“WHO RUN THE WORLD, GIRLS” (NOT)

But is social media changing this?

Women have been victims of discrimination and haven’t had their voices heard throughout history. We will look at this through the lens of politics and social media.

Throughout this blog we’ll see how social media helps women make a stand, especially regarding politics. We will also form commentary on how some women are excluded.

The under representation of women is evident in many areas of politics, for example, women are underrepresented in parliament. Since women were able to stand for parliament in 1918, only 451 have been elected. This inequality is seen in the graph below from the Centre for Women and Democracy (2015).

However! Hope isn’t lost. In 1979 Margaret Thatcher came to power, one of just 19 women MPs. By 2015 there were 191 (Centre for Women and Democracy, 2015). Whilst women are still underrepresented change is happening, demonstrated by the graph.

Despite the success of women in parliament,  not all women are receiving equal privilege. 90% of MPs elected in 2019 were white. Female MPs who are from BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) groups experience discrimination and under representation in parliament from two angles (BBC, 2019). MP Ms Ribeiro-Addy spoke on this saying:

“We are not given the same respect as our white counterparts and that’s not right.” (BBC, 2020)

One of the biggest changes for women was because of 1970s feminists who attempted to put women’s issues at the forefront of politics – making the personal political (Hall, 2020). Some argued that women who exist on intersections were excluded. The voices of white, middle class women were heard. This idea of feminism working on intersections like race, disability and religion is illustrated in this cartoon I love.

(Tyler Feder, 2014)

bell hooks, (who chooses not to capitalise) brought attention to this. She speaks of how feminism didn’t encompass issues of race, nor were white feminists inclusive of feminists who spoke on intersections (hooks,1981).

But how does social media impact this? Women worldwide are using social media to have a voice and to take control.

Here are three reasons I believe women turned to social media to have their voices heard:

• It’s a safe space
• It’s a last resort
• They’re following a trend

Let me know if you think of other reasons in the comments!

Social media acts as a platform to enact change. Campaigns aiming to raise awareness and increase the numbers of women in politics are popular, because social media allows women to push their own policies and ideas (Larabee, 2018) However, it can be a place for verbal harassment and abuse, particularly regarding race and gender (Poland, 2018). This does lead us to question whether social media should be more closely regulated. What do you think?

To give one example of this girl power we turn to the famous #MeToo movement! This movement was powerful and inspiring for women. The movement gained traction on social media after white actress Alyssa Milano asked users to respond to her tweet with #MeToo if they’d experienced sexual harassment or assault. This spiralled into a global campaign, on almost all social media platforms, raising awareness (Onwuachi-Willig, 2018). It was powerful, impactful and positive.

This movement receives the same critique that second wave feminists faced, which is disheartening regarding progress. The #MeToo movement is argued to be inherently racist. It was conceptualised and initiated by Tarana Burke, an African American woman ten years earlier (Onwuachi-Willig, 2018). Yet, it only gained attention when tweeted by a white celebrity. Here we see how social media causes only a small minority to be heard. Not all women feel the positive effects of social media.

The video below is of Tarana Burke, talking about the beginning of Me Too, where it came from, and how the aims are to promote healing, and end sexual violence. While social media in some ways excluded her and her initial contribution to the Me Too movement, it has also given her voice back to talk about her intentions.

(Me Too, 2018)

The #MeToo movement utilised social media allowing for change that wasn’t happening in law and built a community.

Feminists use social media to respond to women’s issues,  and to hold people accountable, when mainstream media, police and schools don’t (Rentschler, 2014). This makes it a key tool for women to be heard in politics, but we do need to understand the ways in which social media can be another means of discrimination. I think there are a couple of ways we can make a difference. Initially awareness is important, be it in schools, or everyday conversations, spreading awareness of issues regarding lack of representation is key. Then people can make active choices to ensure all people are heard and represented.

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After this series of three blogs I think politics is far from equal, however, social media in many ways allows for class, gender, and age inequalities in politics to be discussed and tackled. Social media allows people who may not have the chance to have their voice heard to speak out and impact politics. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to make politics and social media equal!

 

Bibliography

BBC (2019) Election 2019: Britain’s most diverse Parliament. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50808536 (Accessed: 24/05/2020)

BBC (2020) Caption mix-ups ‘show lack of respect’ for black MPs. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51374401 (Accessed: 25/05/2020)

Centre for Women and Democracy (2015)Sex and Power. Available at: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/sex-and-power-who-runs-britain-2015 (Accessed: 23/05/2020

Hall, S.M., (2020) The personal is political: Feminist geographies of/in austerity. Geoforum, 110, pp.242-251. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.010

hooks, b. (1981), Ain’t I a woman, London: Pluto Press

Larabee, A., (2018) Celebrity, politics, and the “me, too” moment. The Journal of Popular Culture, 51(1), pp.7-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12650

Me Too Movement, (2018), This Is the ‘me too.’ Movement, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF55ItXWjck (Accessed: 25/05/2020)

Onwuachi-Willig, A., (2018). What about# UsToo: The invisibility of race in the# MeToo movement. Yale Law Journal Forum, 128, p.105-120. 

Poland, B., (2016). Haters: Harassment, abuse, and violence online. United States of America: University of Nebraska Press Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ywcXDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Poland,+B.,+2016.%C2%A0Haters:+Harassment,+abuse,+and+violence+online.+U+of+Nebraska+Press.&ots=Cj7U2zK1rs&sig=H8JMyqdKkVHjraqkgqaAj6xUu6o&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Poland%2C%20B.%2C%202016.%C2%A0Haters%3A%20Harassment%2C%20abuse%2C%20and%20violence%20online.%20U%20of%20Nebraska%20Press.&f=false (Accessed: 26/05/2020)

Rentschler, C.A., 2014. Rape culture and the feminist politics of social media. Girlhood studies, 7(1), pp.65-82. doi: https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2014.070106

Tyler Feder (2014), We Can Do It. Available at: https://othersociologist.com/2014/01/18/sociology-of-public-science/  (Accessed: 26/05/2017)