Social media has become a tool used everyday almost globally by modern society. Websites such as Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook have changed the way people communicate and interact with one another. People can now communicate world wide and have access to vast amounts of information. Social media has become a tool used to discriminate against other or fight for social justice. Fourth Wave Feminist fight for equality for women, equal pay for equal work, rape, sexual harassment, sexual assault, job equality, Indigenous rights, reproductive health, LGBT rights, ect. Social media and technology are now being used by feminist world wide to generate and share content, resulting in what is known as Fourth Wave Feminism^[1]^[2].

Background

Beyoncé's 'FEMINIST' sign at the 2014 US Video Music Awards ^[3]

Fourth Wave Feminism dates from 2008 to present day. Fourth Wave feminist rely on social media and technology to connect with other feminist world wide allowing a global engagement through blogs and social media campaigns^[2]^[4]. New media platforms such as video essays, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Tumblr have allowed for Fourth Wave Feminist to act against injustice towards women on a global scale through online videos, blogs, petitions, memes and chat groups^[1]^[2]^[4]^[5]^[6]. Fourth Wave Feminist fight for equality of women, equal pay, rape and sexual harassment, job equality, indigenous rights, reproductive health, LGBT rights, ect. Through the use of social media feminism has been able to spread and present its self in more areas. Feminism has now been able to enter popular media through many ways such as memes, forums, hashtags and blogs. An example of feminism in modern media is Beyoncé’s ‘FEMINIST’ sign during the 2014 Television broadcast of the US Video Music Awards^[3]^[6].

Blogs, Hashtags and Movements

Fourth Wave Feminist use new media platforms such as video essays, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Tumblr to start discussions and campaign^[1]^[2]^[5]^[4]^[6]. Movements such as #Metoo, a campaign in support of sexual assault victims, that are now becoming regularly discussed were first started and brought to light by Fourth Wave Feminist through the use of social media^[1]^[6]^[7]. Some Fourth Wave Feminism movements, blogs, memes, hashtags, and discussions include the following:

#BeenRapedNeverReported (Canada)^[6]
#Solidarityisforwhitewomen (US)^[6]
Tumblr blog ‘Feminist Ryan Gosling’^[6]
2012 meme ‘Binders Full of Women’^[6]
The Girlgaze campaign (#Girlgaze)^[4]
#YesAllWomen^[4]
#HobbyLobby^[4]
#AskHerMore^[4]
#NewView^[4]
The Me Too Movement (#MeToo)^[7]
#HeForShe ^[2]
The Everyday Sexism Project also known as #everydaysexism and #shoutingback^[2]
#AskThicke^[2]
#FreeKesha^[2]

Binders Full of Women

Mitt Romney Binders Full of Women meme from the 2012 presidential campaign

The Binders Full of Women meme emerged as a result of a statement made by Mitt Romney in the 2012 American presidential campaign^[6]. Scholars Rentschler and Thrift argue that internet memes such as these are key in the online feminist movement because they allow for networking and awareness through laughter^[6].

Girlgaze

Girlgaze, also know as #girlgaze, was started in 2016 by professional photographer Amanda de Cadenet to promote women in photography^[4]. de Cadenet created the #girlgaze as a gallery as part of the Teen Vogue website, as a place for young girls to post their photography for a possible prize^[4]. The movement has a mass following and is used to address gender equality in the field of photography^[4]. Through #girlgaze girls are connected and empowered throughout the world^[4].

#NewView

Hashtag #NewView is a world wide video project judged by artist, feminist of color, journalists and activists including Jada Pinkett Smith, Shonda Rhimes and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy^[4].

The Me Too Movement

The Hashtag #MeToo of the Me Too sexual assault movement^[7]

The Me Too Movement, more commonly know as #MeToo, was started in 2017 after producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by a number of women in Hollywood. The movement main focus is to provide support for sexual assault victims to let them know they are not alone^[7]. The hashtag MeToo is used by women who have are sharing their experience of sexual assault^[7].

