Pub Date : 2019-03-28DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0006
Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller
This chapter focuses on women’s use of the Twitter hashtag #BeenRapedNeverReported. Using the hashtag, hundreds of girls and women shared the reasons they didn’t report incidents of sexual assault by partners, family members, friends, and acquaintances. We explore how this feminist hashtag developed in response to the public allegations of sexual violence made about then-popular Canadian CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, and ultimately moved across the media landscape, producing a robust public discussion about sexual violence and rape culture. Drawing on thematic analysis of #BeenRapedNeverReported tweets and interviews with eight women who contributed to the hashtag, we analyze the “affective solidarity” produced along this hashtag and the ways it created new lived possibilities for feminist identification, experience, organizing, and resistance. We contextualize this analysis within a larger Canadian media culture to position the hashtag as both a discursive and affective intervention into hegemonic public discourse about rape culture and sexual violence.
{"title":"Hashtag Feminism","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter focuses on women’s use of the Twitter hashtag #BeenRapedNeverReported. Using the hashtag, hundreds of girls and women shared the reasons they didn’t report incidents of sexual assault by partners, family members, friends, and acquaintances. We explore how this feminist hashtag developed in response to the public allegations of sexual violence made about then-popular Canadian CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi, and ultimately moved across the media landscape, producing a robust public discussion about sexual violence and rape culture. Drawing on thematic analysis of #BeenRapedNeverReported tweets and interviews with eight women who contributed to the hashtag, we analyze the “affective solidarity” produced along this hashtag and the ways it created new lived possibilities for feminist identification, experience, organizing, and resistance. We contextualize this analysis within a larger Canadian media culture to position the hashtag as both a discursive and affective intervention into hegemonic public discourse about rape culture and sexual violence.","PeriodicalId":155046,"journal":{"name":"Digital Feminist Activism","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114259702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-28DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0005
Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller
This chapter shows how feminists are using not only Twitter but a diverse interconnected range of social media platforms to engage in their digital activism. Drawing on a survey of 46 self-defined Twitter feminists, and a subsample of email, Skype, and in-person interviews with 21 of these respondents we explore how participants challenge rape culture and engage in feminist activism creating social media counter-publics. Twitter affords feminists connectivity, speed, immediacy, and global reach to share and debate: important pedagogical processes for raising awareness and visibility around issues such as rape culture. Despite the widely understood benefits of social media, participants recounted challenges of participating in digital activism on Twitter, including instances of hostile anti-feminism and episodes of sexually aggressive trolling. We outline participants’ emergent strategies for coping with technologically mediated misogyny and illuminate the significant role Twitter is playing in activating networked feminism.
{"title":"Twitter as a Pedagogical Platform","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter shows how feminists are using not only Twitter but a diverse interconnected range of social media platforms to engage in their digital activism. Drawing on a survey of 46 self-defined Twitter feminists, and a subsample of email, Skype, and in-person interviews with 21 of these respondents we explore how participants challenge rape culture and engage in feminist activism creating social media counter-publics. Twitter affords feminists connectivity, speed, immediacy, and global reach to share and debate: important pedagogical processes for raising awareness and visibility around issues such as rape culture. Despite the widely understood benefits of social media, participants recounted challenges of participating in digital activism on Twitter, including instances of hostile anti-feminism and episodes of sexually aggressive trolling. We outline participants’ emergent strategies for coping with technologically mediated misogyny and illuminate the significant role Twitter is playing in activating networked feminism.","PeriodicalId":155046,"journal":{"name":"Digital Feminist Activism","volume":"474 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123393486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-28DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0007
Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller
Chapter 7 explores how teen girls are using social media to engage with institutionalized and systematic forms of sexism, sexual objectification, and harassment constitutive of not only what can be termed rape culture but also lad culture in secondary schools in the UK, US, and Canada. The chapter draws on interview data with 27 teenage girls including individual Skype interviews with 11 teen girls in Canada, US, UK, and Ireland and in-person focus groups with 16 girls from a London secondary school feminist club. We show how platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and group chats provide different affordances and vernaculars for girls to challenge rape culture collectively and individually. We focus on the minutia of moments such as when girls challenge a rape joke on Facebook, collectively operate a feminist Twitter account, or negotiate instances of trolling, offering unique insight into the nuances of using social media as teen feminist activists attending school.
