Written by Nur Nuri
Source: https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/article-world-mental-health-day-social-media-harmful-young-wellbeing
Female sexuality and pleasure do not converse in one particular dialect; rather, they compose a layered truth that speaks a different tale for individual identities. Codependent upon race, sexuality, socio-economic status, and religious beliefs, the freedom to express female sexual pleasure comes with relentless condemnation. Whether it is passive or very much physical, the hounding of women who choose to embrace their sexuality translates directly into media representation and pop culture. Women’s ability to express their sexual desires and identities have been compartmentalized into promiscuity, poor moral judgement, and unflattering recognition. Pop culture has utilized the age old notion that women must meet a specific purity standard in order to be pious, however, it has done so in passive acts of censure. This has reinstated the hierarchy of male ownership over female sexuality, thus blurring the balance between liberation and confinement for expression in the pop culture age.
A premier example of pop culture’s battle to paint female pleasure in a negative light can be seen in the popular internet meme — “She belongs to the streets”. Popularized by rapper Future, the expression is utilized on social media platforms in order to isolate women that have more than one sexual partner. The phrase itself without its consequential implications amplifies the notion that a woman must “belong” to something or somebody, rather than herself. On Reddit, the expression heads an endless number of threads, all discussing memes that showcase women who are considered to be “for the streets”. One particular thread with over 21.9k in engagement, depicts a meme where a woman has had multiple sexual partners and is spreading a sexually transmitted disease (STD). This particular relationship showcased between STDs and female sexuality not only stigmatizes STD positive individuals, it constructs a false belief system reliant upon the degradation of female pleasure. The constitution of what women are “allowed” to do and what is seen as too promiscuous through the catchphrase “she belongs to the streets”, extends further than sexual relationships. Represented on UrbanDictionary as a conversation between two men, showcases that women who uphold a specific Snapchat score are viewed to be untrustworthy and unloyal. This absurd connection between personal identity, interaction, and sexuality, aim to regulate the actions of women on all levels. Pop culture, specifically meme culture, not only prohibits women from behaving as her male counterpart does, it dictates a consequence to characteristics and actions determined by men to be unacceptable for women.
Interestingly, the linguistic sophistication of pop culture’s psychological repression of female pleasure is disguised in a layer of satire and avoidance of trigger words. The expression “she is for the streets” as well as the various terminologies utilized to reinforce negative feminine stereotypes are utilized carefully to replace derogatory terms that are often met with backlash on social media. Although these backhanded expressions, comments, and discrete slurs mask themselves as jokes and insider terms within boys clubs, they translate directly into sexual repression for women, especially young adults. Through associating a lack of loyalty with female sexual exploration, the patriarchy aims to take ownership over women through interjecting negative opinions into daily exchanges online. The subtle display of this censure detrimentally affects the liberation and self-realisation of women. Social media platforms have been proven to be environments of harassment and “cancel culture”, however, it is important to realize that passive aggression towards female sexuality is often hidden in plain sight. Social media icons such as Alexandra Cooper of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast aim to reclaim power over patriarchal prejudices through embracing an identity of female sexual empowerment through speaking about masturbation, sex, and relationships. However, the internet aims to condemn the podcast series by generalizing what it means to be sexually liberated, what it means to be a feminist, and what it means to be a woman speaking about sex. As more women are compartmentalized by negative stereotypes, these generalizations become more harmful to the progression of female sexuality on a personal and public basis.
Female sexual expression hangs in the balance of confinement and liberation in the age of pop culture. Opinions constituting micro-aggressions online must be recognized in order to remove their power. The ownership over female expression must not be dictated by negative slurs marked as jokes and pop culture phenomenons, rather they must be approached critically. Femininity, sexuality, and pleasure are all extremely abundant and individualistic modes of expression that must be celebrated, not be repressed, especially not through simple-minded internet