Female memes are a natural outlet for expressing experiences, seeing as many of the traditional ones are more limiting. For example, if you take a glance at the people making and managing Hollywood films, fewer than one-fifth are women. This includes directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors, not counting all the films and shows that predominantly feature male characters.
So, while that industry takes its sweet time to change, female netizens around the globe can, instead, share their thoughts and emotions through a much more contemporary outlet, the humble-but-ever-so-relatable meme. The “Females” Instagram page is one amongst many with this focus and has already amassed an impressive 1.4 million followers.
If the statistics from Hollywood made you raise an eyebrow, just wait, it gets worse. Despite being literally half the population, only about one in ten films will be headlined by a woman, which fits with the just as depressing statistic that the majority of the cast in major films are male. For example, in 2014, only 28.1% of characters in the 100 top-grossing films were women.
And despite, apparently, being such a rare breed, actresses tend to be paid only about forty cents to every dollar made by a male co-star, possibly the most blatant example of a wage gap in any industry. In other businesses, this gap is “only” around twenty percent, but it all leads to a reality where female stories are just featured fewer times and women aren’t even given the resources to do anything about it.
Television isn’t really better, where just like feature films, the majority of characters are male and are played by male actors. This is perhaps why many women have turned to the internet, which, despite its many, many flaws, is a great equalizer and democratizer. Instead of having to fight one’s way past a myriad of predatory producers for a chance to get your ideas out, one can just make a meme and have millions see it within moments.
It’s not like the existing media “for women” is doing them any favors. From objectification, tokenization, and creating unrealistic body standards. Hollywood and advertising go hand in hand, in this regard, the result being that almost three-quarters of all women feel a constant pressure to “improve how they look,” in an endless, unwinnable battle.
This isn’t just some trend of women undervaluing their appearance, it’s an epidemic. Dove found that only 4% of women considered themselves beautiful, which seems absurdly low. The vast majority, according to the same study, do not even consider themselves attractive. Even if we try to account for a normal distribution of “attractiveness” throughout the population, this just does not make sense until one realizes that the “standards” set for women are basically unreachable at best and downright unhealthy at worst.
