Millennials and Generation Z: Men’s Perspectives on Hashtag Feminism

Abstract

In contemporary politics, feminist activism is largely conducted through social media and hashtag activism and is often called “hashtag feminism.” The feminist hashtags #MeToo, #HeForShe, and #HowIWillChange are well-known symbols of the modern feminist movement. This interpretive phenomenological study explored how Millennial and Generation Z men perceive the hashtag feminist movement. It also aimed to capture how these men experienced and perceived their masculinity as it related to contemporary gender politics. We conducted interviews with 12 social media-using Millennial and Generation Z men about their experiences of masculinity and hashtag feminism. We found that men’s views on hashtag feminism were contradictory and overlapping, changing in response to different contexts. Additionally, findings indicated that participants did not see hashtag feminism as representative of the feminist movement. Results suggested that features of online activist discourse deterred men from engaging in hashtag feminism.

Nurturing Political Engagement: Political Communication Strategies for Generation Z in the Lead-up to the 2024 Election in West Java

“…In the context of general elections, active and astute participation of Generation Z is essential. (Fauzi et al, 2019) From the previous literature, the aspects explored from Generation Z's potential concerning politics tend to be gender issues (such as (Kosar et al, 2023); (Tun, 2023); (Deckman & McDonald, 2023); (Saltis et al, 2023), exploring Generation Z's preference for politician personalization (Parmelee et al, 2023), Generation Z's political tolerance (McBeth, 2022) and education about political polarization (McBeth et al, 2021). Few focus on effective communication for Generation Z through exploring their political information preferences, which will be useful for strategic efforts for political parties and election organizers to improve their political education and participation.…”