And so too, All good things must come to an end.

We live in a time where social media reigns king as a social influencing platform. Whether we like it or not, activism and politics cohabitate a space in the digital world that have immense and tangible real-world implications. Something that begins as a tweet can start a revolution. Researchers Maas, McCauley, Bonomi, and Leija of Michigan State University published a paper earlier this year to understand how social media propagates resistance and activism through memes and hashtags.  While the capacity of social media to be divisive is terrifying, there is also a capacity to do good and bring together people who would have never interacted before. Furthermore, the landscape of social media activism and debate is incredibly fast paced and takes no prisoners. Memes or hashtags that were once used to promote a movement or organization are often re-purposed against them, with the ultimate power landing in the hands of the users of these platforms (Maas et al. 2018). Celebrity scandals in particular have a particular influence on social media. Recently there have been a lot of scandals involving a perpetuation of violence against women, which have developed into a national crisis with media exposure of all varieties (Maas et al. 2018). The social crisis originating from Donald Trump’s actions “illustrates a culture that condones and perpetuates violence against women, often referred to as rape culture” (Buchwald, Fletcher, & Roth 1993). We have seen an unfolding of a resistance to this institutionalized behavior in the form of social media hashtags and memes. Most importantly to understand is that this is a way for marginalized individuals to come together on social media through a united word, phrase, or meme (Maas et al 2018). It is so vital that the re-sharing and reshaping of memes or hashtag allows for these groups to come together in order to collectively fight for a cause, a rebellion to the institution through social discourse.

Fig.1

Fig. 2

                These two memes together demonstrate how social resistance to institutions of power are being challenged by social discourse. Fig. 1 shows to men accused of sexual misconduct in positions of power, with vastly different outcomes. In the photo, Bill Clinton, famously known for his scandal while President, suggesting to Bill Cosby that he would have avoided Jail sentencing if he were a politician. This meme calls out the blatant exceptions and allowances given to those in positions of power, notably politicians, who get forgiven or excused for their heinous behavior. This meme also points out how even different positions of power, social vs governmental are not afforded the same “get out of jail free cards”. Figure 2 similarly shows a long history of misbehavior in the highest office of the United States. It jokingly explains how mistreatment of women is so ingrained in the American political system that it is a pre-requisite for the presidential position. This meme acts to link together decades of abuse against women by American politicians in solidarity with ongoing #metoo movements in order to protest the state of our politics. Both of these memes offer the resistance needed to these institutionalized issues through social discourse given rise through the capabilities of social media. Memes act as an effective and sharable medium, similar to the hashtag, that can unify a movement, coming together in solidarity to create real social change by groups who would otherwise be separated.

Maas, M. K., Mccauley, H. L., Bonomi, A. E., & Leija, S. G. (2018). “I Was Grabbed by My Pussy and Its #NotOkay”: A Twitter Backlash Against Donald Trump’s Degrading Commentary. Violence Against Women,24(14), 1739-1750. doi:10.1177/1077801217743340

Yang, G. (2016). Narrative Agency in Hashtag Activism: The Case of #BlackLivesMatter. Media and Communication,4(4), 13. doi:10.17645/mac.v4i4.692

Week 10 - Putting together the pieces

Revised RQ: How do memes regarding American politicians and sexual assault suggest demeaning or dismissive behaviors towards women?

The upcoming research will examine how memes have been used in American society to address an overall dismissive and demeaning behavior from many american politicians and celebrities towards women in regards to sexual assault. Far too often we, as citizens, see a complete ignorance and disrespectful behaviors from those with power in our society who simply dismiss the lived experience of sexual assault survivors. It is imperative that action is taken to cease this behavior, and memes have been one such anonymous way to express dissent against these powerful figures. This research will use Shifman's (2013) research on memes in order to develop appropriate methodology moving forward. While types of humor were initially considered in reviewing my sample, I decided that I could not determine intent of the creator, or why it may be humorous to others. Instead, I will be using Shifman's (2013) arguments of Memetic Success to breakdown the memes.

One of the most important features of Shifman's memetic success is positivity or humor. I argue that they are not likely to be re-sharing not on the content being positive, but rather a sense of ally-ship through support of a meme that casts the perpetrator in a bad light. I think that this will be largely involved within my study, particularly with Trump being a main player in this sample. However, he is such a divisive figure (as are the other men featured in the sample), that I believe that another of her traits, provoking "high-arousal" emotions, will be equally as dominant (Shifman 2014, p.75). We can see how some horrible actions such as sexual assault present "crimes...so outrageous, so shocking, and so extrememe that remaining indifferent...almost impossible: (Shifman 2013, p.77). I want to examine particularly the events surrounding each of the meme's focus, and explain how they are playing on high tensions regarding figures, and how that hot topic fuels their success. Other features such as packaging and repetitiveness of other memes will be considered on individual basis, but do not appear to be as common at first glance.



