Introduction to feminism- Media Magazine MM55: The Fourth Wave?
1) Networked feminism aims to tackle social equality issues found both on, using, modern technology. There have been campaigns, blogs and hashtags used. Ideologies and communities have come back through the roots of the internet. Twitter is a large contributing social networking site used- #WomenAgainstFeminism and #YesAllWomen. It is a problem because there is new technology and social media platforms. In the media feminists are still seen as campaigners, like the Suffragettes, who tied themselves to rails etc. One complication is that it is only partially understood due to ideologies becoming blurred. They are still characterized as 'man-haters'.
2) The Four Waves of Feminism:
3) Summaries:
Everyday Sexism
This project was started by Laura Bates in 2012. The reason she started this was because she experienced upsetting situations which nobody thought of as offensive, whenever she would tell anyone about it she would be shout down as people would say that 'women are equal' but she found a lot of information that contradicted this opinion. She created a website which enabled people from all around the world to post examples of sexism that users faced on a daily basis. She receive 50,000 entries in 13 months. In 2015 it was one of the most high-visibility feminist digital campaigns due to its twitter feeds.
HeForShe
This campaign is run by Emma Watson and focuses on male support for gender inequality, highlighting the fact that feminism is not about promoting matriarchy, but solidarity. Her digital commitment means that you can pledge to help women's issues online. She utilised Twitter for a Q&A session which represented feminism and HeForShe as dynamic and integrated. Many people have criticised HeForShe, saying that it makes feminism too reliant on men, undermining the'strong women' element and relying on the old stereotype of women needed a mans help.
FCKH8
This is one of the most popular digital campaign, and more specifically the 'Potty Mouth Princess' YouTube video went viral. The movement focuses on the modern representation of girls and the huge social inequalities they face, whilst featuring young girls 'F-Bombing' to highlight society's imbalance when it comes to offences. Girls shout-"I'm not some pretty fucking helpless princess in distress...What is more offensive? A little girl saying fuck or the fucking unequal and sexist way society treats girls and women." This video gained 1.6 million views just after 3 months. However, this campaign is used to make profit and the video was to sell t-shirts.
This Girl Can
This is described as the first fitness campaign for women which doesn't shame or exclude them, by sharing photos, videos and quotes of women without the use of sexual exploitation of a women's fitness advert and without body shaming. The online petition of 'Stop Taxing Periods. Period' is a petition for tampons to not to be taxed as they are not a luxury item, but an essential.
4) I believe that feminism is right to a certain extent, this is because I believe that women and men should be treated and respected in the same way, e.g. equal pay, opportunities, jobs etc. However, I don't agree with some radical feministsbecause they are all about 'man-hating' which doesn't resolve the idea of gender equality. I think that new/digital media has helped put forward platforms to raise awareness for feminism and some crucial research. I agree with the idea of being in a fourth wave of feminism, this is because there is an increasing amount of feminist using social media, such as Twitter or Instagram, to get their voices across. For example they use blogs and hashtags, these are new approaches which weren't used before and become increasingly used lately. There are also talks which have gone viral such as the TedEd talk by Laura Bates on 'Everyday Sexism'. There are new websites which people from around the world are able to access and voice their experiences.
2) The Four Waves of Feminism:
- First wave: early 20th century, suffragette movement (right to vote)
- Second wave:1960s-1990s, reproductive rights (pill), abortion, equal pay.
- Third wave:1990s-present, empowerment, reclaiming of femininity (high heels, sexuality etc.)
- Fourth wave?:2010-ongoing, use of new technology and digital media for activism.
3) Summaries:
Everyday Sexism
This project was started by Laura Bates in 2012. The reason she started this was because she experienced upsetting situations which nobody thought of as offensive, whenever she would tell anyone about it she would be shout down as people would say that 'women are equal' but she found a lot of information that contradicted this opinion. She created a website which enabled people from all around the world to post examples of sexism that users faced on a daily basis. She receive 50,000 entries in 13 months. In 2015 it was one of the most high-visibility feminist digital campaigns due to its twitter feeds.
HeForShe
This campaign is run by Emma Watson and focuses on male support for gender inequality, highlighting the fact that feminism is not about promoting matriarchy, but solidarity. Her digital commitment means that you can pledge to help women's issues online. She utilised Twitter for a Q&A session which represented feminism and HeForShe as dynamic and integrated. Many people have criticised HeForShe, saying that it makes feminism too reliant on men, undermining the'strong women' element and relying on the old stereotype of women needed a mans help.
FCKH8
This is one of the most popular digital campaign, and more specifically the 'Potty Mouth Princess' YouTube video went viral. The movement focuses on the modern representation of girls and the huge social inequalities they face, whilst featuring young girls 'F-Bombing' to highlight society's imbalance when it comes to offences. Girls shout-"I'm not some pretty fucking helpless princess in distress...What is more offensive? A little girl saying fuck or the fucking unequal and sexist way society treats girls and women." This video gained 1.6 million views just after 3 months. However, this campaign is used to make profit and the video was to sell t-shirts.
This Girl Can
This is described as the first fitness campaign for women which doesn't shame or exclude them, by sharing photos, videos and quotes of women without the use of sexual exploitation of a women's fitness advert and without body shaming. The online petition of 'Stop Taxing Periods. Period' is a petition for tampons to not to be taxed as they are not a luxury item, but an essential.
4) I believe that feminism is right to a certain extent, this is because I believe that women and men should be treated and respected in the same way, e.g. equal pay, opportunities, jobs etc. However, I don't agree with some radical feministsbecause they are all about 'man-hating' which doesn't resolve the idea of gender equality. I think that new/digital media has helped put forward platforms to raise awareness for feminism and some crucial research. I agree with the idea of being in a fourth wave of feminism, this is because there is an increasing amount of feminist using social media, such as Twitter or Instagram, to get their voices across. For example they use blogs and hashtags, these are new approaches which weren't used before and become increasingly used lately. There are also talks which have gone viral such as the TedEd talk by Laura Bates on 'Everyday Sexism'. There are new websites which people from around the world are able to access and voice their experiences.
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