‘Anne goes rogue for abortion rights!’: Hashtag feminism and the polyphonic nature of activist discourse

Abstract

In the emerging context of hashtag feminism, this article explores the #SupportIslandWomen pro-choice initiative in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. The movement gained visibility by using the altered image of Anne of Green Gables (rogue Anne) on posters and graffiti throughout PEI and on social media. Drawing from organizational discourse theory, we analyse how rogue Anne was invoked by activists who spoke in her name, thus enacting the polyphonic nature of discourse. Our case study was built by performing non-participant observation online and by conducting a search in Canadian blogs and newspapers. First, we detail the discursive practices developed within the #SupportIslandWomen movement and underline their constitutive effects, namely, by focusing on the organizing properties of the hashtag feature. Then, we investigate the benefits and limitations of using rogue Anne as a unifying symbol and reflect on the discursive struggles that led to and were generated by her usurpation.

Feminicidio and #NiUna Menos: An Analysis of Twitter Conversations During the First 3 Years of the Argentinean Movement

“…At this time, the original core group integrated scholars and activists, and worked parallel to an NUM movement, which networked a wide variety of social organizations and local colectivos , so that both content and practices were cross-pollinated. As with other hashtag-driven movements (Kim, 2017; Myles, 2019), in Argentina too, initial debates focused on femicide and VAW, while conversations shifted over time to invoke #NiUnaMenos as “the mother tag” for wider political purposes, such as the state’s responsibility for VAW impunity, legalizing abortion, balancing the gender pay gap, improving conditions of women in prisons, recognizing sex workers, and/or emancipating women from sexual slavery. On the contrary, whereas grassroots feminism intervened in neighborhoods, intellectual production proliferated, and the first “tuitazo” (i.e., mass sending of tweets specifically labeled or with a forceful content) inviting every woman to share (with a tweet, but also on Facebook) her own experiences and motivations to join the movement was called.…”

“…Since then, the hashtag has also framed discussions around issues related to the movement and, in doing so, has affiliated individuals by engaging them in the co-creation of their salience (Xiong et al, 2019). Actually, “hashtag feminism” comes to label and classify content around gender-related topics, thus reifying the movements, mainstreaming feminist discourses, and reshaping the cultural consensus about them (Myles, 2019). And all these features do recur in the NUM, especially if we look at the way it evolves and circulates.…”

Gendered (in)visibility in digital media contexts

“…The feminist perspective on gende red digital visibility is represented by crit ical analyses of postfeminist gendered selfpresentations in social media (Bruce, 2016;Toffoletti & Thorpe, 2018), research analyzing the potential and practice of dig ital feminist activism (ClarkParsons, 2018;Gabriel, 2016;Jackson, 2018;Jackson, Bai ley, & Foucault Welles, 2018;Linabary, Cor ple, & Cooky, 2019;Mendes et al, 2018;Myles, 2019;Pruchniewska, 2019;Turley & Fisher, 2018) and studies uncovering the threats to feminist activism such as on line harassment (Drakett, Rickett, Day, & Milnes, 2018;Massanari, 2017;VeraGray, 2017) and abuse (Eckert, 2018;Mendes, Keller, & Ringrose, 2019;StubbsRichard son, Rader, & Cosby, 2018).…”

“…Women bloggers as being highly ex posed to hate speech and harassment re ported that they have become resistant to a certain degree when dealing with online abuse (Eckert, 2018). Hashtag activism, as enacted by participants in the #MeToo movement, can increase the representa tion of gender issues in social media chan nels (e. g., Myles, 2019). Openness and ac cessibility facilitate the emergence of new discourses on femininity as well as enable women to get into discourse and online spaces previously reserved for men (Bruce, 2016).…”

Wer ist #MeToo? Eine netzwerkanalytische Untersuchung (anti-)feministischen Protests auf Twitter

“…Hashtag-Aktivismus wird in der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung nicht nur als eine Form des digitalen Protests verstanden, ihm wird -je nach Perspektive -eine konstituierende Funktion für Öffentlichkeiten, Gemeinschaften oder Bewegungen zugeschrieben (Myles, 2019). Maireder und Schlögl (2014) untersuchten anhand des Hashtags #aufschrei, wie sich innerhalb weniger Stunden eine "ad hoc"-Öffentlichkeit (vgl.…”