Fig.1


Fig. 2


These two particular examples from my sample can show offer some important insight into my research. Figure one begins with a smug smile from Donald Trump, and text that parodies the popular "Most interesting man in the world" advertisements from Dos Equis beer. The text mentions his complete transparency for his unacceptable treatments of women, and how he seems to be more than happy to talk openly about his opinions. I suggest that posting and re-sharing this meme in this highly charged political climate exemplifies how people wish to share negative images of trump in an act of political activism. As Trump may believe he rules Twitter, the internet has engaged in a war of sorts of political statements through memes. Furthermore I think simply Trump or sexual assault are such hot topics at the moment in American media and society that either one of the two offers substantive success for a meme, let alone both. We can further see in Figure 2 that there is a notion that this issue of dismissive nature towards women, or what can be simply deemed immoral behavior, has a long standing in American politics. By using three popular (in notoriety) presidents, this memes plays on many years of pent up political sentiment that Shifman would classify as high-arousal emotions. I believe this too shows some ally-ship to modern causes such as #metoo where entire systems of opression are being challenged rather than a single person.
This research using political figures is highly charged simply due to the nature of divisive American politics. Although this serves to cause memes to be emotionally charged, extra care will be taken to examine other underlying features the memes present in order to result in the best research conclusions. Long standing American institutions are being challenged daily, and the war is constantly raging in the internet.

Final Meme Sample

Sources respective

Week 9 : A Second Look

I set forth to answer the question : “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 specifically chose this question in light of the Brett Kavanaugh case that was concluding during the time of writing my research. However it was on the heels of two previous high profile incidents, those of Donald Trump and Bill Cosby, and I now feel like they are also to be included in this study. I have found myself particularly interested in the dismissive nature of the memes towards their cases, portraying an ideology of “above the law” for politicians and celebrities. This research question I believe needs to be revised in order to make it clear that the issue is that of the men holding power positions, rather than their elected positions. It is the power structures they exist within that allow for dismissive behaviors towards accusers and events, not their political title. I seek to address this below.

By combining these three men’s cases I believe I can better answer a question that examines sexual assault by men in positions of power within American society. Furthermore, many memes cross reference these cases, in an interesting twist and comparison tool to the similarity of the cases. I believe there is something to be examined here about the power celebrities hold within our society, often having more impact than a politician on public opinion. In this regard I believe treating the issue as men in power, rather than a more selective category of politicians will be beneficial to this study.

Figure1

Figure 2

Figure 3

One of the most important themes that I felt needed to be examined after self reflection on my topic is that of the long standing history of allegations within our society among dominant figures. Kavanaugh, Trump, and Cosby are certainly not the first men to be accused sexual assault or misconduct, but are rather just the newest wave.  

Figures 1 and 3 lay out a concept that accusations and illegal behaviors are simply par for the course in American Politics. The first image proposes that Donald Trump is simply following i the footsteps of famous US politicians, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton with accusations of affairs and sexual assault respectively. While the meme is actually a dig at Trump, it illustrates and almost explains away is behavior as simply a normal thing to be expected out of the office of the President.

Figure 3 portrays supreme court justice Clarence Thomas smiling at the viewer with obviously imposed wording (not his own). It is inferred to be directed at Kavanaugh during the hearings to offer some support that he too had dealt with “false” accusations from “they/them”(inferred to be democrats). This divisive meme portrays an idea that democrats and Dr. Ford are simply making up their stories in order to block republican appointees. This dangerous ideology perpetuates a counter argument against the systemic sexual misconduct as some sort of democratic conspiracy to throw dirt.

Figure 2 cross references Donald Trump and Bill Cosby in an implied phone call. This meme was posted during the hearings of brett kavanaugh, when it was uncertain of his confirmation. This memes suggests that Donald Trump needed a backup for supreme court nominee, and called upon Cosby to fill the position. The inference is that Trump is selecting only those with tendencies of sexual misconduct fo the highest court in America. This crossover of two other people in positions of power in regards to the Kavanaugh case is an interesting reference that shows just how systemic issues of sexual misconduct have become in american society, and particularly in positions of power such as politicians and celebrities.