The words and language we use on a daily basis hold a great deal of power. They have the ability to reveal our society’s prejudices and stereotypes, but also the ability to influence and perpetuate these ideas. This common discourse will often contribute to the prevalence of the ‘isms,’ such as sexism, racism, and ableism, among others.
Even though the prevalence of overt sexism, for example, has continued to drastically decrease over the history of Western civilization, it is clear we aren’t quite past it. Many may claim that we are now in a post-patriarchal society where we are (mostly) equal, and that sexism is an issue of the past – but what we actually have now is a new breed of sexism to contend with.
Hipster sexism, also known as liberal or ironic sexism, is a term defined by Alissa Quart in New York magazine as “the objectification of women but in a manner that uses mockery, quotation marks, and paradox.” This new breed of sexism refers to the deliberate appropriation of sexist attitudes by those who wish to point out its purported ridiculousness. It is often done in a tongue-in-cheek manner, using irony and satire to poke fun at the concept of sexism as a whole.
This form of self-aware sexism is often deemed acceptable, given that those who joke in this manner state that it is rooted in the idea that sexism itself is an outdated institution that people do not engage in anymore – thus making it ironic. It is often done by those whose own privilege makes them immune to encountering the type of sexism that is sustained through these “jokes.”
In an article titled “Hipster sexism is not a new concept,” s.e. smith states that “There’s something that happens behind the ironic veneer of hipster sexism, and that’s actual sexism…It allows people to express actual sexist ideas, and maintain sexist social structures, without having to be nakedly open about it.”
Some common examples would be: telling a woman to get in the kitchen and make you a sandwich; casually calling someone a bitch, slut, or whore; or posing provocatively for the “male gaze” – all in the name of irony, of course.
A popular example is the hit song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, which uses sexist lyrics that riff on male sexual aggression and the view of females as sexual objects, all the while presenting a questionable view on the issue of consent. Thicke, describing why they wrote the song, stated: “We tried to do everything that was taboo … everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, ‘We’re the perfect guys to make fun of this.’”
We see examples of this ironic sexism in art or advertisements, with the most notable example being the work of Terry Richardson, a controversial fashion and celebrity photographer who has built his reputation on depicting models in a highly sexualized manner. Richardson typically draws inspiration from 70s porn aesthetics, but uses an ironic twist on this “male gaze” that dominates media and pop culture. A prime example is the photo of model Bar Refaeli eating a giant sandwich protruding out of the crotch of Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino from Jersey Shore.
These are far from the only examples in popular culture: just last year, comedian Seth MacFarlane had misogynistic undertones in his Oscars set, and later that same evening, satirical news source The Onion tweeted that 9-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis a “cunt.”
In addition, the clothing industry continuously supports this new brand of sexism, with British clothing company Madhouse printing an additional option under the standard washing instructions label, reading: “Give it to your woman: It’s her job,” and Topman releasing a T-shirt which read, “Nice girlfriend: What breed is she?” And just last year, Spinnin’ Records posted a picture of some DJ gear rigged to look like a stove burner, which they called “a CD-J for women.”
This type of sexism is all too prevalent in mass media, but it is also littered throughout popular websites such as reddit, and can be found in just about every Facebook newsfeed or YouTube comment section, where people attempt to pass off sexist “jokes” as edgy and ironic.
Meghan Murphy states in an article titled “The rise of hipster sexism” that “this brand of humour suggests that we live in a post-sexist … society now and that these issues are safe to joke about.” Murphy argues that this type of humour is used to dodge accountability, and it sidesteps any important points one could make about inequality of oppression.
The main issue here is that instead of achieving its goal of poking fun at these issues we are purportedly past, ironic sexism is accomplishing just the opposite. As a result of this type of usage, we are experiencing a new wave of prejudice that only slightly differs from the overtly sexist framework our society abided by in the past. We are now presented with a more subtle form of discrimination that is more difficult to detect – one that continues to influence the type of discourse we have about the roles of men and women in society.
This new variety of sexist discourse continues to establish an environment where negative viewpoints about women are perpetuated and normalized, and it reinforces ideas about female inferiority. In a way, it could be argued that this new wave of sexism is even more harmful, because it creates a public that doesn’t see the prevalence of sexist discourse in everyday language – a public that thinks we are post-sexism because we have the ability to joke about it. The truth is, we are not past it, and sexism is still sexism, whether you’re being ironic about it or not.