We’re living in a world where heavily sexualized images of women dominate the media industry. Whether we are watching Super Bowl commercials with our families or singing along to a music video featuring our favorite artist or even glancing at ad-ridden webpages, the trend that seems to persist is the inferiorization of women through oral remarks (musically and otherwise) and media representation (i.e. television ads, online messaging). I recently had the opportunity to interact with Shilpa Garg and Ashley Meredith, the co-founders of the “Wait, That’s Not Funny” campaign on William and Mary’s campus. They are young women in the trenches fighting against the enemies of social progress –gender stereotypes and ignorance that continue to degrade and damage the female race. I am truly inspired by their work and my hope is that after reading this, you will be empowered to serve as an advocate for any movement in any space or place.
1. Tell me about yourself. (Major/minor, Hometown, Career Goals, other activities that you do on campus)
SG: I’m currently a sophomore from Centreville, Virginia. I’m not yet sure what I’m majoring in but I’m interested in Marketing, Psychology, and potentially English. I’d love to work in a fun, fulfilling industry/company someday, where what I do not only interests me, but also benefits other people. I’m currently a member of the Bollywood dance team, Afsana, the Center for Veteran’s Engagement, and Short Story Club. I’m also a research assistant in the Psychology department.
AM: I am currently undecided about my major, but I am considering an Environmental Science/Education based major. I am a sophomore from Arlington, Virginia. I hope to one day have a career where I can save the world in one form or another! Mostly, I’d like to work with various public groups in environmental or health education. On campus, I’m also involved in the Student Environmental Action Coalition, Voices for Planned Parenthood, The Campus Kitchen at William and Mary, and a social sorority. I play on the Club Volleyball team, and I volunteer at Matthew Whaley as a classroom aide once a week. Additionally, I am an avid Farmer’s Market attendee and a big fan of walks in the woods.
2. How did the “Wait, That’s Not Funny” campaign come about?
SG: The original founders (four of us, two of whom graduated this spring) were in the same class together, called Topics of Feminist Activism. We were put in groups based on similar interests, and we decided to make our group topic sexism in the media and how it interacts with rape culture. We started a Facebook page and planned a comedy show on campus, and we got a fantastic response so we’re continuing it as a student organization this year!
AM: The four of us that started this campaign in the spring were all in Victoria Castillo’s Feminist Activism class. As part of the class, we had to plan and carry out an activism project. The rubric for project assessment included organization, planning, programming, and overall effectiveness. After a class brainstorm, we broke into groups based on topic—and our group decided to tackle the portrayal of women in the media and how it relates to rape culture.
3. What role do you play within the organization? What is your position?
SG: I suppose technically-speaking, Ashley and I are both co-founders as well as co-presidents. We currently have an open application for interested students, since right now it’s just the two of us, and we are working towards becoming a recognized student organization. We’re planning events for next semester as well as regularly updating our Facebook for right now.
AM: Right now, we are working on getting Wait, That’s Not Funny recognized as an official club by the college. Shilpa and I are the remaining co-founders. I’d say our positions still fall under the realm of co-founders or co-organizers or even co-dreamers.
4. What’s been your proudest moment within the organization?
SG: It’s hard to choose between my top two. One was when we finally hosted the comedy event we had been planning for weeks; we looked out at the audience and I was so amazed at how many people had come out to see something we had created. I am very grateful for the incredible comedians and everyone who helped us make that event so great. The second was the day we hit 1,000 likes on our Facebook page. I think both of these moments made me step back and think, wait, this could actually become something incredible and long lasting.
AM: That’s tough. If not our well-attended comedy event, it was when most recently, a friend from high school asked if she could cite our campaign in a research paper she was doing for a Gender and Film class. She goes to school at Syracuse, and was excited that none of her classmates would include it in their research, and that she would be able to publicize That’s Not Funny at her school too!
5. Can you tell me about some of the events or projects that you’ve done for “Wait, That’s Not Funny”?
SG: This spring, we hosted a comedy event in Lodge 1 and invited female comedians to perform and frame their content around feminist concepts and stigmas. We were very proud of how the event came together, and everyone who helped us with the event did a wonderful job. We also sustained two photo campaigns on our Facebook page; one consisted of celebrity quotes and the other consisted of students from the William & Mary campus, to add a more relatable aspect to our message.
AM: In the spring, we ran two main campaigns on our Facebook page. One was a current-event focused campaign in which we used celebrity quotes and news relevant to our cause to highlight issues we found important. While this was successful, I think the other was much more popular. We got our friends, classmates and other students on campus to write quotes that people had said to them relating to gender roles and rape culture. These were real quotes that stuck with people because of how hurtful or startling they may have been. I think this campaign was most relatable to viewers because it made it clear that this is occurring on our campus.
6. Why do you think an organization like this is important to have on campus?
SG: I think the overall perception of feminism has become more positive over the last decade, but there is still a negative stigma associated with feminists as being aggressive, pushy, or unnecessarily picky about issues. Our goal with our group is to highlight how even on a college campus (rather, especially on a college campus), sexist situations and thoughts can occur. I think it’s important to show students that inequality is not some far off, abstract concept. One way we utilize our Facebook page is with photos of students showing quotes that have stuck with them and affected them because of how hurtful the words were; the organization shows our peers that these problems affect all of us, regardless of gender or sexuality.
AM: While I like to consider our campus to be fairly politically correct and aware when it comes to social issues like these, the truth is, there’s always room for improvement. And in the case of the perpetuation of rape culture and of gender roles on this campus, there’s a lot of room for improvement. It’s important to not only highlight issues that are relevant to this campus, but also to encourage to students get involved. This organization will raise awareness, start a conversation, and give us hope that day by day, society will improve as we address these issues.
7. What are your visions for the future of the organization?
SG: As of right now, we’re setting the foundation to bring in more people and more opinions and see what the group grows into overtime. I would love for it to become a large organization on campus, and if I dare to dream big, I would love to see ‘chapters’ established on other college campuses. Touching the lives of many people, regardless of their school or hometown would be incredible. As long as the core message remains true to our original mission, I would be happy to see the organization grow beyond this college campus.
AM: I’m looking forward to getting more people involved and becoming a stronger presence on campus this coming year. Once we get off the ground, we are hoping to focus our Fall 2014 campaign on body image and how that relates to media, rape culture, and various gender constructions. That’s Not Funny will likely host more events this year, and hopefully have a greater reach!
So to all of my lovely readers, if you can dream it, do it. That’s what the founders of the “Wait, That’s Not Funny” campaign have done and I encourage you to do the same. At the very least, be a part of the conversation, and hopefully, that will develop into taking ownership of the movement and the change. What truly isn’t funny is when we as a society perpetuate the problem. I guess the joke is on us if we don’t discuss!