4 more years of beers.

Week 8

This week I have taken a deeper look into the topic of sexual assault memes featuring white male politicians and political figures. Although events from the past will be examined, the theme is consistently recurring most recently with President Donald Trump and Judge Brett Kavanagh. I propose the following criteria for the selection of my memes for study:

1. The meme must directly display either  a United States politician who has been accused of sexual assault or the victim of sexual assault by said politician.. It is acceptable for their to be more than one person in the photograph, given that a candidate for the criteria is one of them.
1. It is also acceptable for the meme chosen to reference events through the text of the meme, given that the event is explicitly referenced.
2. Timeliness is important to the issue, however this is a constantly recurring theme, so images regarding any high profile case, or persons involved, will be candidates for selection.
3. Given that any event may be a candidate, only memes produced or posted since November 8th, 2016 will be selected for study.

Examples of selections

This first photo links together two high profile cases, Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh, in a “joke” about a competition to have the most accusers. This fits all three of my criteria for study.

This meme links together one politician and one civilian, Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby, in the fallout of their accusations, Inferring that Bill Cosby would get away with his crimes if he were a United States Politician. This meme fits all three of my criteria for study

This meme displays Bill Clinton again in a sort of competition with Donald Trump over the “rights” to biggest womanizer and abuser on capitol hill. This meme references the access Hollywood tapes released incriminating Donald Trump and recalling to a former presidency.

It is important to note that all of these memes are cross referencing events. I have discovered this to be very common for politicians to be compared and contrasted within these highly charged or politicized memes. Further inquiry may be done before a final revisement of the criteria.

Week 7 - Study Design

There has been a lot of controversy in recent months, and years, over sexual assault allegations within our government. Many senators and other level politicians have past and present incidents come forward during election campaigns. Sexual assault is becoming a more prevalent topic in our society as there is movement to redefine acceptable boundaries and behaviors leading to a safer environment for all. One fo the most recent movement is the MeToo movement which thousands of women, and men, have come together from all walks of life to stand in solidarity to show the scale of sexual misconduct in the United States. Most recently, there was a massive controversy in the United States over the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after allegations came to light about sexual assault in his past. Unfortunately, this is not the first time allegations have come to light in positions of high power in our government. There are many groups that everyday fight for justice and equality yet we still see alleged sexual predators repeatedly hold office, leading to a system that doesn't seem to care. This leads to a seemingly dismissive nature to the women and men who have had to endure this trauma, as long as the perpetrator has friends in high places.

I propose to answer the following: How are memes regarding US political figures dismissive of women/men who are survivors of sexual assault and also defensive of these unacceptable behaviors?

I will be conducting this research by examining a collection of 10 Internet memes related to how US politicians alleged of sexual assault infer dismissive or victim blaming messages.

Memes will be chosen based on three criteria: 1) image of perpetrator (not victim) 2) Text regarding sexual abuse 3) dismissive inferences

This first image depicts Donald Trump smiling at a camera, likely at some press event. This is a rehash of the Dos Equis meme that spawned from the commercial series of “most interesting man in the world”. This text parodies the commercial through its iconic phrasing, but also examines how Donald Trump has a blatantly comes forward with his own incriminating evidence regarding thoughts about sexual assault and women, often on live television. This examines a culture of politicians and high powered figures who do not fear consequences nor believe their actions are wrong.

This second meme portrays a meeting with Donald Trump and Brett Kavanaugh's Family. The image is jovial in nature yet seems to dismiss Kavanaugh’s two sexual assault accusers as “nothing” compared to the dozens of the President. Furthermore, it portrays trump as bragging about his accusers as being greater in number, and somehow better.

This third image portrays both Bill Cosby and Former President Bill Clinton. The top image show Bill Clinton during his sexual assault trial, to which Clinton is inferring that he would have been cleared of if he would have been a politician. This ties together two extraordinarily high profile cases regarding sexual misconduct, while inferring that the political system looks out for its own in defense of allegations that may threaten their standings. Clinton’s demeanor in this image is dismissive of any allegations, rather that Cosby was convicted.

Week 6 - Proposal

            The meme topic that I propose to study is sexual assault. This topic is most recently relevant with the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh in the United States. This is not the only high-profile case that has come about recently, with Bill Cosby’s prison sentence beginning and an ongoing #metoo movement. There have been many politically driven memes that seek to examine and parody the injustices of American society. Many high-profile cases have been examined over the last few months, but I want to particularly focus on sexual assault regarding political office. Therefore, I will be only looking at memes that pertain to elected officials, those who previously held office, or are campaigning for public office.

 

This first image shows former presidential candidate Mitt Romney Speaking at a podium. I selected this meme for two reasons. First it represents the overwhelmingly white male government in the United States who are often more concerned with PR and media coverage than legislation. Secondly, I think the topic of deflection or spreading of misinformation is a highly relevant topic with allegations of Russian meddling in the United States and other elections.  Although there have been many sexual assault allegations against US politicians, I think it is important to cover the misinformation that is propagated on the topic, representative of outdated mindsets.

This second image depicts former president Bill Clinton reacting happily. His wife, Hillary Clinton, ran for president in 2016 against Donald Trump. The meme asks us to recall allegations against Bill Clinton that lead to impeachment hearing regarding sexual acts during his presidency, and subsequent lying to officials. This too presents a picture of an ageing male white government with outdated ideas regarding sexual assault. I think it is important that I selected politicians from both sides of the aisle for this initial proposal, as to not politically charge the research. However, I will seek to find the best memes on this topic rather than forcibly divide examples.