I’ve never been a
big gamer so my experience with sexism on the Internet mostly comes through my
observances of social media. One thing I’ve noticed about social media sites
like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are the clichés specific to each site
that girls slip into when posting. The term ‘basic bitch’ has been thrown
around the Internet lately and it describes a legging and UGG wearing Selfie
Queen who posts daily photos of Taylor Swift lyrics, Sex and the City memes,
and her Starbucks caramel frap. She never misses a #MancrushMonday post or a
#nofilter sunset opportunity and shares inspirational quotes from her Pinterest
board on Instagram. Although this girl may be an extremely complex individual,
she doesn’t post her opinions on political ideologies or controversial news in
the media– she sticks to the flow of traffic and reuses commonplace hashtags
because the popularity of her online identity is always on her mind.
Something I find
very fascinating that I talked about in my Book Review revision is our online
persona that we build for ourselves on social media sites. My generation has
become obsessed with our online identities and how funny, cute, interesting,
unique, and well liked we appear to be and we measure this based on number of
likes or favorites. The ‘basic bitch’ is relentlessly made fun of on the
Internet, not only by boys, but also by girls who seek to reinforce the idea
that they are ‘unique’ and ‘not like other girls.’ This is just another way
that girls seek approval in their online identity. Some think they have to be
special, others think they have to fit in. By bashing each other’s personal
preferences for femininity we are reinforcing stereotypes that have been
created for us by men and we just make it okay for the world to keep simplifying,
generalizing, and categorizing women based on something as menial as an
Instagram photo.
Online slut
shaming is another way of reinforcing stereotypes. Women are constantly being
assessed and shoved into two categories: the Madonna and the whore. The Madonna
is virtuous, innocent, submissive, and the type of girl a boy wants to marry.
The whore is the bad girl who is in charge of her sexuality, more like a man is
supposed to be. When a woman is aggressive and in charge, the construction of
gender roles in our society and the transfer of power begin to blur. Shaming
the whore is a way for men to regulate female sexuality and provide the illusion
that they are still in control. But other women also partake in slut shaming because
of their own fear of female sexuality. When a girl posts a sexy picture on a
social media account and is shamed for it by other girls, it’s just another way
of reinforcing the categorization of women into this dichotomy. These are my
most prominent observations of sexual discrimination on the Internet.
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