To speak for many of us, podcasts have been a great tool to spend time. Whether it be used to fill the silence on a long car ride, or keep us awake and intrigued when completing hours of homework.
Many podcasts began to make a sufficient name for themselves early on back in 2014. With the popular, but dark genre of “True Crime” stepping into the world of audio media. True Crime podcasts often consisted of one to two podcasters telling deeply twisted stories that consisted of tragic homicides and other harmful events. Even with its roots dating back almost ten years ago, popular true crime podcast shows like Crime Junkie, Murd*** with my husband, and even sisters who kill remain to have a very impactful audience on streaming services like Apple Podcast, Spotify, And YouTube.
With due time, the podcast community decided to explore different genres for their channels and began to really branch out earlier in 2022. Many internet influences, celebrities, and even athletes began to take a chance by creating a podcast. Many remain successful, even after a change of consistency when it came to uploading episodes.
Popular podcast channels like Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” are known for their popular guest in attendance for episodes like Zayn Malik. Popular social media influences Brittany Broski’s “The Broski Report with Brittany Broski.” Podcasts like these which can all be found on apps like Spotify and Apple Podcast continue to provide funny and relatable content revolving around today’s current events and trends for viewers to enjoy.
However, in recent events that many of today’s podcasters are using this form of media as an outlet to create racist, homophobic, and misogynistic content for the public. A growth pattern and gaining of attention for these podcasts revealed itself a few months into 2023. With clips and quotes that included a hateful demeanor posted onto several social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, And TikTok. Clips from these podcasts often were used as a form of clickbait to gain attention and followers. Often consisting of a short 30-45 second video of men on their podcast speaking about the rights and uses of women. These podcasts have had a harsh impact on the community value of podcast channels as well as being extremely detrimental to women and younger viewers. Once looking at the broad impact from these hurtful channels, it is clear that many of these male-hosts are using this platform as a form of toxic masculinity.
A common theme shared in these several podcasts is the subject of “traditional gender roles.” Numerous clips can be found throughout the internet of male podcast hosts claiming that our current day society is supposedly corrupted because women want and can make a successful and safe living on their own. For example, In several published clips from these podcast men are often speak down on the hypothetical possibility of their female significant other making more money than them. These messages from misogynistic channels truly come from a place of insecurity from some of these men. Feeling as if their “role” as a man is being damaged and challenged because not all women see them as a necessity.
For example, a clip from the podcast “Fresh And Fit” hosted by internet personals Myron Gaines and Walter Weekes was released onto Tiktok. The clip consisted of the two men having a conversation with a group of women on the topic of whether or not women in 2020’s are actually trying to build romantic connections or instead just looking for a source of income. There is a misogynistic tone and opinion from the host when claiming that almost all women of our generation have incredible and unattainable high standards for men. They also suggest that women are supposed to be gold diggers and disingenuous. Along with these claims, the host repeatedly interrupted the female-guest responses and would often change the conversation to a different narrative if it seemed as if the guest were making a good point or rebuttal. Fortunately, the podcast was recently permanently banned from YouTube this summer after being demonized for the toxic and harmful content created.
The Fresh and Fit podcast was only the bottom of the barrel in the situation. Many podcasts still have the ability to put out content. The channel “The Whatever Podcast” contains a similar dynamic as “Fresh And Fit” by constantly beating women down that are invited to attend their shows. The podcast in particular has been known to often speak on important political topics. Several clips also shown on social media from the podcast show the host Brian Atlas conversing but more often arguing with feminist speakers on abortion laws and women’s rights. Brian Atlas has made a name for himself by voicing his opinion on the right to women’s bodies, while not allowing others to voice their own. It is without a doubt shown that the host of these male-dominated podcasts have a tactic, consisting of bringing female guests onto their show just to publicly humiliate them and create false narratives.
With male podcasters creating this inappropriate media, the response from women today was far from disappointing. Arising from this matter, many women decided to imitate these actions from these channels to make jokes on their demeanors and actions. A trend surfacing on platforms like TikTok and Instagram quickly gained popularity with audiences being able to make fun of the toxic environments that some of these men have built. In some ways, it was a true and proper response from the actions of these podcasts. In order to truly allow these male content creators to realize how immature and disrespectful they sounded to viewers.
In today’s society, the value of other opinions and lives is extremely important. The women who make up our world population have constantly been mocked and mistreated by men who often never take accountability for their actions. It’s our responsibility as constant viewers of this media to acknowledge and call out these wrongdoings. Whether it be on the topic of women’s rights and equality in today’s democracy. Or a conversation on the topic of why both women and men should not have to feel a need to live under the guidelines of traditional values. If we want to live in a free and understanding society then we must be understanding of those who do and don’t want to live equal lives among others, and just accept their life wishes without beating them down on the internet.
