#MeToo; #HimToo: Popular Feminism and Hashtag Activism in the Kavanaugh Hearings

Dejmanee, T; Zaher, Z; Samantha, R; Papa, MJ

#MeToo; #HimToo: Popular Feminism and Hashtag Activism in the Kavanaugh Hearings

Dejmanee, T

Zaher, Z Samantha, R Papa, MJ

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Publisher:: University of Southern California
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: International Journal of Communication, 2020, 14, pp. 18-18
Issue Date:: 2020-07-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Dejmanee, T https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7517-211X
dc.contributor.author	Zaher, Z
dc.contributor.author	Samantha, R
dc.contributor.author	Papa, MJ
dc.date.accessioned	2021-04-26T05:40:31Z
dc.date.available	2021-04-26T05:40:31Z
dc.date.issued	2020-07-01
dc.identifier.citation	International Journal of Communication, 2020, 14, pp. 18-18
dc.identifier.issn	1932-8036
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148382
dc.description.abstract	In this article, we analyze the use of #MeToo and #HimToo in response to the hearings on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. We explore the use of these hashtags within the context of popular feminism and employ a qualitative thematic analysis of a purposeful sample of Tweets that include the hashtags #MeToo (n = 730) and #HimToo (n = 124) collected between September 23 and 27, 2018. We find that four themes are mirrored in both #MeToo and #HimToo tweets: personal experience; identification and disidentification; calls to action; and discursive appropriation. Although the sample size was limited and the relative popularity of these oppositional hashtags must be considered, these findings offer support for Banet-Weiser’s suggestion that popular feminism is structurally mirrored by popular misogyny. Thus, although there is evidence that individuals link their deployment of these two hashtags to explicit political calls to action, we suggest that the ease with which popular feminist discourse can be rhetorically inverted is a limitation of popular feminist hashtag activism.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	University of Southern California
dc.relation.ispartof	International Journal of Communication
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media, 1903 Journalism and Professional Writing, 2001 Communication and Media Studies
dc.title	#MeToo; #HimToo: Popular Feminism and Hashtag Activism in the Kavanaugh Hearings
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	14
utslib.for	1902 Film, Television and Digital Media
utslib.for	1903 Journalism and Professional Writing
utslib.for	2001 Communication and Media Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2021-04-26T05:40:30Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	14

Abstract:

In this article, we analyze the use of #MeToo and #HimToo in response to the hearings on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. We explore the use of these hashtags within the context of popular feminism and employ a qualitative thematic analysis of a purposeful sample of Tweets that include the hashtags #MeToo (n = 730) and #HimToo (n = 124) collected between September 23 and 27, 2018. We find that four themes are mirrored in both #MeToo and #HimToo tweets: personal experience; identification and disidentification; calls to action; and discursive appropriation. Although the sample size was limited and the relative popularity of these oppositional hashtags must be considered, these findings offer support for Banet-Weiser’s suggestion that popular feminism is structurally mirrored by popular misogyny. Thus, although there is evidence that individuals link their deployment of these two hashtags to explicit political calls to action, we suggest that the ease with which popular feminist discourse can be rhetorically inverted is a limitation of popular feminist hashtag activism.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/148382