Written by Noa Fragneau
February 20, 2020
Feminism favors equality between all whether it is social, economic, or political. Issues of equality have changed over time, but the goal always remains the same: to have equality for all rather than for one group to be above another one. The meaning of equality has also changed but it is still something important to fight for. Not for women to be superior, but for all of us to have equal rights and feel safe at all times.
Social media is impacting the feminist movement greatly, and it is a fairly new tool. Facebook launched in 2004, Twitter arrived in 2006, and Instagram only started in 2010. These three major social media sites seemed to create a revolution – no barriers to share whatever you want online to anybody that you know or don’t know. Back then, it was so easy to connect with people, make friends, and have great discussions. I remember creating my own Twitter account in 2011, and I still use it to this day. However, social media can definitely have its bad days, and feminists usually have a hard time on sites when expressing ideas, opinions, and past experiences. It can be very tough, especially on Twitter. It did not use to be like this, but I do have to admit Twitter has become a place where cyberbullying happens to anyone and for absolutely any reason. The jokes can be cruel, and recently there has been a trend where people say they are not having a great time on the app anymore. However, everybody on Twitter can agree that it teaches us a lot regarding talking about global events that big media companies do not cover, but is that enough to stay on the app? Would it be any different if that happened? And most importantly, how is social media impacting feminism and what does it really mean?
Now, I mentioned how positive social media sites can be, especially for feminism. They act as platforms to share views, have discussions, raise awareness, and help educate others who might not know about the importance of certain events. Examples include how big it was for the movie Parasite by Bong Joon-ho to win an Oscar, what it meant for Jalaiah Harmon to create one of the most famous dances on Tik Tok and have it stolen and gentrified by another girl making money, and even about testimonies regarding femicides with police not acting on them. A lot of young people use social media, and it is very important to expose them to different perspectives as well as encourage them to see the world in different lenses rather than only believing what the mainstream news channels say. These different lenses might not even be discussed in schools or in their textbooks which makes it even more important for them to have a place where they can learn more about the world, who inhabits it, what their privileges are, and certain power dynamics.
For those who do share experiences, point of views, and discussions with others online, it is a great way to be empowered and empower others at the same time, allowing people to find their own voice and share it with others. Social media can give you the chance to express yourself which feels very uplifting when those in real life don’t give you the same chance. For instance, women’s bodies are often objectified online, and their pictures are loved as long as the women in them were not the ones who posted them. If they are, though, most often than not they are slut-shamed – some people even find their personal information and message their families the posts with comments along the lines of “are you proud of your daughter?”. A lot of pictures actually end up on porn sites without the women’s knowledge or consent. One’s reputation can be ruined so easily and quickly by someone who does not know them just because of pictures that they would have retweeted, liked, and shared if it had been posted by someone else. What makes it even worse is when girls insult and shame girls who feel comfortable enough to post whatever they want on their own profile. If we are not supporting and praising each other as women, what are we doing?
A good example of all this is Clarisse Luiz, or @_Clarification on the French Twitter. She has been posting a lot of (actually helpful) threads which openly talk about sexual experiences, promoting being shameless, and breaking taboos. Luiz discusses mansplaining, men filming women without their consent or knowledge during sexual intercourse, and even arranges parties every month in Paris. Only women can buy tickets to come and feel safe dancing, dress the way they want, drink without the fear of having it be spiked – and all the money goes to women charities afterwards. She is now a really big account with about 109.7k followers which comes with its perks andits flaws! The company Yahoo noticed how open Luiz was about sex and contacted her to be a part of their new series about first experiences called Premier Acte. She accepted the offer and talked about oral sex, advice she has for those interested in doing it, what she would change regarding her own first experience, and, most importantly, how to be safe doing it. It felt refreshing to know that young women can have opportunities like this in 2020. I was genuinely happy to watch her talk openly about subjects like this one because it used to be very taboo, or at least, fine as long as women were not involved in the discussion. This ended up being true because she got a lot of backlash for what she said.
Nonetheless, opportunities like this one can be so helpful for both men and women as we have a lot to learn from each other. Men actually have a lot of catching up to do to wipe out all the misconceptions regarding women’s bodies, orgasms, consent, and to eliminate slut-shaming. I could not be happier to see the discussion opening up lately and that it is possible to talk more freely and have big corporations like Yahoo create projects like this series.
On the other hand, social media does impact feminism negatively and can be hurtful, with a lot of cyberbullying unpunished, especially by Twitter. At best, the Twitter account will be deleted but not much more is done to prevent anything else from happening again. Feminists on social media are starting to be looked down upon because people don’t think the word ‘feminism’ should be used anymore, as if it encompasses outdated ideas and concepts. Looking back at Clarisse Luiz and her appearance on Yahoo, she immediately received a lot of hate for what she said, and she thought she could brush it off but it was so violent that she deactivated her own Twitter account and even asked Yahoo to delete her videos. Still today, I see comments calling her names when all of this happened a while ago. People don’t want to let go, and it cost her a great opportunity that she said she regretted. I think it is really heartbreaking for this opportunity to be taken away from a strong woman and from viewers who could have benefited from listening to her. Unfortunately, people were not mature enough to listen to a woman talk about sexual intercourse and her own experiences. If it had been a man, compliments would have been handed out about how great this is for everyone, how we should learn from him, how well educated and ahead of his time he is. Why can’t we say the same about women? Why can’t we support them and praise them for being in the center of huge opportunities like this? Why can’t we appreciate women’s voices too?
All in all, we still have a long way to go for equity, acceptance, and open-mindedness but I don’t think switching to another app would change anything. What need to switch is the way people think, how they act, and how they view others. I don’t think people are truly ready for today’s girls and tomorrow’s women, but in the meantime, you can show support to Clarisse through #JeSuisClarisse, as well as to other people by always being kind and thinking about what you’re about to say twice before actually saying it.
Sources:
Premier Acte. Yahoo. https://fr.style.yahoo.com/premier-acte-clarisse-ce-nest-162420966.html.
Image: https://www.olivermunday.com
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