How the #MeToo Movement Has Reshaped Feminist Social Media

Women are underrepresented in media. However, social media is one platform offering extended equality towards women.

“I love the Movement only because it creates a space for women to feel comfortable and not to make them feel like what has happened to them…makes them a victim for life. Because one thing I do believe in is that, it’s not what has happened to you, it’s about how you come back after that,” said Tess Aguiar, Delaware State University’s Women Senate Chapter President.

I spoke with Tess Aguiar, 19 and Jellani Rice, 22 on the movement that gives a platform for women to share their personal experiences. The #MeToo Movement a social media phenomenon giving women from all backgrounds the opportunity to speak out about sexual violence, assault, or harassment. Victims are able to connect with other survivors’ nationwide, regardless of background and power.

Social media has open doors for women’s rights, encouraging women to share their personal experiences increasing unity within the female community. Moira Donegan, the creator of “Media Men List,” wrote how the #MeToo movement has shifted in modern-day feminism, and how it has created solidarity while also boosting individualism and female confidence. Council on Foreign Relations stated,

“The movement is premised on the idea that we all share responsibility for eliminating sexism, striving for a world in which no woman has to claim #MeToo”.

Pew Research Center surveyed adults to determine social media usage in early 2018. In the United States, social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter rank high among youthful age groups between 18-24-year olds. 78% use Snapchat, 71% in this age group use Instagram, and 45% are Twitter users. However, female Twitter users are less likely to be retweeted than male users. According to Adweek, men are retweeted almost twice as often as women (Adweek, 2012). Women are more likely than men to be subjected to cyber abuse on Twitter, according to Amnesty International (Amnesty International, 2018).

Online harassment towards women can target repression. Just like there are public gender barriers such as being topless and braless, there are online barriers as well, according to Council on Foreign Relations. “A study on internet usage and women’s political activism in the Middle East and North Africa found that though social media lowers the cost of participating in political protest for all citizens, a gender gap remains between men and women in participation of who regularly use social media” (Council of Foreign Relations, 2018).

Women’s Senate Vice-President, Jellani Rice stated,

“Anybody can create an account; anybody can be somebody that they’re not. Especially on social media…I feel like that’s what makes it easy enough for people to be malicious, to be mean, [and] to troll. But I feel like when it comes to that people have to have a certain mentality. These people are behind troll accounts and fake accounts dealing with their own emotions. You can’t take whatever their saying to heart especially because it is social media and people put on these fronts, so we don’t know what’s real and fake.”

Tess added, “Especially with the #MeToo movement, a lot of people comment on things they don’t know about. People don’t know what’s right and wrong because people don’t research.”

Amnesty International acknowledges Twitter’s steps to improve women’s experiences on the platform. However, the organizations steps have yet to be sufficient to block violence and abuse against women on Twitter.

What are ways that you can think of to make social media platforms more inclusive towards women?