BY EMILY MALONE
(Photo: Jay Morrison via flickr)
Last week the Australian radio program Hack on Triple J reached a record number of shares with an article posted to their Facebook page.
Alecia Eberhardt originally published the article Stop saying “I have a boyfriend” in an American magazine in September. However, the Internet has resurrected the article and it has quickly become a viral hit.
With over 1000 shares, nearly 4500 likes and close to 400 comments on Hack’s Facebook, the article was quickly circulated onto many young Australian’s screens. Hack said the link was viewed by more than half a million people.
In the piece, Eberhardt argues that women should stop using the phrase ‘I have a boyfriend’ to deter men who are hitting on them because it buys into power imbalances between men and women. She believes that women should be empowered to decline an advance simply by saying no, without calling on a male’s supposed possession of you. She thinks we have been socialised to use patriarchal bargaining to our advantage instead of challenging it.
Male privilege is “I have a boyfriend” being the only thing that can actually stop someone from hitting on you because they respect another male-bodied person more than they respect your rejection/lack of interest.
Hack is celebrated as a unique national news source, discussing relevant issues to young Australians from diverse viewpoints. They embrace the strong history of talkback radio by inviting their listeners to contribute and critique the debate on air, which frequently results in a robust and topical discussion that is pertinent to their demographic.
Last Thursday, Hack broadcasted a 30-minute segment discussing the article. Host Tom Tilley interviewed the author, as well as Mamamia writer Alyx Gorman, and professional dating coach Jonathan Sankey.
Whilst the article has sparked some great feminist commentary, I think the importance of it going viral is that it continues to show the power of new media. Every day, new audiences are exposed to thought-provoking commentary, which proves the ease of accessibility in our digital age.
The article has opened a contentious conversation about feminism on many online platforms. Twitter has recorded over 1500 tweets with the phrase ‘stop saying i have a boyfriend’ in the past week.
In a 2013 Neilsen study, Triple J recorded 1.78 million listeners per week on average. Their Hack podcast is downloaded over 125,000 times per month.
There has never been more competition for young people’s media attention, but Triple J is continuing to inform and educate, whilst engaging young audiences in a multi-platform experience.
I hadn’t heard of the article before this post – but I think its such an interesting topic. I think that this article also reaches that broader idea of social media allowing unknown artists, musicians and entrepreneurs the opportunity to put themselves out there! Also think it’s grew that Triple J is supporting this kind of thing. Great article.
While I agree with you that stories such as these warm my heart to the possibility that we are becoming more open with discussing social constructs of sexism, do you think that Hack did the argument the full justice it deserved? Listening to the coverage and viewing some of the responses, it seems that the message went through a tunnel of Chinese whispers, becoming diluted towards the end receiver of the young adult. I feel like Hack didn’t do enough to maintain the integrity of the message, perhaps taking it a little too lightly and letting the topic pass to a point where they receive the excellent ratings but the reality of the situation doesn’t get an in-depth response.
It’s fantastic that Hack is bringing feminism to youth conversation. I love that the author of “Stop saying ‘I have a boyfriend'” is obviously well read in feminist theory yet writes so accessibly. Her point is so valid and draws crucial attention to the remnants of patriarchy that women still struggle with today. However, I dislike that she is taking up the old over-used strain of making men the enemy in her argument. Men are probably just as likely to say “I have a girlfriend” in the same scenario and we don’t call it women-privelege. It’s a pity that the feminist theory which gets the most media attention involves positing women against men. Feminism is so much more than that. I guess it’s just because division is controversial and controversy gets attention. I’ll admit I haven’t listened to the episode of Hack, so I can’t make assumptions about whether they are promoting further division or not. I just wish an article called “How to see Gender as a Construction and Love as Transpersonal Solipsism” could get as much attention!
We can only hope that one day in the future they might, Anna!