February 24, 2012 - 3:04pm
Katie Steen: Pinterest perpetuates problematic gender stereotypes
BY KATIE STEEN
If you’ve never heard of Pinterest, you will soon … assuming you’re a chick.
Reaping over ten million visitors in one month, Pinterest is a new social media website that is pretty much a no-boys-allowed version of Tumblr. I was first introduced to Pinterest by a friend who is now a frequent user. I decided to scroll down the homepage for a little bit and was astounded at how cute everything was. When she denied the homogeneity of its cuteness, I showed her the first image that showed up when I searched “death” on Pinterest: a pink rug with sleeping baby pandas and the caption “Death by cuteness.”
I’ll admit the pandas were cool. I’m always down for pictures with pandas in them. But I continued looking at Pinterest’s pictures, and found myself becoming progressively creeped out. It was as if every female gender stereotype had manifested itself visually, all laid out in one clean, endlessly-scrolling website. Wedding rings. Quotes about breakups. Chocolate. Hairstyles. Beaches. Wildlife incidentally posed to look like they’re kissing. Nail polish designs that took 45 minutes to paint even though no one’s going to notice them anyway. Cupcakes, cake, cupcakes, cake, cupcakes, cake. Healthy fresh fruit. Wedding cake. Ten million bikini models … not a single picture of a fat girl … and endless quotes about how we should love our bodies and ourselves.
There’s something mind-numbing about Pinterest, and its popularity is slightly unnerving. I like to think that the princess culture is ending after watching videos like this — and maybe it is for succeeding generations — but Pinterest seems to embody the idea that all women really need to be happy is a kitchen, a tight ass and a man. Pinned quotes like “#1. My life is a constant battle between my love of food and not wanting to be fat” and “It is hard to be a woman: You must think like a man, Act like a lady, Look like a young girl, And work like a horse” (captioned with, “That’s how we do it!”) are not empowering, motivating or funny — they’re outdated and insulting.
Pinterest may be brimming with popularity at the moment, and it can certainly have some pictures worth checking out (those PANDAS), but it also can promote a docile acceptance of gender roles if you become too raveled in its sticky sweetness.
So if you do decide to use Pinterest, please pin with a critical eye.
