BuzzFeed has always been a popular place for social news and entertainment since its creation in 2014. Since then it has gained a rousing success as a legit internet media company. Everywhere on your social media feed, there are tons of videos, articles, and quizzes being shared on a day to day basis. Popular as the company is, there’s no denying that it isn’t without its flaws and controversies (like most news sites). However, this article won’t be dedicated to badmouthing Buzzfeed, but to point out a major issue with a certain video called “36 Questions Women Have for Men”. Do not get me wrong, this is an interesting topic the BuzzFeed chose to share and I am all for hearing from the perspectives of women. Yet, there’s something bothering me about the video that I couldn’t really ignore. It is mainly because of some of the questions that these women ask in the video.
“How does it feel to be the same sex as Donald Trump?” “Why isn’t it ladylike to curse?” “Why do you assume a woman is angry because she is on her period?” “Why do you hate romcoms?”
Now, watching the video made me realize that it had the potential of becoming something of a significant topic in which men and women could talk about, but turned out to be a rant on how men are jerks. In all honesty I was hoping that they would share insightful perspectives on what it is like to be a woman in a patriarchal society or ask imperative questions such as:
“How do you feel about cases like Brock Turner and Ben Rothlisberger?” “Do you believe that the wage gap is unfair?” “Should a woman have a right to choose on what she wants to do with her body?”
Questions like the ones I have stated above are something that people can get behind and discuss, while the questions that the women asked in the video seem to go nowhere, turning into childish banter instead of mature questions. The video is a bit of an issue because it gives modern feminism a bad reputation. Feminism has a distasteful stereotype that gives off the assumption that women are only feminist because they hate men and the only thing they care about isn't equality, but telling people on twitter on how men are idiots. The women in the video probably meant well and had no intentions coming off as she-woman man haters, but they only fueled the stereotype dilemma.
If you want to make a statement, you have to do it right. Being a feminist should be about getting the word out in the best way possible, doing research and having conversations with people of all origins (especially men). Personally, I do not know what it is like being a woman, but I would like to sit down and listen. I know for a fact that rape is unacceptable, a woman should have a right to choose what goes on in her body and that the wage gap stinks. However, I also know for a fact that women would rather ask me more important questions than “How does it feel to be the same sex as Donald Trump?”
