Digital Feminisms (MECM30020)

In today’s digital world, where governance of social media platforms cultivates the manosphere and influences the rise of global anti-feminist sentiment, how do contemporary feminist activists and movements enact solidarity and protest within complex platform ecosystems? How has feminism been visually and theoretically expressed and examined across mainstream mass media and alternative media production?

This subject traces the history of digital feminism, examining emergent feminist media genres and practices across diverse mediums. It considers the role of social media in shaping feminist, postfeminist and anti-feminist ideologies. Through an intersectional approach, students will explore how digital feminist movements across the globe evolved from civil rights movements and historical feminist theoretical advances. Beyond #MeToo, the subject introduces students to feminist online movements that have resisted against gendered surveillance culture, oppression, harassment and violence with a global focus that includes Western, Chinese, Southeast Asian, African and South American digital feminist activism.