Low Femme, low theory: memes and the new bedroom culture

Abstract

ABSTRACT Are memes theory? Memes and femmes are both marked by failure; femmes fail to be sufficiently feminine, or sufficiently queer, memes fail as cultural productions, plagued by low-culture. Together, I argue, femmes and memes produce low theory. In my study of femme memes, I argue that they can be understood as making significant political and cultural contributions if framed by existing scholarship on memes that emphasize political and communicative functions (Chen 2012). Drawing from existing scholarship on internet memes, as well as feminist and queer theory, I argue that femmes are low theory practitioners, and memes are a mode of theorizing—a form of marginalized knowledge production that comes from a long lineage of the feminized, DIY cultures that occur in marginal spaces, like girlhood bedrooms. In this paper, I examine three key themes of femme memes—casual misandry, femme invisibility, and emotional vulnerability—to argue that femmes use memes to queer femininity and position femme as a political thinker and feeler. Through the creation and circulation of femme memes, femmes create a femme public that is both political and affective.