{"title":"Teen Feminist Digital Activisms","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Chapter 7 explores how teen girls are using social media to engage with institutionalized and systematic forms of sexism, sexual objectification, and harassment constitutive of not only what can be termed rape culture but also lad culture in secondary schools in the UK, US, and Canada. The chapter draws on interview data with 27 teenage girls including individual Skype interviews with 11 teen girls in Canada, US, UK, and Ireland and in-person focus groups with 16 girls from a London secondary school feminist club. We show how platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and group chats provide different affordances and vernaculars for girls to challenge rape culture collectively and individually. We focus on the minutia of moments such as when girls challenge a rape joke on Facebook, collectively operate a feminist Twitter account, or negotiate instances of trolling, offering unique insight into the nuances of using social media as teen feminist activists attending school.","PeriodicalId":155046,"journal":{"name":"Digital Feminist Activism","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121958708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-28DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0003
Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller
Chapter 3 presents results from a qualitative content analysis and thematic textual analysis drawn from four case studies: Hollaback!, Everyday Sexism, Who Needs Feminism?, and #BeenRapedNeverReported. The chapter presents one of the first attempts to analyze these popular feminist campaigns by answering the question of what kinds of experiences of harassment, misogyny, and rape culture the public are sharing on feminist digital platforms. We begin here to develop a key argument that digital feminist activism is far more complex and nuanced than one might initially expect, and is used in a multitude of ways, for many purposes, drawing on a range of different conventions or vernacular practices. Taking a cue from critical technology studies, we attend to emerging vernacular practices that we argue have been shaped by platform architecture, affordances, and conventions, which work to simultaneously encourage and discourage certain narratives from certain groups of people.
{"title":"Documenting Harassment, Sexism, and Misogyny in Digital Feminist Spaces","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"Chapter 3 presents results from a qualitative content analysis and thematic textual analysis drawn from four case studies: Hollaback!, Everyday Sexism, Who Needs Feminism?, and #BeenRapedNeverReported. The chapter presents one of the first attempts to analyze these popular feminist campaigns by answering the question of what kinds of experiences of harassment, misogyny, and rape culture the public are sharing on feminist digital platforms. We begin here to develop a key argument that digital feminist activism is far more complex and nuanced than one might initially expect, and is used in a multitude of ways, for many purposes, drawing on a range of different conventions or vernacular practices. Taking a cue from critical technology studies, we attend to emerging vernacular practices that we argue have been shaped by platform architecture, affordances, and conventions, which work to simultaneously encourage and discourage certain narratives from certain groups of people.","PeriodicalId":155046,"journal":{"name":"Digital Feminist Activism","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123414874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-28DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0004
Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller
Chapter 4 draws on semi-structured interviews with 18 organizers of Hollaback!, Everyday Sexism, and Who Needs Feminism? The chapter interrogates key experiences and the affective dimensions of starting, running, and managing a feminist campaign. The chapter outlines four key arguments: First, we posit that organizing feminist campaigns involves highly affective, invisible, precarious, and time-consuming labor. Second, we demonstrate how involvement in these campaigns can inspire “feminist awakenings” among organizers. Third, we suggest that while mediated abuse is a common experience, it is not universal; rather it operates on a continuum, and evokes varying responses from its victims, including being motivated to continue their activism. Finally, we map how feminist activism is often exhausting and draining, and individual and collective care strategies are needed to prevent activist burnout.
{"title":"Feminist Organizers’ Experiences of Activism","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"Chapter 4 draws on semi-structured interviews with 18 organizers of Hollaback!, Everyday Sexism, and Who Needs Feminism? The chapter interrogates key experiences and the affective dimensions of starting, running, and managing a feminist campaign. The chapter outlines four key arguments: First, we posit that organizing feminist campaigns involves highly affective, invisible, precarious, and time-consuming labor. Second, we demonstrate how involvement in these campaigns can inspire “feminist awakenings” among organizers. Third, we suggest that while mediated abuse is a common experience, it is not universal; rather it operates on a continuum, and evokes varying responses from its victims, including being motivated to continue their activism. Finally, we map how feminist activism is often exhausting and draining, and individual and collective care strategies are needed to prevent activist burnout.","PeriodicalId":155046,"journal":{"name":"Digital Feminist Activism","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116267648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-03-28DOI: 10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0002
Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller
In this chapter, we outline our conceptual framework, addressing key theories that underpin our analysis, including, affect and related concepts, including affective solidarity, networked affect, and affective publics. We also introduce key terms from critical technology studies, including platform vernacular and other concepts relevant to the political economy of social media. After providing further information on the six case studies described in the Introduction, including their reason for selection and methods used, the chapter details our unique methodological approach, which draws insights from a range of interdisciplinary tools, including feminist ethnographic methods, thematic textual analysis, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and online observations.
{"title":"Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Studying Digital Feminist Activism","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes, J. Ringrose, J. Keller","doi":"10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OSO/9780190697846.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, we outline our conceptual framework, addressing key theories that underpin our analysis, including, affect and related concepts, including affective solidarity, networked affect, and affective publics. We also introduce key terms from critical technology studies, including platform vernacular and other concepts relevant to the political economy of social media. After providing further information on the six case studies described in the Introduction, including their reason for selection and methods used, the chapter details our unique methodological approach, which draws insights from a range of interdisciplinary tools, including feminist ethnographic methods, thematic textual analysis, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and online observations.","PeriodicalId":155046,"journal":{"name":"Digital Feminist Activism","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127540605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}