Female memes are a natural outlet for expressing experiences, seeing as many of the traditional ones are more limiting. For example, if you take a glance at the people making and managing Hollywood films, fewer than one-fifth are women. This includes directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors, not counting all the films and shows that predominantly feature male characters. 

So, while that industry takes its sweet time to change, female netizens around the globe can, instead, share their thoughts and emotions through a much more contemporary outlet, the humble-but-ever-so-relatable meme. The “Females” Instagram page is one amongst many with this focus and has already amassed an impressive 1.4 million followers.

If the statistics from Hollywood made you raise an eyebrow, just wait, it gets worse. Despite being literally half the population, only about one in ten films will be headlined by a woman, which fits with the just as depressing statistic that the majority of the cast in major films are male. For example, in 2014, only 28.1% of characters in the 100 top-grossing films were women. 

And despite, apparently, being such a rare breed, actresses tend to be paid only about forty cents to every dollar made by a male co-star, possibly the most blatant example of a wage gap in any industry. In other businesses, this gap is “only” around twenty percent, but it all leads to a reality where female stories are just featured fewer times and women aren’t even given the resources to do anything about it. 

Television isn’t really better, where just like feature films, the majority of characters are male and are played by male actors. This is perhaps why many women have turned to the internet, which, despite its many, many flaws, is a great equalizer and democratizer. Instead of having to fight one’s way past a myriad of predatory producers for a chance to get your ideas out, one can just make a meme and have millions see it within moments. 

It’s not like the existing media “for women” is doing them any favors. From objectification, tokenization, and creating unrealistic body standards. Hollywood and advertising go hand in hand, in this regard, the result being that almost three-quarters of all women feel a constant pressure to “improve how they look,” in an endless, unwinnable battle. 

This isn’t just some trend of women undervaluing their appearance, it’s an epidemic. Dove found that only 4% of women considered themselves beautiful, which seems absurdly low. The vast majority, according to the same study, do not even consider themselves attractive. Even if we try to account for a normal distribution of “attractiveness” throughout the population, this just does not make sense until one realizes that the “standards” set for women are basically unreachable at best and downright unhealthy at worst. 

This highlights the importance of “female-friendly” media and memes, it’s not just about making women laugh, it’s about providing a space where they can control the narrative to push back against imposed standards of beauty, behavior, and anything else that is just the fantasy of a screenwriter or marketing team.  

Without this sort of outlet and without good representations of what other women normally experience and think, studies show that women turn their insecurities inward. The aforementioned study conducted by Dove found that more than half of the respondents agreed that ultimately, they were their own worst critics, creating a basically unwinnable battle.

People interested in the history of science no doubt already know the many, many cases where studies were predominantly conducted on men, leading to skewed results. For example, most of us can probably name the symptoms of a heart attack or a stroke, but did you know that the “indicators” differ between men and women? The result, unfortunately, is that many women go through life without even understanding some of the signals their bodies might be sending. 

And this applies to a lot of designs, from clothing sizes, derived from military uniforms, to seating in public transport and bathroom layouts. Fortunately, outlets as simple as memes have a part to play in dragging the world, kicking and screaming if need be, into a more inclusive tomorrow. And if you want to see more “female memes,” Bored Panda has got you covered, you can find our other articles here and here.