Sexism: The Punchline of Generational Humor

Humor? Or lack thereof?

To humour, social media platforms witness an array of seasonal trends and challenges. Some memes are at the receiving end of appraisal while others are not so fortunate. This unpredictable benchmark for public approval makes it difficult to gauge consistent interest. But, ignorant content creators have managed to sustain a genre of comedy; sexism.

The Joke

Sexism is always in vogue and happens to be the quintessential ice-breaker. Whether it be a banal pun, an opening monologue, or an offensive pantomime, sexism manages to do just the trick. It’s not just amateurs who rely on years of female exploitation to crack a crowd. Professionals have too, dabbled in misogyny, and continue to do so. These fallible attempts to belittle, humiliate, and insult different genders are now warm-ups. Slowly building their way to the climax, only to welcome a stray of irrelevant innuendos. Stand-up comedy has now become an open-mic for cis-gendered males to promote off sexism. As such spaces now accept sexism, if laced with humour or delivered subtly, without much protest.

Because of social media; however, the misogynistic nature of humour has escaped locker rooms and crept its way to the web. For instance, memes either reinforce a woman’s “inherent” domestic skills or reduce them to pecuniary objects. The latter blatantly accuse women of only pursuing men with a stable financial background. Such memes, tend to disregard the rampant dowry culture that has Pakistan-and much of South Asia-engulfed. The former is always a meagre defence strategy for most men losing internet debates. An amusing occurrence after Aurat March, when men and their toxic masculinity oppose threatening slogans such as “Khana Khud Garam Karlo”. Intimidated by honest placards, men resort to hurling abuses and sharing disrespectful content under the pretence of humour. Ingrained in global humour, individuals now fail to recognize the sexist nature of a meme.

The Resistance

After recounting tales of microaggressions, feminists concluded sexism to have become a digitized pandemic. These incidents were random, while some highlighted casual sexism, others displayed violent tendencies with an animated backdrop. From being mildly amusing-or so they think so-jokes, to being vindictive individuals attempting to belittle as many women as possible.

Unlike their predecessors; however, women of the 21st century have decided to fight back. Initially, memes might have been just the basis of small talk, but now, they are much more. Furthermore, they have an undeniable political and social significance in this global world. To put things into perspective, memes were curated to stimulate emotional feedback. Hence, it is necessary to provoke only appropriate reactions from a fickle crowd. Consequently, memes are created to perpetuate sexist attitudes and misogynistic expectations by appealing to the two most suppressed emotions-according to Freud-hostility and sexual desire.

The Result

Feminists-from all spheres of life- have gathered to counter sexism with mild yet, apt humour. These memes, rather than targeting a particular gender orientation, focus more on satirically criticizing existing sexist notions such as; women can’t progress in STEM, academically ambitious women restrict their marriage prospects, the virginity of a woman entrenches a family’s honour, and etc. The memes made public to the wider community by feminists challenge these preconceived notions and exhibit an unapologetic, resilient, and confident stance.