The problem of intersectionality as an approach to digital activism: the Women’s March on Washington’s attempt to unite all women

ABSTRACT

This study examined the convergence of activism and intersectionality to understand how communicators create messages about social justice issues using social media. This is particularly relevant for public relations today, as digital activism almost ubiquitously involves bringing together conflicting publics who are active and social media-savvy, meanwhile maintaining an organizational brand/mission. Using the 2017 Women’s March on Washington (WMW) as an object of study, we explored how campaign messages reflected principles of intersectionality, consensus- and dissensus-based communication, and organizational self-reflection. We conducted a thematic analysis of posts from the WMW’s social media accounts as well as media quotes by the organizational leaders to get at the leaders’ intentions in their message design. Data suggested that messages of inclusivity as well as of necessary discord were employed to enact political change for WMW’s publics. We argue that although the WMW was not wholly intersectional, particularly in determining its political agenda, the efforts toward intersectionality are notable for theory-building and reflective practice, particularly for social mediated campaigns. The study proposes a theory for digital intersectional communication to guide future research and advocacy work.

KEYWORDS:

• Women
• digital activism
• social media
• gender
• critical race
• intersectionality
• identity
• publics
• qualitative research
• content analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The use of the term “principles” here refers to the foundational beliefs that provide structure to intersectionality. The principles discussed come directly from Crenshaw’s (1989, 1991)) work that originally proposed the theory.

2. It is important to acknowledge that even the term “woman/women” is problematic, as there is disagreement about who is considered inside and outside the socially-constructed category of gender. For example, trans-exclusionary radical feminists assert that trans women have not lived their entire lives as women and therefore have not accessed the “real woman’s” experience (Hay, 2019, April 1). As this study demonstrates, such debates of inclusion persist in several forms throughout the WMW campaign.

3. As WMW became an official organization after the march, the rest of the website supports the organization’s ongoing activities.

4. This information was added after acceptance of the manuscript to preserve blind peer review.

5. Since data collection for this study in 2017, Mallory came under intense scrutiny for posting a picture of and defending her relationship with the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan (2019), Jan. 14). Following increasing calls for changes in leadership (Lang, 2019, Sept. 16), the WMW released a statement Sept. 16, 2019, announcing a major change in leadership (“Women’s March Announces,” 2019, Sept. 16). The release stated that Mallory, Sarsour, and Bland will “transition off of the Women’s March Board and onto other projects focused on advocacy within their respective organizations,” with Carmen Perez-Jordan, an original cochair, continuing to serve as a board member. A board of 16 new members who represent various groups now leads the organization. This turn of events is meaningful as contextualized in the findings of the current analysis, and a cursory reading of the 2019 events suggests the WMW’s change in leadership based on public feedback is consistent with the findings in this current manuscript. The 2019 events also reaffirm our argument that intersectionality should be problematized in communication contexts and digital political organizing.

6. This term was used by Farah Stockman, author of the article, “Women’s March on Washington Opens Contentious Dialogues About Race” in NYTimes.com (2017, Jan. 9).