PAB #1

PAB Entry #1

The article, “#MemeOfTheWeek: Bernie or Hilary. Sexist or Nah?”  authored by Sam Sanders seems to claim that the up rise of a meme that was created in another popular site known as, Tumblr, is being portrayed as sexist. The meme is being called, Bernie v. Hilary and was created by a man named Jeff Wysaski. At first, the post wasn’t meant to be such an uproar, but once the meme got to Twitter it grew immensely in popularity. The argument being made in this piece is claiming that the meme is being specifically sexist towards Hilary Clinton. Due to her being a woman, the meme is being widely controversial as to being offensive as per several feminists. The claims being stated in this argument is that, “women: can’t be funny, that they are calculating, stiff and that they are inherently unlikable.” All this debate, sexism and view of stereotype towards women is being ignited by a simple meme. When is a meme more than just a meme? Or in this case, when is it not?

(Topic Sentence): The allegations made by this article show me how immediate memes can flicker a debate, in this case, regarding sexism against women. A meme is meant to be somewhat humorist and to connect several audiences and followers of whatever it is they’re posting about. In his book Anderson H. clarifies, "As the literary analysis of autobiography confirms, the story of a life continues to be re figured by all the truthful or fictive stories a subject tells about about himself or herself."(216) In more understandable meanings, the individual's identity, in this case Hilary Clinton, influences the way she is perceived to her specific audience. The man who made the meme and a woman who’s against it due to the sexism, make their claims which seem credible. A question that’s made me want to know more about this topic, why does a meme have to spark or influence a totally different debate? This piece will help me further answer my inquiry because I want to know how a meme is able to be constructed as self-identity on Twitter. Being that this actually became prominent on the app, it intrigues me more as a user to see how a meme truly shows the “colors” of one’s personality.

Works Cited

(Revised Citation): Sanders, Sam. “#MemeOfTheWeek: Bernie Or Hilary. Sexist or Nah?” NPR. NPR, 05 Feb. 2016. http://www.npr.org/2016/02/05/465752565/-memeoftheweek-bernie-or-hillary-sexist-or-nah  

Anderson H. (1997). Self: Narrative, Identity, and Agency. Anderson's Conversations, Language and Possibilities. New York: Basic Books, 1997. 211-234 Print. PDF.