Feminism. Often stigmatized as being negative. Angry women demanding to be be treated equally as men. When a person, not necessarily a woman, identifies as a feminist it does not mean that they hate men but that they firmly believe that men and women should be offered equal opportunities in all social aspects of life. It is important that the stigma and negative connotation placed on this word, which simply means “fairness”, be removed so that women do not feel as if they have to fight for their placed in society especially in the 21st century. Feminism is a beautiful thing and seeing many women come together is for sure refreshing. For background picture click here.
Activism has been prevalent since the beginning of time but recently new ethods of usage have been born. Social media platforms are recently being used to shine a light on social issues that the world is still encountering in the 21st century. One very common social topic that is being highly spoken about is feminism.
Feminism can be said to be a trending topic across many social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. It is also highly spoken about on personal blogs. In a study conducted by Julianne Guillard who teaches Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Richmond in Virginia, USA it is shown how social media platforms, specifically Tumblr (the one used in her study) allow students and others to become aware of the social issues that surround them.
"Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It's about changing the way the world perceives that strength." —G.D. Anderson
Gender justice and feminism is something that is affecting women all across the country and what Guillard is doing is trying to do is to show how social media promotes awareness and gets conversations going among two individuals or even groups about a specific topic that could be affecting them and/or society. She also brings up the idea that incorporating social media in her curriculum is a great tool to get these conversations going on topics that people may be afraid to speak about. Guillard’s students are required to create Tumblr blogs and so she says “This blog serves not only as an artefact of their real-time learning...but also as a means to search for course-related topics written about by other Tumblr users. Students can search tags (like #YesAllWomen) to locate users who are writing about the things they care about” (Guillard, 2014). This is similar to what happens on Twitter and Instagram where an individual writes about a specific topics and later then discusses it with another individual who may or may not agree with their viewpoint. This allows for awareness to begin on certain issues to potentially to then as a result create a solution for it. Movements like #MeToo or trending hashtag #WhyIDidntReport begin with one person posting their thoughts on a particular topic and someone then replies which eventually creates an ongoing discussion among people. In today’s time, people rather discuss topics behind their screens which is why Guillard says “Furthermore, social justice activism takes place in virtual environments or in places that are not college classrooms or on college campuses” (Guillard, 2014). Although social media sites are increasing, conversations among people is essential because the ability to inform and persuade a crowd, or even just one person, should not lost in the midst of our screens.
In this study, it is evident that social media promotes awareness on social issues that need to be addressed and people may be afraid to speak about or just unsure on how to. Social media definitely makes this easier for people who want to share their thoughts and feelings as well as receive feedback from others.
Technology has certainly taken over and changed the way humans do things. As a result of technology, social media grew and has allowed for serious issues and topics to be discussed and make people aware that these things are actually happening in the world that they live in today.
Guillard, J. (2015). Is feminism trending? Pedagogical approaches to countering (SI)activism. Routledge, 610-624
Caprino, K. (2017). What is feminism, and why do so many women and men hate it? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino /2017/03/08/what-is-feminism-and-why-do-so-many-women-and-men-hate-it/#5ad4816d7e8e