#HeForShe

The hashtag #HeForShe was started by actress Emma Watson. The #HeForShe campaign encourages men to become feminists in the fight for equality for women^[2].

Everyday Sexism Project

The Everyday Sexism Project was found in 2012 in the United Kingdom (U.K.) by Laura Bates. The global project uses the hashtags #everydaysexism and #shoutingback, along with Twitter, to allow feminist to share their experiences of harassment, sexism and misogyny^[2]. The project has generated over 85,000 contributions and has been covered by U.K Televisions programs including BBC news ^[2].

#AskThicke

Originally used by the VH1 music channel hashtag in 2014 as an online Twitter question and answer session between Robin Thicke and his fans, #AskThicke was quickly used by feminist to question and challenge the musician on his lyrics in his song ‘Blurred Lines'^[2]. The feminist claimed the lyrics were misogynistic and had implications of rape^[2]. #AskThicke started to be used as a campaign to speak out against rape in modern culture^[2].

#FreeKesha

After the American singer Kesha filed a lawsuit against her manager for sexual assault and rape, the hashtag #FreeKesha was started by singers to document their experiences and support. After media coverage of the allegations, it allowed for a debate regarding sexual harassment in the workplace to begin^[2].

Summary: The Impact

Due to the availability of social media, Fourth Wave Feminists are able to start political movements faster then before. Due to this when an inequality occurs, feminists are able to address it right away. Because of the movements can occur which are more relevant to the masses,or directed towards individual groups of people. As a result, Intersectionality, a term originally coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw,is becoming less of an issue. The individuals normally effected by Intersectionality now of the opportunity to use social media and new technology as a platform to express and bring justice to inequality effecting them. However, it is not only the average Fourth Wave Feminist starting movements, celebrities such as Beyoncé (as demonstrated above) and Emma Watson are as well. Because of the celebrity involvements, it has encouraged more feminist to contribute and fight for a cause they care about. However, Fourth Wave Feminist and its celebrity involvement has also had a negative impact on how some people view feminist. Due to the memes regarding it, feminism has become a joke to some people. Others view Fourth Wave Feminist as annoying social justice bloggers, who are no better than Internet Trolls. Regardless if either an individual is in support or against Fourth Wave Feminists, the issues being fought by these feminists are being brought to light, and given attention.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Feminisms and social media A special issue of feminism & psychology. (2016). Feminism & Psychology, 26(1), 128-129. doi:10.1177/0959353516631672 .
↑ ^2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 ^2.12 ^2.13 ^2.14 Turley, E., & Fisher, J. (2018). Tweeting back while shouting back: Social media and feminist activism. Feminism & Psychology, 28(1), 128-132. doi:10.1177/0959353517715875.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Al-Shalash, S. (2016). We Can All Be Feminists: Adichie versus Beyoncé. The Politic. Retrieved July 13, 2018, from: http://thepolitic.org/we-can-all-be-feminists-adichie-versus-beyonce/.
↑ ^4.00 ^4.01 ^4.02 ^4.03 ^4.04 ^4.05 ^4.06 ^4.07 ^4.08 ^4.09 ^4.10 ^4.11 ^4.12 Looft, R. (2017). girlgaze: Photography, fourth wave feminism, and social media advocacy. Continuum, 31(6), 892-902. doi:10.1080/10304312.2017.1370539.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Gopal, S. (2018). Feminism and the big picture: Conversations. Cinema Journal, 57(2), 131-136. doi:10.1353/cj.2018.0009 .
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 ^6.5 ^6.6 ^6.7 ^6.8 ^6.9 Rentschler, C. A., & Thrift, S. C. (2015). Doing feminism: Event, archive, techné. Feminist Theory, 16(3), 239-249. doi:10.1177/1464700115604138.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 ^7.4 Otwell, R. (2017, October 18). IL Coalition Against Sexual Assault Commends #MeToo. Retrieved July 13, 2018, from http://nprillinois.org/post/il-coalition-against-sexual-assault-commends-metoo#stream/0.