”Smile less, it shows weakness” Gemenskapsbyggande och intertextualitet i memes om Sigma Males på Tiktok

Sammanfattning: Memes have long been an integral part of internet culture, constantly evolving in humor and perpetuated by the individuals who create and share them. What may be funny today can quickly become stale and forgotten, as determined by the very same people. It is not surprising, therefore, that gender roles and societal expectations pertaining to women, men, and nonbinary individuals find their way into internet memes. These memes can serve various purposes, ranging from pure comedy to the reinforcement of sexism disguised as mere jokes. Given the multifaceted nature of memes, they possess the capacity to convey diverse meanings. In this study, the focus is on exploring 50 Tiktok videos that revolve around the internet meme, identity, and phenomenon known as sigma males. The aim is to examine what these videos communicate about contemporary gender norms, the historical context of the alt- right movement in relation to this identity, and how the memes can be seen as a form of resistance, challenging prevailing gender norms.  To analyze the data, a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) will be used. The sample consists of 50 Tiktok videos, each associated with one of five different hashtags (with 10 videos per hashtag), thereby providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter. Through this analysis, four distinct categories emerged, shedding light on the themes present in these videos: Personation, non-normative gender ideals, discursive struggles in the sigma males discourse and masculine collective communities.