“We have tiny purses in our vaginas!!! #thanksforthat”: absurdity as a feminist method of intervention

Abstract

PurposeAccording to thesaurus definitions, the absurd translates as “ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous”; “extremely silly; not logical and sensible”. As further indicated in the Latin root absurdus, “out of tune, uncouth, inappropriate, ridiculous,” humor in absurd registers plays with that which is out of harmony with both reason and decency. In this article, the authors make an argument for the absurd as a feminist method for tackling heterosexism.Design/methodology/approachBy focusing on the Twitter account “Men Write Women” (est. 2019), the rationale of which is to share literary excerpts from male authors describing women's experiences, thoughts and appearances, and which regularly broadens into social theater in the user reactions, the study explores the critical value of absurdity in feminist social media tactics.FindingsThe study proposes the absurd as a means of not merely turning things around, or inside out, but disrupting and eschewing the hegemonic logic on offer. While both absurd humor and feminist activism may begin from a site of reactivity and negative evaluation, it need not remain confined to it. Rather, by turning things preposterous, ludicrous and inappropriate, absurd laughter ends up somewhere different. The feminist value of absurd humor has to do with both its critical edge and with the affective lifts and spaces of ambiguity that it allows for.Originality/valueResearch on digital feminist activism has largely focused on the affective dynamics of anger. As there are multiple affective responses to sexism, our article foregrounds laughter and ambivalence as a means of claiming space differently in online cultures rife with hate, sexism and misogyny.

Memetic commenting: Armenian curses and the Twitter theatre of Trump's deselection

“…Circulating through sharing and appropriation, memes offer spaces for resistance and critique but also for incongruous, ridiculous, and irrational commentary that eschews the overall logic of the exchanges in which they intervene (Sundén and Paasonen, 2021). In the context of polarized political exchanges laden with affect to start with, memes communicate and register intensities of feeling (Griffin, 2021) that tap into and impact users’ capacities to act and be acted upon, both on-platform and off.…”

“…In what follows, we examine Armenian curses as composite memetic exchanges that disrupted the otherwise polarized dynamics of both deep disappointment and intense joy (or Schadenfreude ) triggered by the electoral outcome. We trace how cursed comments juxtaposing images and text in quote tweets and replies to ‘I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT’ evolved into a vibrant improvisational social theatre (Sundén and Paasonen, 2021). While this social theatre involved rejoicing over Trump's loss, it was also steeped in ambiguity in terms of meanings and intentions alike.…”