Showing papers in "Feminist Media Studies in 2016"
TL;DR: The authors argue for the importance of being able to "think together" the rise of popular feminism alongside and in tandem with intensified misogyny and highlight the multiplicity of different feminisms currently circulating in mainstream media culture, which exist in tension with each other.
Abstract: This article contributes to debates about the value and utility of the notion of postfeminism for a seemingly “new” moment marked by a resurgence of interest in feminism in the media and among young women. The paper reviews current understandings of postfeminism and criticisms of the term’s failure to speak to or connect with contemporary feminism. It offers a defence of the continued importance of a critical notion of postfeminism, used as an analytical category to capture a distinctive contradictory-but-patterned sensibility intimately connected to neoliberalism. The paper raises questions about the meaning of the apparent new visibility of feminism and highlights the multiplicity of different feminisms currently circulating in mainstream media culture—which exist in tension with each other. I argue for the importance of being able to “think together” the rise of popular feminism alongside and in tandem with intensified misogyny. I further show how a postfeminist sensibility informs even those m...
479 citations
TL;DR: In Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, Simone Browne re-imagines the theoretical framework undergirding the interdisciplinary field of surveillance studies: "how is the frame necessaril...
Abstract: In Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, Simone Browne re-imagines the theoretical framework undergirding the interdisciplinary field of surveillance studies: “how is the frame necessaril...
441 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigates the renewed feminist politics that emerge from the interface of digital platforms and activism, examining the role of digital media in affecting the particular ways that contemporary feminist protests make meaning and are understood transnationally, nationally, and locally.
Abstract: This article investigates the renewed feminist politics that emerge from the interface of digital platforms and activism today, examining the role of digital media in affecting the particular ways that contemporary feminist protests make meaning and are understood transnationally, nationally, and locally. I consider the political investments of digital feminisms in the context of what Angela McRobbie has termed the “undoing of feminism” in neoliberal societies, where discourses of choice, empowerment, and individualism have made feminism seem both second nature and unnecessary. Within this context, I describe a range of recent feminist protest actions that are in a sense redoing feminism for a neoliberal age. A key component of this redoing is the way recent protest actions play out central tensions within historical and contemporary feminist discourse; crucial here is the interrelationship between body politics experienced locally and feminist actions whose efficacy relies on their translocal and...
271 citations
TL;DR: The hashtag #MasculinitySoFragile was used to illustrate the precariousness of "toxic masculinity", a (heterosexual) mas... as discussed by the authors. But the ostensible purpose of the hashtag was to illustrate how dangerous men are to women.
Abstract: In September 2015, the hashtag #MasculinitySoFragile was trending on Twitter. The ostensible purpose of the hashtag was to illustrate the precariousness of “toxic masculinity,” a (heterosexual) mas...
219 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of #WhyIStayed, which arose in response to a 2014 NFL domestic violence controversy, is used to model the conditions under which activists successfully mobilize online.
Abstract: Hashtag feminism, or feminist activism that unfolds through Twitter hashtags, has become a powerful tactic for fighting gender inequities around the world. Feminist media research, however, has yet to grasp the implications of this new form and social movement research has yet to model the conditions under which activists successfully mobilize online. This article builds on research regarding the potential and limitations of hashtag feminism to consider a question that remains understudied: what is the process through which a feminist hashtag develops into a highly visible protest? Through a case study of #WhyIStayed, which arose in response to a 2014 NFL domestic violence controversy, I frame hashtag feminism as an extension of the movement’s historically rooted discursive tactics. Hashtag feminism’s narrative form implies that the conditions for a successful online feminist protest parallel the elements of an effective dramatic performance. Using data collected from Twitter and news media, I ide...
210 citations
TL;DR: Rentschler as mentioned in this paper argued that social media sites can become both "aggregators of online misogyny" as well as key spaces for feminist education and activism, and they are spaces where "rape cultur...
