Sexist Irony, Retro Sexism, and Poe's Law

Sexist Irony, Retro Sexism, and Poe's Law

So lately I've been getting increasingly irritated with sexist jokes. Part of the reason that I've been becoming so annoyed is simply the vast quantity of these jokes that I come across. The rest of my frustration comes from a surprising part of myself that turns out to be rather feminist. I've never really thought of myself in such terms but given the conversations I've had with people lately I should probably accept it. And you know what? I think I will. Sexist Irony, also known as Retro Sexism, is still sexism - And I'll gladly be one of the kill-joys that spells it all out.

I see and hear sexist jokes all the time. I hear them from people I despise and from close friends. The sexist joke has become somewhat like a 'knock knock' joke - Normalised, predictable, and tired. The only difference is that a knock-knock joke doesn't risk undoing decades of work trying to establish a more egalitarian world for women. Yeah yeah, I can hear you now - 'Listen to Andrew getting all melodramatic - they're just jokes'. Well yeah, they're jokes for us, the post-feminism generation. We can appreciate the irony of telling a woman to 'get back in the kitchen, or saying 'make me a sammich' because we understand the context that makes the joke funny - the stereotype of the 50's housewife. But what about the people who don't understand the context of the joke yet find it funny anyways - why are they laughing? On the internet it's especially hard to distinguish between 'edgy jokers' and 'sexist jerks'; the digital medium with its lack of expressive capabilities (tone of voice, facial expressions, etc) means that sexist jokes are bound to be misinterpreted.

Imagine you had a friend who liked to make racist jokes. Oh yeah, he's edgy, brave, non-conformist - But how many racist jokes does he have to tell before you suspect that he may actually be racist?

All this is reminiscent of Poe's Law, which essentially states that: 'a parody of something extreme by nature (sexism) becomes impossible to distinguish from sincere extremism'. I think that the current trend in 'parodying' sexism is becoming increasing difficult to distinguish from actual sexism. 

A new term for this trend is 'Retro Sexism'. Retro Sexism is defined here as being: 'Modern attitudes and behaviours that mimic or glorify sexist aspects of the past, often in an ironic way.' There is also a really interesting youtube video on Retro Sexism here ^^^ (you only really need to watch the first minute or so to get the gist of it). An example of 'Retro Sexism' might be your average 'women in the kitchen' joke. Even though I don't find them particularly funny provided that everyone understands that the joke is made ironically then theoretically there is no harm done.

BUT, when I see things like this. . .

I think otherwise. So maybe you wonder 'what is the difference between a 'women in the kitchen / make me a sammich' joke and the above image?'? The difference is that 'Christina' in the image above has completely missed the irony - she's treating the JOKE as REALITY! Worse more is that she is endorsing the sexist message!

The underlying message that Christina seems to be trying to convey is that girls should  either A) have a boyfriend that they make sandwiches for, or B) not have a boyfriend at all. Fuck that. If I were a girl I wouldn't want some asshole boyfriend with an attitude of entitlement that asks for (and expects) sandwiches simply because he thinks he 'deserves it'. Women are (and should know that they are) 'special enough' to deny making their boyfriend a sandwich without being seen as 'bad girlfriends' or anything else. And we ('we' referring to anyone who has ever made a sexist joke - myself included) need to stop normalising this type of culture before we actually revert to a pre-feminist era. Notice that the picture comes from a website called EpicLOL.com? - This shit is funny? THIS has gone VIRAL?! It makes me want to stab myself in the eye with a fork. Personally I'd like to find girl with the independence and self-esteem to defend herself from over-dominance or oppressive attitudes. Nothing is more of a turn-off than a doormat.

Anyways, the point is that what began as jokes are now regrettably becoming a part of our culture - It's Poe's Law in action. 'Women in the kitchen' style jokes are sexist, cliché, and becoming less and less funny by the second - Please stop telling them. Also, this:

********************

Nepal - Day 22 - Chitawan

You'd think that after an eventful day and a night of drinking that I'd sleep like a log - I didn't. My sleep was on and off and not in the least bit revitalizing. It was probably the sleep deprivation that made my hangover today so dreadful.

For breakfast I had a plate of scrambled nausea gulped down with a steaming cup of pain. I followed that with several hours lying about pondering self-termination and at about 3pm (when I felt almost human again) we caught a taxi back to the school in Parsha.


The evening was a little odd. I had my second bout of homesickness and it hit me hard. I spent a lot of time on the roof my myself and a lot of time whinging to Guy. In retrospect my worries at the time were petty (lost car and scooter keys/financial situation etc) but an accurate account of my Nepal experience deserves the mention of the aporia I felt this night.

It did not help that the daal baht served this evening had graduated from the class of 'uncomfortable' into 'painful' territory. I was not a happy chappy.

It's uncharacteristic for me to stay in a bad mood for long and this time it was Guy that helped to lift my spirits. He shares a similar sense of humor to me and he couldn't have picked a better night for joke telling. 3 Jokes I'll take home to Australia with me.

1) Vicious Circle (Just ask)
2) Dead Thing (again, just ask)
3) A man walks into a bar with his pet giraffe. He orders a drink and the giraffe curls up on the floor asleep. The bartender quips while pointing to the animal 'you can't leave just leave that lyin' there!' To which the man replies indignantly 'It's not a lion, it's a giraffe!'

^So maybe it doesn't work as well written down. :P