Exploring the "Shit Girls Say" meme, Racialicious editor Latoya Peterson says that that the most popular videos play on stereotypes. She says it's because society is used to laughing at stereotypes, but we aren't prepared to deal with the way we perpetuate them.
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Created by Graydon Sheppard and Kyle Humphrey (and boosted by the star power of Juliette Lewis), โShit Girls Sayโ went viral by taking a male perspective on common things โwomenโ do and presenting it as humor. Internet forums filled with comments like โOmigod, all my friends do thatโ or โthat is so me.โ The sketch proved to be so popular, there are now three episodes, probably with more in the pipeline.
However, everyone wasnโt laughing at โShit Girls Say.โ Quite a few people noticed that the โgirlsโ referred to in the top video were a certain type of woman, an experience that was not shared by all. Others noted that the humor that made the video funny was actually rooted in sexist stereotypes. Over at Feministing, Samhita explains:
"While, I usually applaud men in drag, I canโt help but be critical of these characterizations of women. Are some of these stereotypes uncannily true? Iโm sure they can be. But thatโs the problem with stereotypes, itโs not about whether they are true or not, itโs that they are used to disempower people or deny them certain privileges. And I get that it is comedy, but itโs like the most boring and lazy comedy possible. You know, letโs make fun of girls cuz we already know everyone thinks they are dumb and annoying tee hee. These videos might as well be beer ads."
Read Latoya Peterson's entire blog entry at Racialicious.
Latoya Peterson is a hip-hop feminist, anti-racist activist and deputy editor of Fusionโs Voices section, opining on pop culture, news, video games and everything that makes life worth living.ย
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