Abstract: Social media sites, according to Carrie A. Rentschler, can become both “aggregators of online misogyny” as well as key spaces for feminist education and activism. They are spaces where “rape cultur...
113 citations
TL;DR: In 2015, Syrian refugees became increasingly visible to Westerners in both mainstream and social media as more and more refugees arrived in Europe as mentioned in this paper, and Social media are heavily used by Syrians.
Abstract: In 2015 Syrian refugees became increasingly visible to Westerners in both mainstream and social media as more and more refugees arrived in Europe. Social media are heavily used by Syrians themselve...
96 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the role of online feminist protest in the construction of alternative meanings, drawing on theories of the public sphere, and argued that Twitter adopts the function of a simple public, where values and norms are negotiated at an everyday level.
Abstract: Twitter is becoming a discursive but also contested space for articulations of feminist protest. A hashtag that collected experiences with everyday sexism in the German-speaking world was #aufschrei, which became the 2013 hashtag of the year. In exploring the role of online feminist protest in the construction of alternative meanings, this paper draws on theories of the public sphere. Specifically, we build upon a communication studies model that refers to mutually permeating spheres of discourse in three layers, the simple, intermediate, and complex, each of which exhibits its own communication forms and forums. The methodology includes both a quantitative and a qualitative content analysis of #aufschrei tweets and of feminist blogs in order to comprehend argumentation patterns and networking practices. We argue that Twitter adopts the function of a simple public, where values and norms are negotiated at an everyday level. Feminist blogs create an intermediate public, in that they generalize expe...
83 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the ways that social media communities sustained the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, bridging online and offline communities to form a united movement, and analyze how online communities can educate, organize, and mobilize publics.
Abstract: #BringBackOurGirls shows the potential that cyber-communities have for setting the agenda for mainstream media sources around issues that are life-changing for women and girls around the world. The article examines the ways that social media communities sustained the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, bridging online and offline communities to form a united movement. The analysis is contextualized within the online community-organizing framework of Twitter Topic Networks, as theorized in a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center Internet and American Life Project. This essay studies the evolution of #BringBackOurGirls to analyze the ways that online communities can educate, organize, and mobilize publics.
61 citations
TL;DR: The authors conducted the largest survey of female journalists in Australia finding that there was an increased number of respondents who had experienced sexual harassment in their workplaces and found that most downplayed the harassment.
Abstract: Female journalists’ experiences of sexual harassment are barely documented in the literature about Australian news journalism despite evidence of its ongoing prevalence. There have been some stories of harassment detailed in autobiographies by female journalists and the occasional article in the mainstream media about individual incidents, but it wasn’t until 1996 that a union survey provided statistical evidence of an industry-wide problem. That Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance survey found that more than half of the 368 female participants had experienced sexual harassment at work. In 2012, I conducted the largest survey of female journalists in Australia finding that there was an increased number of respondents who had experienced sexual harassment in their workplaces. In a bid to better understand female journalists’ experiences of sexual harassment, this paper analyses written comments made by survey participants in relation to key questions about harassment. It finds that most downplay...
57 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the repeated focus on men and masculinity as "attacked, threatened, under threat, victimised, or demonised" in what is depicted as a sinister new gender order.
Abstract: In the spring of 2013 a British feminist campaign sought to have men’s magazines, such as Zoo, Nuts, and Loaded, removed from the shelves of major retailers, arguing that they are sexist and objectify women. The campaign—known as Lose the Lads’ Mags (LTLM)—received extensive media coverage and was the topic of considerable public debate. Working with a data corpus comprising 5,140 reader comments posted on news websites in response to reporting of LTLM, this paper explores the repeated focus on men and masculinity as “attacked,” “under threat,” “victimised,” or “demonised” in what is depicted as a sinister new gender order. Drawing on a poststructuralist feminist discursive analysis, we show how these broad claims are underpinned by four interpretative repertoires that centre around: (i) gendered double standards; (ii) male (hetero)sexuality under threat; (iii) the war on the “normal bloke”; and (iv) the notion of feminism as unconcerned with equality but rather “out to get men.” This paper contri...
