SMALL PRINT:The first video was uploaded on December 12th. Now, just a month later and with views rocketing through eight figures on YouTube, Sh*t Girls Say and its offshoots have become their own online genre.
The first episode was created by comedians Kyle Humphrey and Graydon Sheppard, who were already running a Twitter account in the same name, and co-stars Juliette Lewis. So far, it has 10 million views, and endless parodies and add-ons have been prompted by the web series’s simplicity; short clips of a “girl” (or, in most cases, a male actor in drag) saying clichéd things. Since then, we’ve also had Sh*t Black Girls Say, Sh*t White Girls Say To Black Girls, Sh*t Single Girls Say, Sh*t Gay Guys Say, Sh*t Black Gays Say, Sh*te Irish Girls say, Sh*t Cats Say, and so on.
Easy to replicate, localise and parody, the fad has also lead to a wider conversation about whether or not its light-hearted nature acts as a guise for sexism and racism.
Is it sexist for a man to dress up as woman and take off conversational nuances, primarily focused on presumed “girly” things – sleeping, rooting in a handbag, being vaguely technically incompetent and slightly vacuous – or is it just a bit of fun? And equally, is it racist for a black woman to imitate what white women say to black women, or a black man to mimic what black women say to each other? The format’s appropriation by different nationalities, races and sexualities has been swift and viral.
Plenty of people want to put their own stamp of identity – or parody another’s – on what is a compulsive and infectious format. This is anthropology at a basic and immediate level, which is why some people might get offended by examining it too deeply, and others will just laugh.
SH*TE IRISH GIRLS SAY
A selection from the video:
“I’m absolutely freezing.”
“You can’t say that to anyone now.”
“Here, we’ve to go into town the back way because I’ve no tax.”
“I’m not pregnant!”
“I’ve no credit call me back.”
“Here, take down that photo will ya?”
“So hungover.”
“I’ve not a cent.”
“Thanks, Penney’s finest.”
“She’s mad for the ride that one.”
