It’s time for a special edition of the newsletter where I highlight a trending meme. If you’re new, you can subscribe here and follow me on Threads, X, or Bluesky. Views are my own. Happy reading!
What is the meme?
A paragraph of text over a simplistic video describing a toxic action you’d expect of a man, but this time from a woman.
Who is in the meme?
✨Women✨
When did the meme pop up?
The earliest examples of the meme I can find were posted between Nov. 19 and Nov. 20, but the trend continues to gain posts.
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Where is the meme?
On TikTok, the #womeninmalefields hashtag currently has 226.7K posts. Instagram only has 25.2K posts. This meme seems more prevalent on video-sharing platforms, with screengrabs of the videos making their way to other platforms like X and Instagram.
#womeninmaledominatedfields is another variation of the hashtag, while spoofs like #womeninfields and #daughtersinmomfields have also arisen.
Why is the meme?
Just like women sought to reclaim their girlhood earlier this year, now they’re seeking to reclaim their womanhood by pointing out the double standards often present within romantic relationships. This meme shines a light on the small ways women are made to feel lesser and poses the question, “What would happen if she were to do the same thing to you?”
“If you click on this hashtag, you'll find thousands of videos or still images of women behaving the way many men of today behave towards women and giving them a taste of their own toxic medicine. A little tongue in cheek never hurt anyone, right?” Fabiana Buontempo wrote for Buzzfeed.
And the formula [blank] in [blank] fields is infinitely replicable, making me suspect this won’t be the last time we see of this meme.
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Read the last Meme Monday: Holding space for Wicked memes