This has prompted the augmenting of exchange. For anybody who'd never connected with
feminist rights and activities, much else besides at the surface level, feminist memes had
standardised and enlarged the verbal discourse.
The paper contributes to how safe spaces can be cultivated in the digital world. Safe spaces
are places where oppressive views and bigotry are not tolerated. These are controlled
environments and may have a particular set of rules, needed to be followed by all the
members. Here, people can discuss specific issues and support other victims. Feminist safe
spaces are essential for the community. It provides a network of support and understanding
needed in today's times. With harassment cases at an all-time high, victims need this support
and a safe space for open discussion. Safe spaces are an oasis for some groups who are
otherwise denied safety and respect by the world. In order to keep a safe space safe, there are
specific rules and topics which are not up for discussion. Because of this reason, many people
believe that these safe spaces are echo chambers and therefore useless to debate and
feminism. An echo chamber is a space where people repeat and agree with specific ideas
while patting one another on the back instead of contributing new thoughts. These chambers
are thus thought to be useless because nobody is learning anything new or expanding their
perspectives.
But, this is not the case.
1. Respecting one space isn't going to result in any loss of their freedom of expression.
A space where they are free to either enter or to leave, should they feel the need to.
And, these are only a handful of places, everything else on the Internet would be
unmoderated.
2. People assume that debating about a topic will solve everything and is of paramount
importance to progress. However, debating with the oppressed people isn't going to
help them. They need a space where they can share their thoughts without the fear of
being oppressed and heal.
3. Online safe spaces are exclusionary. Some safe spaces are for women only. Since
most of these safe spaces are for the oppressed people, who want to connect with
others in the same boat and feel supported this makes sense. The world caters to the
privileged people at the expense of the oppressed. It is therefore critical to have a
space that focuses entirely on an oppressed group and supports them in uplifting their
position.
4. Online safe spaces often ensure that there exists a diversity of perspectives. Safe
spaces mean that certain voices – marginalised, often underrepresented voices – get a
chance to speak without fear of hostility. The people, thus are more likely to feel
comfortable and thus contribute to the discussion. The common oppression may
ensure that people will agree on the basic issues but just because people agree on
fundamental problems doesn't mean that they'll agree on everything else. Deciding on
 those fundamental issues says that we can have advanced discussions without getting
caught up in debates we are tired of having.
5. Safe spaces can be very educational. People can learn and see what is going on in the
outside world. They can experience first-hand the problems faced by other people.
Conventionally, the Internet has been another one of all the places infested with patriarchy. In
any case, this notion has been adjusting and is being reviled through online networking. This
paper considers how the gendered, raced, and classed practices of readership of a humorous
meme on microblogging platform Tumblr construct forms of belonging and exclusion along
these lines. This paper limits its scope to consider how feminist memes have constructed and
instigated the development of the feminist safe spaces online.
When parts of literature are transformed into memes they gain points in the visual and
humour aspects. Thus, they become a part of the youth culture and propagate widely. The
same humour and wit also create ad hoc feminist places in political and corporate sectors
over websites. These sites, like Amazon may not have been feminist in orientation before
these memes. This raises an online space of consciousness for the community thus leading to
development of safe spaces.
There have been numerous oppositions to these points. People believe that the rise of
feminism has lead to heightened expansion of misogyny and gender wars. And the
availability of safe space is just an illusion. Also, the humour used by memes as a weapon
discourages other people to share their experiences as they feel a pressure of being funny.
Feminist meme production and propagation, point to the significance of networked
communicative action for feminist movement building. Energised by funny and biting
commentary on the political and social scenarios, memes provided a technological, cultural
and effective network that enabled participants to build feminism and, importantly, an
experience of feminism, together, across their differences, in shared spaces of consciousness
raising online. In a world that tries to deny the oppressed their humanity, there is nothing
dogmatic about safe space. Feminist Internet memes ‘propagate feminism in the very midst of
the workings of current popular and digital culture' online.
 Bibliography
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