Week 10: Case Study Arguments

Week 10, Part 2: Meme Study

Reworded RQ: How do memes concerning the Stormy Daniels / Donald Trump legal battles reinforce culturally-stereotypical attitudes on men and women through both image and text?

The research proposed will utilize aspects of Shifman’s (2014) argument on the strategic use of humor and other specific strategies within memes to promote superiority of specific individuals or cultural groups over others and either swaying or prohibiting debate from occurring within the public sphere. 

As discussed by Shifman (2014), a common quality of memetic images occurs the use of humor, and specifically the use of humorous means of one-upmanship. Content creators witness specific media events and respond to them in the creation of their own content, as they find the individuals portrayed in the initial media content to be inferior in some way. The creation of subsequent content, either in response to, or in imitation of, the initial image, video, or media event viewed, is seen as a way for the subsequent content creator to argue superiority in various ways.

Additionally, commonly humorous memes can be seen as a means of affecting political discussion in some way. While Shifman (2014) notes that these memes can contribute to a discourse surrounding a topic, the study looks to build upon Shifman’s literature surrounding the use of memes in promoting or adding to a specific discourse in arguing that memes do not exist as “common ground to discuss politics,” but to silence the opinions of differing individuals altogether (2014, p. 136).

            Figures 1 through 3 highlight the arguments being made:

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3 

     The three figures shared exemplify findings themes within memes regarding the Stormy Daniels / Donald Trump legal saga and their cultural implications in regard to gender. The first major theme, as exemplified in Figures 1 and 2, promotes the notion that women in American society are unable to be seen as a separate entity from a sexualized object; as argued in advertising literature (Goffman, 1976; Knoll, Eisend, & Steinhagen, 2011), the woman is seen as sexual object through purposeful body positioning and amount of skin shown in relation to men. In Figure 1, the conscious choice to portray Clifford in a scantily-clad dress with no focus on the clothing itself next to Trump who is more fully clothed is done to reinforce the cultural idea that women are meant to be appreciated for their pleasing appearance, not the logic used in specific arguments. To argue otherwise is to argue for the culturally-illogical; thus, an opposing viewpoint is not addressed.

     Similarly, Figure 2 addresses the purposeful positioning of women. Clifford, standing at a podium filled with interview microphones, is immediately equated to her sex-worker history while in the presence of phallus-like objects. The calculated choice of using an image of Clifford mid-speech invites the perception that Clifford's history is showing to the American public; she is attempting to taint American society with her career-- an identity of which she cannot lose, partly as it reinforces the culturally-stereotypical view of woman. Lastly, Figure 3 evokes another theme found within the sample; the woman as helpless until saved by the man. It decontextualizes Clifford as an individual and paints her as the weak, feminine individual waiting for a powerful man to save the day.

     The research here is beneficial to research in highlighting that a full evolution toward gender equality in American culture has yet to take place. Despite in-person movements, such as the Women's March and the #MeToo movement, such strides toward equality are not being extended to our mediated contexts.

Goffman, E. (1976). Gender Advertisements.Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.

Knoll, S., M. Eisend, and J. Steinhagen. 2011. Gender roles in advertising: Measuring and            xxxxx comparing gender stereotyping on public and private TV channels in Germany. International xxxxx Journal of Advertising, 30(5),867-888. 

Shifman, L. (2014). Memes in digital culture. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.