TL;DR: This article examined the relative visibility of women MPs compared to men, the extent to which their voice is heard, and the context of the coverage, and argued that this may contribute to deterring women from taking part in parliamentary politics.
Abstract: This article asks questions about the ways in which female politicians are depicted in press coverage. Previous research has explored the ways in which female politicians are constructed as “other” from the male politician norm, where “men were taken to stand for the whole human population.” Other work has shown that coverage emphasises their appearance or femininity. However, there has been less research on the visibility of women in politics in our media: women not only need to be involved in politics, they need to be seen to be doing political work. Through a content analysis of British press coverage using samples from the last twenty years, we examine the relative visibility of women MPs compared to men, the extent to which their voice is heard, and the context of the coverage. We argue this may well contribute to deterring women from taking part in parliamentary politics.
TL;DR: The year 2015 was a particularly violent one in the United States for Black women as mentioned in this paper, almost two dozen transgender women of color were killed, and a former police officer stood trial for raping 13 Black women while on duty, including a 17-year old who was raped on her mother's porch.
Abstract: The year 2015 ws a particularly violent one in the United States for Black women. Almost two dozen transgender women of color were killed, and a former police officer stood trial for raping 13 Black womenwhile on duty, including a 17-year old who was raped on her mother's porch. Top national newspapers and online news media outlets didn't publish many stories about the 13 women in Oklahoma City nor was the topic of transgender women's murders covered. These sstories of brutality had the perfect elements to become national stories. The violence was extreme. The victimization of vulnerable groups was apparent. There were multiple victims. But the women who suffered violence in therse instances were not perceived as legitmate victims. They were Black women who were outside the white norm, so their stories remained mostly invisible in the mainstream media. Language: en
TL;DR: With the rise of digital media, the autonomist Marxist concept of immaterial labor has been widely used to describe how quotidian online interactions generate cultural and economic value (Tiziana T... as discussed by the authors ).
Abstract: With the rise of digital media, the autonomist Marxist concept of immaterial labor has been widely used to describe how quotidian online interactions generate cultural and economic value (Tiziana T...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight two main and interrelated thematic strands: feminist activism under or in neoliberalism and the complexities of negotiating questions of race and difference between women in feminist activisms in the highly visually determined digital age.
Abstract: This Introduction provides the context for the articles in this special issue and identifies a set of reoccurring themes. After offering some historical background on the developments of feminist activism and feminist movements in the German context, the editors particularly highlight two main and interrelated thematic strands: feminist activism under or in neoliberalism and the complexities of negotiating questions of race and difference between women in feminist activisms in the highly visually determined digital age. Reflecting on the arguments in the different contributions in this volume, this Introduction seeks to suggest ways in which the ambivalent messages that digital feminist activisms create in the contemporary political moment become politically productive.
TL;DR: Humanitarians of Tinder as discussed by the authors are a subgroup of Tinder users who have chosen to present images of themselves in humanitarian or volunteer settings outside of the West (or Global North, developed world).
Abstract: In March 2014, at the height of the popularity of the hook-up application Tinder, The Guardian published the “Seven Shades of Cliche” of user profiles claiming that Humanitarians of Tinder are the “creepiest ticket yet to laidsville.” Humanitarians of Tinder are Tinder users (a hook-up application) who have selected to present images of themselves in humanitarian or volunteer settings outside of the West (or Global North, developed world). With a Tumblr devoted to this subgroup of Tinder users, and mainstream media outlets including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Yahoo News, and the feminist blog Jezebel following this story, Humanitarians of Tinder evoke dialogue about the intersections of sexiness and racialized benevolence. This article takes seriously Humanitarians of Tinder to think through the connections between social media hook-ups, racial affect, feminist studies humanitarianism, and racisms in development. It asks: why do people use humanitarian photos to genera...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the findings of an empirical, qualitative and quantitative study of teenage girls' experiences and understandings of online friendship, conflict, and bullying in an Irish, single-sex secondary school.
