Date Collected
Fall 12-2017
Informant
Myself
Point of Discovery/Informant Bio
My name is Melissa Herrera and I am a Junior at Utah State University. Majoring in Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science (ADVS). I was born in Anaheim, California, but moved to Logan, Utah, when I was nine years old. Needless to say, choosing to attend USU was an easy choice. I work as a Veterinary Technician (Not Certified), and I am a member of Alpha Chi Omega, Beta Xi chapter here at USU. You will find me on my phone scrolling through Facebook, iFunny App, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
Context
While skimming through my Facebook Newsfeed some time ago, I was on my phone and likely just hanging out with some Alpha Chi sisters in the sorority house. Student Problems is a Facebook page I follow, which post memes about any problem a student has come by at some point while attending college. I direct messaged the page, in hopes to get an interview, but did not receive a message back. After looking deeper Student Problems has another page called The SP University of Memes, which allows anyone to post any memes related to the topic. Making it very likely that the page did not create the meme, but instead copied from the second pages feed. Distracted Boyfriend, also known as Man Looking at Other Women, is a photo in which a woman is walking by and a man looks at the backside of the women, while seemingly his girlfriend, looks at him with anger or disapproval. “The source image is a stock photograph taken by photographer Antonio Guillem, which was posted on the stock photo database iStock[1] under the description Disloyal man with his girlfriend looking at another girl” (knowyourmeme.com). Instagram user @_dekhbai_, posted the image with the caption “Tag That Friend / Who Falls in Love Every Month” on February 23rd, 2017. Launching the spread of this now popular meme.
Texture
The attitude of this meme is humorous, though I suppose there is a sense of annoyance. In that, it’s annoying that there are guys out there who will openly check out girls in front of their significant other and not feel any type of remorse. I think this meme is generally used to be funny, though it does show a stereotype in men, in a sense of assuming they lack loyalty in relationships. There’s also a Distracted Girlfriend meme, though it’s definitely not as popular. (which is annoying- girls are just as likely to lack loyalty in their relationships).
Course
English 2210
Instructor
Dr. Lynne Mcneill
Semester and year
Fall 2017
Theme
G9: Internet Memes
EAD Number
5.26
Recommended Citation
Herrera, Melissa, "Distracted Boyfriend Meme" (2017). USU Student Folklore Fieldwork. Paper 36.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/student_folklore_all/36