By K. A. Laity
The link that launched a million laughs has, perhaps predictably, been exposed as a hoax. The Gawker gleefully "exposed" the pranksters and a lot of #HOPA tweets were predictably misogynist in their tone as they slapped down a woman who was presumably too ready to declare herself attractive (how dare she!).
This focus on the pranking and suckering misses the point: why it spread like wildfire across the world. It spread so fast that traditional social media trend watchers were way behind the dozens of women (repeated globally) who all sent it to teach other.
We're constantly told how we live in a post-feminist world, how everything's been fixed and feminism just ain't needed no more. The instantaneous popularity of this meme reveals the depths of anger women have for the inequities that still predominate in the workplace. The micromanaging manager hoisted by his own petard appeals to just about everyone (because micromanaging managers seldom recognize themselves), but the casual misogyny is something most women still deal with on a daily basis in the workplace.
Part of the anger comes from the fact that it doesn't seem to be getting any better, in fact in many ways, it seems to be worse. That's probably just a perception (I hope): greater awareness plays a positive role in highlighting bad behaviour. But there's an awful lot of simmering anger out there that erupts around a flashpoint like this; anger because the reality is far removed from the ideal.
We’ve still got a long way to go. And that's the real story here.
Image via Gawker