Mapping feminist identities on Instagram: identity markers, profile types, and social logics of digital activism
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Instagram has become a key space for sharing feminist content. This study examines the little-explored construction of feminist identities in the profile section of Instagram accounts, analyzing 630 individual profiles and identifying eleven categories of feminist identity markers. Only one in four profiles explicitly identifies as feminist. Person-centred profiles dominate over project-centred ones, and the expressions of feminism vary with the users’ main activities and political orientations. Our cluster analysis reveals six feminist profile types: mediated, specialized, alternative, intersectional, autonomous and peripheral. These are shaped by the interplay of five social logics: economy of visibility, feminist cultural capital, self-presentation strategies, political positioning, and conflicts over feminism’s political subject. These identities are dynamic and strategic, reflecting negotiations about feminism’s meanings and boundaries. By exploring this diversity, the study shows how feminist identities take shape on Instagram, extending beyond self-labelling and offering new insights into activist and political identities in the digital era.
Source: Feminist Media Studies
Authors: Tiago Joseph, Catherine Bouko
Institution: Ghent University
Language: English
Topic: Gender, Feminism, and Media
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4414928840