Singled Out and Mocked: Intersection of (Hetero)Sexism and Ableism and Mobilization of Anti-Discourses in Online Hatred towards Hypervisibilized Youth Activists

AbstractThis article contributes to the relatively scarce research on the intersection of various anti-discourses in online hatred by focusing on online verbal attacks on publicly active, nonmature actors of diverse genders. It reveals that patterns of the discursive rejection of youth political actors are similar to the more extensively described hatred against activist women. It also documents that these violent expressions are no longer limited to the realm of extreme or far-right political circles, the typical focus of previous studies, but have penetrated mainstream civic discussions across the media sphere. Youth actors are vulnerable, the article argues, because their individual characteristics are singled out, made hypervisible and mocked as abnormal in the online sphere, or because they are associated with ideologies which the discussants reject as dangerous in their construction of imagined collective identities and mobilization of anti-discourses.Keywords: Youth activismonline hatredintersectionalityhypervisibilitydiscursive exclusion Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Notes1 I borrow the term “anti-discourses” from Martinsson and Ericson (Citation2022) who employ it in their article on anti-gender movements as a generalization of various forms of rejection based on ideological stances (such as “anti-gender” or “anti-Islam”). They mention that whereas they selected anti-gender discourses for their analysis, anti-Islam and racists discourses in their material could also be the subject of the article and conclude that “it is important to emphasize the interconnectedness of these different forms of anti-discourses” (Martinsson & Ericson Citation2022, 2). I find this term especially useful in my analysis of intersectional hatred targeting youth actors in which various anti-discourses are combined.2 For a summary of the “long history of backlash against feminist and female political action” including girl activists and the “backlash against their politics and selves,” see also Duvall (Citation2022, 2).3 The term “anti-gender” movement or discourse is established in literature (Kováts & Põim Citation2015; Martinsson & Ericson, Citation2022) as a set of ideas refusing gender equality efforts by producing “a vision about a society where the struggle for gender equality and LGBTQ rights is abandoned” (Martinsson & Ericson Citation2022, pp. 2–3). Kováts and Põim define “anti-gender movements” by stating that these movements “want to claim that gender equality is an ‘ideology’, and introduce the misleading terms ‘gender ideology’ or ‘gender theory’ which distort the achievements of gender equality” (2015, 11). According to the authors, the main targets of anti-gender movements are “the alleged ‘propaganda’ for LGBTI rights, for reproductive rights and biotechnology, for sexual and equality education” and the activity of anti-gender movements has negative consequences for the legislation on gender equality (2015, 11). Barla and Bjork-James (Citation2021) define “anti-genderism” as an approach “[r]ejecting sexual emancipation, LGBTQI rights, and gender equality” (2021, 381).4 Already in 1991, Crenshaw pointed out in her seminal text on the “intersecting patterns of racism and sexism” (Crenshaw, Citation1991, p. 1243) in the lives of women of color that her “focus on the intersections of race and gender only highlights the need to account for multiple grounds of identity when considering how the social world is constructed” (1991, p. 1245) because other factors, such as class or sexuality, are often equally critical in shaping the experiences of women of color.5 Not every article covering the cases listed below has the discussion section available, only those enabling discussion and keeping it accessible were selected for the analysis. Only mainstream daily and weekly news outlets were selected for analysis to ensure a sample representing mainstream online civic discourses. Disinformation outlets which paid a lot of negative attention to some of the cases were not included in the sample.6 All comments were collected during August 2022 and thus reflect the character of the discussion at that time. It is, of course, possible (and most probable) that some comments published originally in reaction to the articles were erased by the administrators due to trespassing some specific journal rules or standards (such as too offensive language, etc.). That also means that, because the comments were collected months or even years after their publication, the comments that got sampled represent content that the news organizations decided (actively or passively) to keep on their sites.7 Alžbětko is a nonofficial name, an attempt to create a neutral grammatical gender form of the female first name Alžběta. The name was introduced by Alžbětko themself but was appropriated by the public and became a typical example of a mockery of nonbinary people.8 A reference to Alžbětko’s protest act during which they used superglue to stick themself to the road.9 In the Czech context, bearers of liberal, multicultural stances are frequently labelled negatively as sluníčkáři, a term which refers to the shining sun (“sunshiners” or “little suns”) and can be considered an equivalent to the English expression “do-gooders.”Additional informationFundingThis research was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR), Standard Grant Nr 21-28556S—“The role of online media in constructing, negotiating, and practicing children’s active citizenship.”