Girls Read Mean Tweets

All of these jokes, the ones that are seemingly harmless and the ones that are outright offensive, continue to normalize sexism in our society. Language, online and offline, matters. In fact, a research project at Western Carolina University, found that sexist humor lead to a toleration of discrimination against women in men. As Brianna Bragg, the senior who spearheaded the production of the video, explains, “when something hateful is directed toward a girl, they [girls] are instructed to brush it off as a joke.”

But it’s not a joke. Sexist, racist, homophobic “jokes” legitimize discrimination. They tell people that it is okay to be sexist, racist, or homophobic because other people are too. Unfortunately, the tweets in the video are only a fraction of the social media posts joking about what women look like and their “place” in society.

The recent allegations of sexual harassment against numerous, high profile celebrities have finally started the conversation on sexual harassment in the workplace. But we have yet to discuss how online, “jokes” perpetuate and justify the same misogynistic culture. The “Mean Tweets” video aims to start this discussion.