Thot is an acronym for “that hoe over there.” It is also a variant spelling of Thoth, Egyptian God of the moon, wisdom, writing, and learning. But who cares? We are here to talk about hoes.
Thot is currently the Internet’s favorite hilarious insult. It requires very little comprehension. (You get bonus points if you looked for the “ugh” in the middle.)
Deep Thots. Thot Catalog. Thot 97. Thot pocket. Thot juice. Are you laughing yet? I won’t judge you. I am not immune to the powers of dimwitted puns on the Internet. I love a good Vine and cat video, too.
That said, I am disturbed by the Internet’s obsession with insults that explicitly target women. Are only women capable of acting like hoes? I’m going to go with or nah. Here's why.
Last month, College Humor released a viral video about being a basic bitch. It’s my job to pay attention to viral content and to exploit its popularity. I set about to do just that.
My first instinct was to take an equally absurd concept, normcore, and do a compare-and-contrast analysis. What’s Worse: Being Normcore or Being Basic? That’s good Internet.
My City Guide colleague asked if it would be better to change the title to What’s Worse: Being Normcore or Being a Basic Bitch? “After all,” he wanted to know, “can men be basic?”
My immediate and emphatic response was, “Of course men can be basic!” For one thing, being basic is completely ridiculous and subjective. Secondly, of course men can be basic!
As my colleagues and I started to chat about what a basic bro would look like based on our collective understanding of what “basic” means, we came up with a number of humorous examples.
We didn’t consult the Encyclopedia Britannica, but after a very thorough discussion regarding the ethical implications behind a piece titled 10 Signs You’re a Basic Bro, I decided it'd be OK.
I wrote the list. What could go wrong? The basic bitches video was a huge hit. This was the logical follow-up. Well, it turns out everything could go wrong.
The post inspired a torrent of really intense, angry comments. I was even called a thot. Woooooooooooooooooow. I didn't see that one coming.
Did I jump on the basic bandwagon too quickly? Did the New England Journal of Medicine release a definitive study on women and basicness? Why are all these basic-ass bros so butthurt?
I know! It's because "basic" as e-slang is meaningless. It's only funny when used to perpetuate the fact that the Internet, that life, is often a hostile environment for women. This is also true of the word "thot."
V. Stiviano is a "Top T.H.O.T." Rihanna is "queen of the thots." But where are our thotty men? It’s fucked up that we would rather laugh at female “thotlers” (which, come on now) than admit en masse that men, too, are thots.
This is our reality. Why are things like this in 2014? I don’t know. I’m just a basic thot. I leave the deep thots to non-basic bros who write salty comments.
I’m not naive enough to call for people to stop using the word thot altogether. As derogatory and hurtful as it may be, that’s not how this works. The struggle is real.
Besides, thot is funny in a cheap, I failed fifth grade English kind of way. It would be more funny if we stopped pretending only women are thots or that only women are basic.
More funny in a cheap, I failed sixth grade English kind of way, that is. That's good Internet.
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