Networked feminism: counterpublics and the intersectional issues of #MeToo

ABSTRACT

In October 2017, millions of people shared public testimonials of sexual abuse and harassment in an expression of global vulnerability using the hashtag #MeToo. While #MeToo was triggered by Hollywood actress Alyssa Milano, the phrase can be traced back a decade earlier to when African-American activist Tarana Burke said “me too” in a private exchange of solidarity with young black girls who were survivors of sexual assault. This study examines over 200,000 tweets from the first three days of #MeToo to understand how the meaning and narratives of the feminist hashtag were discursively negotiated. Combining social network analysis and discourse analysis, the paper draws attention to the exclusivity of popular and networked feminism and elevates the voices of the multiply marginalised survivors who were erased from the dominant narratives of #MeToo. It is a call to white feminist researchers and activists to be mindful of the voices that are excluded when examining popular feminist actions. The study contributes an understanding of the power dynamics within digital feminist networks that reproduce colonial violence and oppression within mainstream neoliberal feminism and academia, and extends support to the existing research that documents how digital networks do not empower marginalised voices equitably.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminism
• social media
• public sphere
• network analysis
• activism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. See https://ezyinsights.com/metoo-viral-event-2017-1/.

2. Note the data is collected using the Twitter API via Texifter. The Twitter API only provides a snapshot of activity; it does not return all tweets using the hashtag, but it provides enough to construct a large dataset.

3. The label for Tarana Burke has deliberately been enhanced for visibility purposes and does not represent the size of her node within the protest network.

4. McGowan’s silencing of the transwoman initially appears reflective of a trans-exclusionary notion of feminism however after some women in the audience cheered at the removal of the transwoman, McGowan redirected her anger at them shouting “I didn’t agree to your cis fucking world … transwomen are women.”

5. Crucially, Sojourner drew attention to the radically different experiences of black women who had “plowed and planted and endured the ravages of slavery” (Trina Jones and Kimberly Jade Norwood 2016, 2024) yet were denied the right to vote as well as the basic rights of citizenship. The experience of slavery not only differed from white women’s experiences but also opposed the narrative that (white) women were too fragile and delicate to exercise their rights of citizenship. This narrative of white fragility was used to restrict white women from civil society.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Verity Trott

Verity Trott is a Lecturer in Digital Media Research at Monash University. Her published research examines feminist connective actions, indigenous women’s use of social media, everyday political talk online, rape culture in popular media, and online harassment. Her current research explores online cultures of harassment and hegemonic masculinity, and feminism in popular culture. She is part of the Automated Working Society Group at Monash University and engages in research projects that examine the political, cultural and social dimensions of automated culture and digital technologies. E-mail: [email protected]