TY - JOUR
T1 - New Outlets of Digital Feminist Activism in China: the #SeeFemaleWorkers Campaign
AU - Wang, Yun
AU - Tavmen , Gunes
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024/4/2
Y1 - 2024/4/2
N2 - This article examines the #SeeFemaleWorkers campaign in China, which has been one of the most influential digital feminist movements in recent years despite the patriarchal and repressive political environment in the country. The campaign not only achieved its initial goal of raising the media visibility of female health workers fighting the pandemic, but also drew public attention to the unseen contributions of female workers in all walks of life. By analysing the narrative themes and frequency of the randomly selected original posts, this study identified thematic categories to conceptualise themes of participation. Subsequently, we suggest that the intersectional nature of the campaign was an important factor in its success as it enabled women from different backgrounds to come together and discuss discrimination in the workplace. We also found that the campaign managed to evade misogynistic antagonism by avoiding polarising labels. Finally, we suggest that the reuse of socially established hashtags can be beneficial for conducting follow-up activities and sustaining the influence of the original campaign. However, the study also highlights the potential risks posed by censorship and surveillance in China, which can hinder the development and success of digital feminist activism.
AB - This article examines the #SeeFemaleWorkers campaign in China, which has been one of the most influential digital feminist movements in recent years despite the patriarchal and repressive political environment in the country. The campaign not only achieved its initial goal of raising the media visibility of female health workers fighting the pandemic, but also drew public attention to the unseen contributions of female workers in all walks of life. By analysing the narrative themes and frequency of the randomly selected original posts, this study identified thematic categories to conceptualise themes of participation. Subsequently, we suggest that the intersectional nature of the campaign was an important factor in its success as it enabled women from different backgrounds to come together and discuss discrimination in the workplace. We also found that the campaign managed to evade misogynistic antagonism by avoiding polarising labels. Finally, we suggest that the reuse of socially established hashtags can be beneficial for conducting follow-up activities and sustaining the influence of the original campaign. However, the study also highlights the potential risks posed by censorship and surveillance in China, which can hinder the development and success of digital feminist activism.
KW - Digital feminist activism
KW - China
KW - #SeeFemaleWorkers
KW - social media
KW - hashtag feminism
UR - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/14680777.2024.2334782?needAccess=true
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85190282808&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14680777.2024.2334782
DO - 10.1080/14680777.2024.2334782
M3 - Article
JO - Feminist Media Studies
JF - Feminist Media Studies
ER -
