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Role of social media feminism

Social media has been a crucial platform where women exercise their rights by discussing and sharing their ideas with other females. There is a new wave on the internet that women are using to advance their feminist ideologies. Women develop collective perspectives on that is essential in reinforcing their ideas. Feminism is regarded as a powerful and positive development since it thrives on the connectivity of social media users all over the world. In this regard, social media is seen as one of the tools that encourage them to form solidarity and experiences in emphasizing their feelings (Heger, & Hoffmann, 2019).  As a result, the use of social media has rapidly and widely spread the ideas shared by feminism. Online campaigns and the hashtags are usually used by feminists to air their grievances across the world. Therefore, this has shed light on the issues that were not being put onto the table by women to discuss the topics which develop the mainstream of media. The kind of information which has relayed on the media has triggered the participation of real-life campaigns.

The use of the hashtag has tremendously, in many cases, has brought changes to the life of feminists since they can express and air to the world their experiences (Heger, & Hoffmann, 2019). In countries where social media under represent women, it is perceived that most women don’t love being on social media as compared to their male counterparts. However, there are still small percentages of women whose presence is still noticeable in online drive campaigns. Gender inequality is often prevalent in offline settings; therefore, online connectivity has a considerable significance to women and their feminist efforts. Furthermore, in some countries like Pakistan, the number of women on the average has a lot of followers on Google ads, and twitter has compared to the number of men (Gallagher, 2011). The empirical evidence above shows that women enjoy life in social media more than their male counterparts.  

In places like the United States, women use social media more often than men in various platforms except for LinkedIn. Also, the usage of Twitter is not very common among women, since most of them are not much in tweeting than men. Most people are base their sharing practices in online campaigns on the hashtags and retweeting of current affairs (Heger & Hoffmann, 2019). According to Twitter handlers, men frequently retweet than their female counterparts. Even though women participate in political and social activism, active social media participation comes with trade offs since women are subjected to cyber abuse on various social media platforms. However, these platforms are where they align the agenda with feminist notions that induce campaign protests. However, social media can also be seen as a tool to lower friction that feminism causes since diverse groups can discuss issues at hand and come up with holistic solutions. Despite the protection and mobilization abilities of social media, a significant number of women are still vulnerable to psychological challenges in case of online harassment. As a result, this has led to target repression, which has caused a lot of gender problems to women on online platforms than when they are in the public domain.

Social media, as the main streamline tool in communication, has massively been used by women in empowerment. It helps women share words of encouragement between themselves in using messaging and sharing functionalities of social media sites. For example, a woman that posts how she is being mistreated by her male counterparts in a career that is supposedly male-dominated can receive messages and replies that can motivate her. Therefore, women have been able to solve their grievances and the challenges they face using these platforms. From an emotional standpoint, social media has created an environment that enables women to share virtual hugs despite fostering relationships that can enable them to meet each other and share their personal experiences even when not on the internet.

The use of social media has created a formidable force that heightened confidence levels and self-efficiencies significantly; therefore, they have been compulsive in fighting against sexism. However, social media cannot replace the usage of live demonstrations and rallies (Duschinsky, 2010). Physical demonstrations assist people in inputting their ideas on feminism since these protests are often organized, and women can use banners to express their feelings. Big protests are an effective means of relaying feminist grievances to a large number of people. Creating public awareness can be a wake-up call to women who are not ready to show up in any rally campaign and advance ideas with others collectively. Besides, public functions allow sharing of opinions on matters that can attract national interest since every individual can participate irrespective of their educational backgrounds, sociology-economic status, race, and religious orientations.

In this regard, not all credit can be given to the effectiveness of social media since entities such as the United Nations (UN) portray enthusiasm and relentlessness in the fight against gender inequality (Duschinsky, 2010). The efforts of the UN are significant since they play an integral role in encouraging women to hold hands and fight for their rights and freedoms. For instance, women are encouraged to take up leadership positions, and that will help them empower others by encouraging them that there is power in togetherness. Women that are in leadership positions can enumerate that the fight against sexism is a collective war, not an individual one.

Moreover, gender discrimination has formed the basis from which women have been able to establish the core for their agitation. It is no brainier that women love social sites, too; therefore, they should not be prevented from using them to air their opinions. Opinions generated in social media can lead to progressive changes since they act as eye-openers to the opposition as well as convincing neutrals to join the bandwagon of enlightenment. In this regard, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. have been among the leading media that have generated massive social awareness on the issue. The United States (U. S.) has the highest number of feminist supporters, and this has been reflected in their progressive political environment that encourages exclusivity and pluralism. As a result, women can share their ideas with the help of one; therefore, building a good rapport that defines the way they interact. Supportive feminist environments have also encouraged women to participate in campaigns of political aspirants that have manifestos that are likely to promote change.  Besides, indirect and direct involvement of women in politics has led to their recognition in the world of lawmaking. Public figures among the female community act as gatekeepers that help fight against discriminatory practices towards women from social media on a higher level.

On the other hand, social media has notable social effects that can create some downsides to the advancement of feminist ideologies. Rampant usage of media has been used as the justification to stop women from airing their ideas on online abuse since authorities can perceive their sentiments as inciting. Law enforcement officers can prevent key figures involved in such online campaigns from accessing social media platforms as part of the disciplinary process.  For instance, women journalists and politicians are key targets since they have so much influence that divides a country based on gender lines. Besides, feminist abusers can use diverse methods and attack and harass these individuals in a bid to defame to discourage their efforts. Apart from the pressures that occur on social media, opinions posted in social media are long-term and usually have permanent impacts regardless of whether they are acknowledged or not. Future generations can use data collected from social media posts and use them as their benchmark to starting new feminist campaigns in the existing social media platforms. Knowledge of continuity has encouraged women to continue advancing their plights in the contemporary world. Conclusively, women need to be firm in advancing their feminist ideologies regardless of the level of resentment they receive from various social quarters. In the end, freedom will give women the power of unity to fight back. As a result, they will be able to overcome mistreatment, cyber bullying, online abuse, and hate speech. Therefore, they be will encourage them to take forward steps in the future as they develop corrective measures to mitigate feminist discrimination not only in social media but also in other platforms.

References

Duschinsky, R. (2010). Feminism, Sexualisation and Social Status. Media International Australia, 135(1), 94–105

Gallagher, M. (2011). Feminism and Social Justice. Media and Social Justice, 131–143.

Heger, K., & Hoffmann, C. P. (2019). Feminism! What Is It Good For? The Role of Feminism and Political Self-Efficacy in Women’s Online Political Participation. Social Science Computer Review,