Abstract: In recent years, there have been growing concerns worldwide about young people’s safety online, much of which focuses on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Moral panics about sexting and cyberbullying have constructed public discourses about social media as dangerous to adolescents’ safety and relationships. In the academic literature, there are conflicting perspectives on the nature of online relationships, behaviour, and risks, and on the causes and nature of cyberbullying. Less attention is paid—in both public and academic debates—to the role played by gender in online aggression, in spite of the fact that existing scholarship demonstrates that it is an important factor in the dynamics of young people’s online friendships and conflicts. This article presents the findings of an empirical, qualitative and quantitative study of teenage girls’ experiences and understandings of online friendship, conflict, and bullying in an Irish, single-sex secondary school. Questionnaires (n=116),...
TL;DR: Keller as discussed by the authors sets the tone for her book in two quotations on feminist blogging presented at the beginning of her introductory chapter: one from Emily Nussbaum, the popular New Yorker journalist.
Abstract: Jessalynn Keller sets the tone for her book in two quotations on feminist blogging presented at the beginning of her introductory chapter: one from Emily Nussbaum, the popular New Yorker journalist...
TL;DR: In the last decade, India's position as a global information economy has aided its status as the poster child for Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) initiatives in the world.
Abstract: In the last decade, India’s position as a global information economy has aided its status as the poster child for Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) initiatives in th...
TL;DR: In 2011, an African-American transgender woman, CeCe McDonald, was charged with murder for killing her attacker during a racist and transphobic assault in Minneapolis as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In 2011 CeCe McDonald, an African-American transgender woman, was charged with murder for killing her attacker during a racist and transphobic assault in Minneapolis. After McDonald’s arrest, local queer communities organized an astounding level of support. This article examines the CeCe Support Committee as a case study for effective grassroots organizing that is fueled by and increasingly reliant upon social media for advancing social justice. An ethnographic approach reveals how the success of the Committee’s social media activism largely depended on traditional activist strategies. Because the group’s activism was based on unpaid labor and supported by numerous physical protests, the use of social media platforms enabled the Support Committee to challenge news media’s racialized framing of McDonald’s gender non-conformity as deceiving and threatening and exposed the state-sanctioned violence enacted against her. Therefore, I contend that the transformative political potential of social media a...
TL;DR: From the “Leading Ladies” advertising campaign for UK high-street stalwart Marks and Spencer, to Charlotte Rampling becoming the face of NARS cosmetics at sixty-eight in 2014, and the delight that meets select older women stars such as Helen Mirren on the red carpet in the women's magazine market, it appears that the fashion, beauty and celebrity industries of late have opened their arms to embrace stylish “women of a certain age” to an unprecedented degree as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: From the “Leading Ladies” advertising campaign for UK high-street stalwart Marks and Spencer, to Charlotte Rampling becoming the face of NARS cosmetics at sixty-eight in 2014, and the delight that meets select older women stars such as Helen Mirren on the red carpet in the women’s magazine market, it appears that the fashion, beauty and celebrity industries of late have opened their arms to embrace stylish “women of a certain age” to an unprecedented degree. This article scrutinises the reception and complexities that lie at the core of this seeming cultural shift which, at first glance, might be positively construed to demonstrate that at last the disenfranchisement and invisibility endured by older women in these industries—which are central to upholding wider social hierarchies about which women “matter”—have been dented. Examining recent documentaries and advertising campaigns, I ask: what is at stake in the decision to co-opt “old women” into the (young) marketplace of style and fashion, and ...
TL;DR: In this article, a typology of digital feminisms with varying degrees of digital-material entanglements is presented, and two relatively recent examples of digital feminist activisms are analyzed, and the interplay of materialities within them are suggested.
