The joys of mediocrity

Hospiceños usually represent their wealth as normative on Facebook, but performing normativity extends beyond their current economic situation to the ways they present their aspirations (or lack thereof). A common genre of meme shared on Facebook represents success or a luxury lifestyle framed through humorous exaggeration. The meme picturing Tony Stark provides one example of this exaggeration, in which payday is presented as a moment of luxury in an otherwise meagre existence. Through this and other funny memes Hospiceños contrast themselves with representations of success, thereby actively aligning themselves with normativity.

One funny example of this style uses self-​deprecation to position the individual as mediocre. The meme, which Jhony and Miguel originally found on Jaidefinichon, then shared on Facebook, features several sperm racing for an egg. The meme presents the self, even before conception, as the disappointing result of almost random chance. Of all the possible sperm with extraordinary potential for brilliance, good looks and leadership qualities, the one that succeeds is mediocre. This form of humorous exaggeration places the self in contrast to greatness, claiming solidarity with the average individuals of Alto Hospicio. The frame of humour indicates a joking acceptance of such fate.

Another meme declares the advantages of physical mediocrity, claiming, ‘Being ugly and poor has its advantages. When someone falls in love with you, they do it from the heart.’ Again, individuals who post this meme portray themselves as mediocre or even below average in looks and wealth, but highlight the positive side of their situation –​ the knowledge that their relationships are sincere. At the same time they subtly suggest a correspondence between above average (good looking and rich) individuals and insincerity. They present normativity as a positive characteristic and devalue that which is usually idealised, reinforcing the sorts of social sanctioning created by women such as Vicky and Lilia in their gossip about neighbours and friends who show off too much.

Acceptance or even pride in a mundane life is especially apparent from a certain style of meme that overwhelmed Facebook toward the end of 2014. These Rana René (Kermit the Frog, in English) memes express a sense of abandoned aspirations. In these memes the frog expresses desire for something –​ a better physique, nicer material goods, a better family or love life—​but concludes that it is unlikely to happen and that therefore ‘se me pasa’ [I get over it].

Similarly, during June and July of 2013 a common form of meme served to contrast the expected or idealised with reality. The example in Fig. 3.22 demonstrates the ‘expected’ image of a man at the beach –​ one who looks like a model, with a fit body and tanned skin set against a picturesque background. The ‘reality’ shows a man who is out of shape, lighter skinned and on a busy urban beach populated by other people and structures. It does not portray the sort of serene, dreamlike setting of the ‘expected’. In others, the ‘expected’ portrays equally ‘ideal’ settings, people, clothing, parties, architecture or romantic situations. The reality always humorously demonstrates something more mundane, or even disastrous. These memes became so ubiquitous that they were even used as inspiration for advertising Toddy cookies.

Health and body image are often commented upon in posts that demonstrate how normativity is more highly valued than excellence. Unlike in many contexts where fit bodies are idealised, in Alto Hospicio it is precisely the imperfect body that is widely praised. One common meme suggested, ‘A man without a belly is like a sky without stars’. Overall, discourses alluding to the acceptance of different body shapes manifest in the use of nicknames as well. Many parents or older relatives refer to their children (no matter their age) lovingly as ‘mi gordo/​a’ [my little fatty]. Many people also called their siblings, cousins or friends Gorda or Gordo. In a sense, these are reactions to the more general idea promoted by mass media, including global television and movies, national or international magazines and even local celebrities that thin or fit is the most sexy and desirable body shape. Whether consciously or unconsciously, Hospiceños communally valorise a positive body image that acknowledges the ways that most people look –​ something quite distinct from the forms that mass media implicitly suggests are the most desirable for both men and women.

Education is another theme that emerges in posts where Hospiceños identify with limited ambition. Most young people in Alto Hospicio finish high school (segondaria) and many begin studies at local universities, but only a few complete a university degree. When a young person (or an older adult) finishes university the whole family is very proud, but, given work options in the region, it is also understood as an achievement reserved for only the brightest and most dedicated students. More often people train for technical degrees in electrical, mechanic or other skilled trades related to mining or work at the Zofri dock. Others eschew advanced education and go directly into the workforce, so that they can begin contributing to the family income or support their own young families immediately. These local norms and expectations endow university education with a sense of distinction that many Hospiceños equally admire and see as superfluous. Because this treatment of education is almost universal within the community and reflects the limited ambitions of Hospiceño normativity, it becomes excellent fodder for humour on social media.

Humorous memes are important to Hospiceños because they allow for play. Yet the jokes are only comfortable for most audience members if they experience the humour as non-​threatening to the core values at stake.¹⁰ In the context of normativity in Alto Hospicio, joking is a safe and obviously popular way for people to express their comfort with the normative lives they have chosen. Rather than expressing disappointment or regret that they have not aspired to more, they reaffirm to themselves, and to those like them, that their decision to remain within the bounds of normativity is acceptable or valued within the community.

Humour often revolves around self-​deprecation or forms of heightening emotion, only quickly to diffuse the situation.¹¹ The ‘I get over it’ memes featuring Kermit the Frog work in this way to excite the audience, but then quickly diffuse the expectations. This functions as a form of self-​deprecation associated with low income and/​or ambition. While the joke would work in any context, the Hospiceños who choose these memes as part of their social media performances communicate that they not only understand the joke, but also see a correspondence with their own feelings and ambitions. Within socially accepted ideals of normativity, joking becomes a perfect way of expressing normativity, even while articulating desires to go beyond the norm. Humour allows individuals to express desires that are, under the circumstances, probably unobtainable, while simultaneously assuring others that they realise such ambition lies beyond the expected social scripts. This reinforces the sense of normativity, regardless of whether the individual feels constrained or comforted by it.

Furthermore, the visual elements of these types of humour reinforce normativity by relying on recirculated images that are almost by definition accessible to everyone. Memes do not express the originality of the individual who posts them. They are rather expressions of creativity, in that by aggregating various humorous memes on certain topics social media users actively curate funny Facebook walls, Instagram feeds, WhatsApp groups and Tumblr feeds. This means that even when memes express desires that seemingly go beyond the norm, they are still tied to some sort of collective desire, as the product of someone else’s making. Images then both work as shorthand and as a further normalising aspect of social media usage.