In looking at Shifman's research, there are several aspects
of her work that will benefit my research. Thus, I will be applying the aspects of facilitating
public discussion and persuasion as they best connect to the memes I will be
analyzing. Shifman’s (2014) response of facilitating public discussion highlights
that the memes “serves as a powerful public display of criticism and distrust.
It breaks the façade of optimism and unity presented in official mass media”.
They also serve as “a performative display of opinions that is meant to be
heard far and wide” (p. 149). This is especially relevant to my
research, which uses the performance of Brett Kavanaugh and other male
political figures to illustrate the societal expectations placed upon women in
public, but not men. The memes in my sample display this inequality with the
intention of exposing it to the masses. It also creates discourse among
meme viewers based on their gender that will lead to the memes being
interpreted in multiple ways.
Another aspect of Shifman’s research that I will be
including is persuasion. Shifman (2014) states that “personal influence is a
pivotal aspect of persuasion” (p. 124). Additionally, her research on
persuasion states that memes in this category are often created by groups of
people or organizations that relate to the memes created. Thus, I think this is
an important aspect to consider while conducting my research. The gender of the
meme viewer will contribute to their thoughts on the meme. Women who see the
memes could automatically understand the point of view of this meme and support
its message, whereas men may have a different opinion. Additionally, positioning the political figures in the memes as emotional and unhinged, could
resonate with people who also see them this way, and further persuade them to
support the messages of the meme.
The following memes exemplify these findings:
1. Clinton vs. Kavanaugh
2. Too Emotional
Memes 1 and 2 further illustrate Shifman's idea of public discourse because they criticize the idea that women are expected to act a certain way by showing that men lose their temper and are captured displaying their emotions more than women. It appears these memes were meant to communicate a specific message about expectations of female behavior to society.
3. Smile More
Meme 3 brings up the idea of persuasion in memes, because shows that although Kavnaugh got emotional during his trial, there was no backlash against him like there would be if he were a women. The phrase "maybe you should smile more" references what women hear when they get upset in public. This is an interesting aspect to weave into my research because explicitly ties back to my research question.
Shifman's aspects are important to include in my research to better highlight the question I am trying to answer. Understanding how public discourse and persuasion can play a part in meme creation and viewing provides insight into how and why memes were created and what implications they have on society. Analyzing these memes through Shifman's aspects illustrates that there are expectations placed upon females regarding public behavior, which is highlighted through the memes from the Brett Kavanaugh trial.
The following memes exemplify these findings:
1. Clinton vs. Kavanaugh
2. Too Emotional
Memes 1 and 2 further illustrate Shifman's idea of public discourse because they criticize the idea that women are expected to act a certain way by showing that men lose their temper and are captured displaying their emotions more than women. It appears these memes were meant to communicate a specific message about expectations of female behavior to society.
Meme 3 brings up the idea of persuasion in memes, because shows that although Kavnaugh got emotional during his trial, there was no backlash against him like there would be if he were a women. The phrase "maybe you should smile more" references what women hear when they get upset in public. This is an interesting aspect to weave into my research because explicitly ties back to my research question.
Shifman's aspects are important to include in my research to better highlight the question I am trying to answer. Understanding how public discourse and persuasion can play a part in meme creation and viewing provides insight into how and why memes were created and what implications they have on society. Analyzing these memes through Shifman's aspects illustrates that there are expectations placed upon females regarding public behavior, which is highlighted through the memes from the Brett Kavanaugh trial.
Good overview of Shifman's concepts and clear application. If you could provide a few more concrete details about how you see these specifically at work in specific images or phrases in the memes that would help strengthen your argument.
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