Abstract: This article delivers a snapshot of what digital feminisms can mean today. It argues that a commonality of current digital feminisms is a stance against digital dualism and that it is digital–material assemblages that shape certain forms of digital feminisms. In particular, two relatively recent examples of digital feminist activisms are analyzed, and I suggest ways of understanding the interplay of materialities within them: Germany’s Twitter campaign #aufschrei and the German anti-trolling website hatr.org. Finally, I suggest a typology of digital feminisms with varying degrees of digital–material entanglements.
TL;DR: This paper examined the feminist response to a 2013 online "feud" between singers Miley Cyrus and Sinead O'Connor that began when Cyrus connected the video for her single "Wrecking Ball" to O’Connor's video for "Nothing Compares 2 U.S.A." and the exchanges that followed sparked debate among feminists over the limits of sexual agency and the sexual politics of feminism.
Abstract: This article examines the feminist response to a 2013 online “feud” between singers Miley Cyrus and Sinead O’Connor that began when Cyrus connected the video for her single “Wrecking Ball” to O’Connor’s video for “Nothing Compares 2 U.” O’Connor’s response criticised Cyrus’ sexualised image, and the exchanges that followed sparked debate among feminists over the limits of sexual “agency,” and the sexual politics of feminism. This took place within a wider media context that has seen an apparent increase in female celebrities explicitly identifying themselves as feminist. Critics of this “celebrity feminism” argue that the sexualised star systems of its proponents are at odds with the aims of feminist politics. This article draws on post-structuralist feminist theory to question the positioning of celebrity feminism as exterior to an imagined “feminist movement.” Using the Cyrus/O’Connor feud, I argue that such a binary potentially reaffirms the structures of power that feminism seeks to oppose, an...
TL;DR: The authors places Bring Back Our Girls, the recent campaign to locate and return 276 abducted Nigerian students, in the context of this troubled history, revealing the imbrication of the international campaign in existing power relations, and challenging the assertion that digital campaigns are technologically determined or outside history.
Abstract: Racist and imperialist narratives have long underpinned White and “Northern”/“Western” feminists’ representations of people of color and of Africans. Through textual analysis, this essay places Bring Back Our Girls—the recent campaign to locate and return 276 abducted Nigerian students—in the context of this troubled history. Within the Global North, both the appropriation and abandonment of Bring Back Our Girls fundamentally relied upon a conceptual framework rooted in imperialist and racist histories. By revealing the imbrication of the international campaign in existing power relations, this project challenges the assertion that digital campaigns are technologically determined or “outside” history.
TL;DR: This article analyzed how thirty women's jockographies published since 1992 rhetorically construct female athletic identity and sports practice, and found that most athletes, regardless of their sport or racial or class background, constitute their identities and participation in ways that reinforce post-feminist notions of upward mobility and heterosexual femininity while failing to confront inequalities affecting women in sport.
Abstract: While research consistently shows news media’s devaluation of female athletes, “the jockography,” or sports autobiography, is one form of widely-consumed media through which female athletes can construct their own representation. However, there has been little consideration of the genre. This essay addresses this gap by analyzing how thirty women’s jockographies published since 1992 rhetorically construct female athletic identity and sports practice. It finds that most athletes, regardless of their sport or racial or class background, constitute their identities and participation in ways that reinforce post-feminist notions of upward mobility and heterosexual femininity while failing to confront inequalities affecting women in sport. Nevertheless, a few recent jockographies challenge normalizing discourses, asking readers to recognize differences between women and confront inequities shaping their athletic experiences.
TL;DR: This paper developed a theory of meaning-making in court reporting to show how media coverage of high-profile sexual assault trials poses complex ethical questions, including reinforcing myths and stereotypes about rape, such as relating to mental illness and DNA evidence.
