Women on YouTube: Women Changing the YouTube World Need More Support

YouTube. It’s full of your favorite hilarious cat videos and fail videos, but it’s also filled with tons of awesome women who are changing the world through the internet. However, while the platform has allowed for a greater discussion on important topics and a greater freedom of expression, there is still a lack of women in the top 100 most subscribed YouTube channels, excluding music artists’ pages.

With those who do crack into the most subscribed list, women such as Macbarbie07 or Michelle Phan, make it being primarily beauty/make-up tutorial videos. While I find nothing wrong with expressing yourself through make-up and admire these women who have become successful entrepreneurs, it is a sad fact that women can’t get millions of subscribers from other content such as education, science, or comedy, where men with the same channels do.

This is why I want to highlight three women on YouTube whose channels deserve more subscribers because they are doing extremely important work.

Emily Grasile – The Brain Scoop

Emily Grasile has a science channel entitled “The Brain Scoop” where she talks zoology, taxonomy, and animal preservation. She works at The Field Museum in Chicago and gets hands on in the museum, showing viewers just how the process of preservation works. It can get pretty graphic at times (fair warning) but whether it’s watching Grasile getting hands on in the field with insects or discussing domestication, it is clear she is passionate about science.

Grasile also made a very important video entitled Where My Ladies At where she addresses the double standard women face on YouTube, especially in scientific fields, regarding the audience’s tendency to comment on her appearance in as opposed to those of the men within the same field. In the description of that video, she lists many other science channels on YouTube ran by women that you should check out.

Franchesca Ramsey – Chescaleigh

Franchesca Ramsey posts parody videos, comedic vlogs, and rants on political and racial issues. She is not afraid to speak about controversial topics surrounding race even when the comments on many of her videos about these discussion involve racism, proving that such topics need to be discussed.

With videos like The N-Word “Double Standard” and Here’s Why Racism Is Not Just Comedy, she frankly discusses how black stereotypes are perpetuated through YouTube videos and how she is accused of playing the “race card” when discussing racial issues. She also has informative videos on the Ferguson shooting and the George Zimmerman trial verdict focusing on the media’s portrayal of black criminals. She is changing the course of dialogue on YouTube about race with her open and honest style.

Hart – Hartbeat

Hart makes videos ranging from comedic vlogs and sketches to discussions about LGBT and gender identity issues. Hart herself identifies as lesbian and is open about her sexuality in her videos, helping others better understand LGBTQ* issues through the power of laughter.

In one of her most entertaining videos, Hart discusses being questioned about her masculine appearance through comments like, “If you love women, why don’t you dress like one.” In response, she decides to dress up like a watermelon to show the obvious; just because she loves something doesn’t mean she needs to dress like it.

Hart is open, not afraid to be herself, and gets right to the truth.

These women, like many women online, face harsh criticism, backlash, and even receive death threats due to the power of anonymity the internet gives people to act out their misogynistic critiques. Many tend to only get comments about their appearances and not their content due to the double standard women face in the media culture.

Go to these beautiful and ridiculously talented ladies’ pages and give them the support they deserve by subscribing and leaving a positive comment.