Digital Feminism: The Role of Social Media in Shaping Feminist Movements in Asian Cultural Contexts
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Digital feminism is an innovative approach to gender equality, and social media has also served as a key tool in the growth of feminist voices and activism. In Asia, a region where patriarchy and cultural conventions have shaped social order to a considerable degree, social media has served as a fertile ground for advocacy and mobilisation. This essay examines how social media is used as both a form of empowerment and conflict, including advocacy on the web, the creation of online communities, and the culturalisation of feminist movements. But it also exposes broader barriers, such as online bullying, the digital divide and state censorship, that prevent digital feminism from developing and becoming more inclusive in Asia. Taking this perspective, the paper examines the activist use of digital technologies to advance feminist values in diverse and politically closed environments. This finding highlights the need for systemic solutions to close digital divides, defend online activists and create inclusive digital communities. It also contributes to the discussion of how technology, culture and feminism go hand in hand and what it means for social media-driven feminist movements in Asia to flourish or fail.
Source: Advances in Humanities Research
Authors: Huaijin Yin, Qiongxian Zhang
Institutions: Beijing City University, Monash University
Language: English
Topic: Gender, Feminism, and Media
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4405208384