Abstract: Court reporting is rarely discussed in journalism ethics, as it seems to be widely viewed as a straightforward task. However, this article develops a theory of meaning-making in court reporting to show how media coverage of high-profile sexual assault trials poses complex ethical questions. Positioning court reporting as a “hybrid” genre between legal narrative and news reporting, I show how genre conventions grant particular kinds of significance to events and speech acts. Subtle discursive and narrative strategies privilege either the prosecution or defence’s narrative, portraying the defendant or complainant as “guilty” even without overt sensationalising or vilification. Using the trial of Australian footballer Brett Stewart as a case study, I show how even reporting that meets current ethical standards can be ethically questionable, including reinforcing myths and stereotypes about rape—such as relating to mental illness and DNA evidence. I suggest that another, feminist approach to journalis...
TL;DR: This paper found that White women are hypervisible as victims while Black women as victims are relatively invisible compared to Black men's persecution and Black children's victimization; men's magazines deny the importance of sexual violence as a problem, focusing on false accusations and conv...
Abstract: Prior research on media representations of race, gender, and sexual violence has established that media emphasize women’s role in preventing their own victimization and omit Black women as victims. This study uses feminist intersectionality to build on prior research by investigating not only how social groups are portrayed, but whether and how the intended audience matters for media representations. Specifically, who are the portrayed victims of sexual violence, and how is fear of sexual violence communicated to different audiences? Content analysis of articles in race- and gender-specific magazines shows two key mechanisms of representation through which racism and sexism work together: visibility and denial. Results show that White women are hypervisible as victims while Black women as victims are relatively invisible compared to Black men’s persecution and Black children’s victimization; men’s magazines deny the importance of sexual violence as a problem, focusing on false accusations and conv...
TL;DR: This article explored both diachronic and synchronic understandings of generation, emphasizing the use of conjunctural analysis to excavate the specific historical conditions that impact upon and create generation.
Abstract: Feminism and generation are live and ideologically freighted issues that are subject to a substantial amount of media engagement. The figure of the millennial and the baby boomer, for example, regularly circulate in mainstream media, often accompanied by hyperbolic and vitriolic discourses and affects of intergenerational feminist conflict. In addition, theories of feminist generation and waves have been and continue to be extensively critiqued within feminist theory. Given the compelling criticisms directed at these categories, we ask: why bother examining and foregrounding issues of generation, intergeneration, and transgeneration in feminist media studies? Whilst remaining sceptical of linearity and familial metaphors and of repeating reductive, heteronormative, and racist versions of feminist movements, we believe that the concept of generation does have critical purchase for feminist media scholars. Indeed, precisely because of the problematic ways that is it used, and the prevalence of it as a volatile, yet only too palpable, organizing category, generation is both in need of continual critical analysis, and is an important tool to be used—with care and nuance—when examining the multiple routes through which power functions in order to marginalize, reward, and oppress. Exploring both diachronic and synchronic understandings of generation, this article emphasizes the use of conjunctural analysis to excavate the specific historical conditions that impact upon and create generation. This special issue of Feminist Media Studies covers a range of media forms—film, games, digital media, television, print media, as well as practices of media production, intervention, and representation. The articles also explore how figures at particular lifestages—particularly the girl and the aging woman—are constructed relationally, and circulate, within media, with particular attention to sexuality. Throughout the issue there is an emphasis on exploring the ways in which the category of generation is mobilized in order to gloss sexism, racism, ageism, class oppression, and the effects of neoliberalism.
TL;DR: Workplace technologies are often met with resistance from workers, particularly to the degree that they challenge traditional workplace norms and practices as discussed by the authors, and these conflicts may be made all the more...
Abstract: New workplace technologies are often met with resistance from workers, particularly to the degree that they challenge traditional workplace norms and practices. These conflicts may be all the more ...
TL;DR: The intersections of gender, age, and sexuality can reveal deep-rooted cultural anxieties about older women and sexuality as mentioned in this paper, and images of lesbian ageing are of particular interest in term...
Abstract: Representations of intersections of gender, age, and sexuality can reveal deep-rooted cultural anxieties about older women and sexuality. Images of lesbian ageing are of particular interest in term...