Joseph An | The truth behind 'Shit Girls Say'

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say these “Shit ____ say” videos are hilarious.

It all started with “Shit Girls Say,” a series of YouTube videos created by Graydon Sheppard, Columbia University graduate student, that satirize some of the most identifiable and painfully relatable one-liners we hear from girls all the time.

Then things blew up — no one knows exactly why — to inspire similar videos like “Shit Black Girls Say” or “Shit Asian Girls Say.” The original video has amassed 11 million views since last month and has evolved into an entire internet meme complete with a website and a Twitter account.

So why are these videos so funny? Sure, the acting is pretty good and they somehow managed to get Cape Fear actress Juliette Lewis to make appearances. But there’s something about the content and the idea of compiling observations of women (and in recent spin-offs — of racial and religious groups) into a minute-long video that makes it hard to point your finger and cry, “misogynist!” or “racist!”

Some might argue that these videos are unproductive because they perpetuate stereotypes about race or gender. But that’s not exactly what’s at work here. These videos bring what we repeatedly see or hear in our daily lives to a wide audience. They also help us take a step back and laugh at issues that we neglect in the name of political correctness.

We either find these videos funny or we don’t — and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if there is a way to deal with stereotypes, then these videos are it.

When the original “Shit Girls Say” arrived on YouTube, the first critics didn’t like that a man was dressed in drag. Many women (whether they wanted to admit it or not) were also embarrassed that a man could so accurately pinpoint their banalities.

If these videos exclusively targeted one particular group or gender, I would have questioned their humor. But as it turns out, just about everyone says things that are worth making fun of.

Beyond their humor, these videos went viral because they spoke to our ability to scrutinize and observe others. A funny thing happens when we take the time to notice each other’s peculiarities, especially in a culture where everyone is overly concerned with themselves.

Think about it: some of the laugh-out-loud moments in the “Shit Girls Say” videos don’t rely on stereotypes to generate their humor. They’re unspoken and subtle, yet very recognizable.

The format of most of these videos is very similar, but nuances in each of the actors’ performances make it relatable to the particular demographic they are poking fun at.

Although internet comedian Billy Sorrell sports a goatee and a deep voice, he nails it in “Shit Black Girls Say.”

Lynn Crosbie of The Globe and Mail muses on the implications of such videos. She criticizes Billy Sorrell for separating black women from women in general, questioning whether it’s necessary to make a separate video specifically for black women, even in such humorous attempts as that of “Shit Black Girls Say.”

And I would say that yes, it is. To deny the idiosyncrasies of a gender or a race is to stand somewhere between naiveté and abandonment. Whether Crosbie wants to admit it or not, these videos caught on because they tap into and make fun of experiences we’ve had with others’ mannerisms. If we want to preserve these, we better be ready to make fun of them as well.

All that to say: I think it’s time for someone to make a “Shit Penn Students Say” video.

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