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Social media is such a powerful tool and when it's used the right way, it can make huge
improvements to social issues. For this paper I really wanted to focus on how social media is
changing the feminist movement by raising new perspectives to it. In 2015, the most powerful
Years ago, those that were trying to bring awareness to sexism had very few avenues to
do so in a public way. Discussion of feminism and the values of feminists were extremely lim-
ited. Before Facebook and Twitter became the most popular platforms for news, feminists would
participate in rallies, even though the rallies were only available to those who were in particular
areas.
Social media came around and has completely transformed the social issue of sexism by
raising new perspectives. Because of social media, this helped turn it into this successful digital
movement. It opened up participation and involvement to anyone with social media platforms,
such as Twitter! Twitter became this outlet where feminists could go to fight the patriarchy.
(msnbc.com) The setbacks due to distance and geography quickly went away and platforms such
as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram allowed feminists to spread their message and stories easier
than ever. These platforms became an outlet for awareness on the many issues feminists feel they
In 2013, a group of women wanted to protest an abortion bill in Texas. A bunch of local
women gathered and rallied together at the Texas State Capitol, and those who could not attend
went online to protest. A hashtag was created #StandWithWendy, supporting Wendy Davis,
State Representative, through her 13-hour filibuster. (mysanantonio.com) When women wanted
to protest sexist t-shirts that a children clothing company created, they flooded their Facebook
page
with hashtags and comments until the company was forced to face the issue, could no longer ig-
nore the reactions and eventually had to get rid of that product. Also, in 2015 women protested
red carpet questions that were asked at Oscar award shows which they felt were superficial ques-
tions by using the hashtag #Askhermore. (time.com) That hashtag trended in the Oscars Acad-
emy Awards, and very popular red carpet reporters even mentioned it on air. Famous celebrities
such as Reese Witherspoon supported the hashtag by turning down sexist questions and bringing
attention to the hashtag during interviews. Reporters started asking celebrities questions that
were provided from people on Twitter, instead of the superficial questions. As the hashtag move-
ment continued and started to get more popular, thousands of women created and spread
This digital movement with feminist activism didn’t just raise awareness, it also created
positive results as well. Companies started becoming more sensitive to these topics after receiv-
ing unhappy tweets from many women. For example, Victoria’s Secret changed their “perfect
body” slogan in one of their advertising campaigns after receiving backlash on Twitter due to
thousands of users expressing that the campaign only featured very thin, mostly white models
and they also argued that this was promoting negative body images (msnbc.com).
In 2012, the #StandWithPP hashtag was created after the Susan G. Komen Foundation
announced it would be withdrawing its funding of Planned Parenthood because the organization
provided abortions. (msnbc.com) Planned Parenthood supporters used the hashtag on Twitter to
state their support of the organization and pressure Komen into changing their decision. Komen
responded within days to the repercussions and completely changed their decision. The hashtags
became a way for women to share their message, bring attention to this social issue and connect
companies and/or politicians into making changes. Because of this movement, many companies
and political leaders monitor social media conversations about themselves through hashtags to
see what people are saying. When the social media chatter about companies or specific political
leaders turns negative, it can quickly turn into a PR crisis which everyone tries to avoid.
Social media has offered so much to this feminist movement by raising awareness around
these issues. The power of a hashtag is not to be taken lightly! With many feminists creating and
sharing hashtags through multiple platforms, many of these issues that women face are being
brought to the surface and being forced to be acknowledged. This digital movement has become
a powerful source for women to feel empowered to stand up and fight back against sexism. I feel
that social media activism will never fully replace the power behind a protest or rallies, but social
media can be a voice to those who are otherwise voiceless. Social media offers a different kind
of power that protests and rallies cannot. People from all over the world can come together and
connect and on the same social issues through social media. These digital movements have be-
come so successful and truly allow the public to look at and talk about issues in a different light.
References:
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-social-media-changing-the-feminist-movement
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/21-hashtags-that-changed-the-way-we-talk-about-femi-
nism_us_56ec0978e4b084c6722000d1
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Thousands-rally-at-Texas-Capitol-
4640320.php
http://time.com/3718008/oscars-2015-askhermore-reese-witherspoon/