I chose this meme because personally I like memes that are made from a humorous point of view, that are easy to relate to. This meme in particular references both indexicality and templatability in a similar sense, in that the girl in the picture can be used as an index or a template in order to create other memes. Her expression as well as how she’s dressed serve as a guide. The word structure doesn’t matter as much, but looking at the picture it seems like all other wording would be in direct reference to a girl’s appearance.
The community of this meme can be quite broad, and therefore can be very relatable and easy to understand. Because of this my understanding positions me with any other woman who has personally been in that circumstance. It refers to specifically women (since she’s a girl wearing makeup and a dress) who have probably been in this position several times, where they’re impatiently waiting for their friends to go out after they’ve spent so much time getting ready. The intertextuality is seemingly nonexistent, however it could represent a lifestyle reference. Not all women wear makeup and take a long time to get ready, or like to dress up. In addition some women and their friends may not have or use cell phones. It seems very unlikely in our cultural and technological age, but could still be plausible.
As a cultural artifact, the meme looks at perhaps the typical modern-day woman, which we see all throughout media. A woman who wears makeup, is considered dressed up by wearing a dress, has a purse, and is talking on a cellphone. It looks at what the women in our culture value and consider when planning on going out with their friends. The concept of “going out,” implies that women must put on makeup and pick out something nice to wear, accessories included, in order to go out on the town and have a good time with their friends. It relates to what the media considers a standard that women should have, and what they’re supposed to look like while being seen in public. “Going out,” means putting on a front in order to be socially acceptable, especially when it comes to women going out and wanting to get the attention of men. Now of course not all women pretty themselves solely to get attention, but if that’s what they wanted our current cultural standards of what pretty is and how women should look like make it harder for women who seek attention, especially the attention from males. First impressions are everything, and if a woman isn’t found visually appealing the reality is she probably won’t get the attention she desires. This meme signifies society’s expectations of women and our current cultural standards we have for women about appearances. In addition, it looks at our values as women when we plan on getting dressed to go out with our friends.
nyssal 