The Beginner's Guide to Feminist New Media

Page 1


The Beginner’s Guide to Feminist New Media: 30 Alternative Initiatives to Make You Excited about Feminism Authors: Afra Suci Ramadhon & Radina Teodosieva Editor: Radina Teodosieva Layout: Afra Suci Ramadhon Font: Economica Nunito Open Sans Self-published, Amsterdam 2016 Published as part of the final project for the course Radical Publishing at the University of Amsterdam.

Special thanks to: Stefania Milan as the lecturer of the course, all students in the Radical Publishing Class & all friends who contributed to the guide.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

“We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.” - Ursula K. Le Guin (Fantasy and Science Fiction writer)


Table of Contents I. What is this guide about and how to use it? 4 II. What does feminism mean to me? 5 III. Prologue 6 IV. Profiles 1. Websites of Organizations Chouf Minorities 10 Uprising of Women in The Arab World 11 Samsara News 12 Linea Aborto Libre 13 Fembot collective 14 Pinkstinks 15 2. Web-based Platforms The Wide Margin 17 The Adventures of Cosmic Yoruba and Her Flying Machines Too 18 5 Harfliler 19 Mujeres en Red 20 Information Portal of female liberation movements 21 The Everyday Sexism Project 22 Feminist Fiction 23 The Coalition 24 Bitchtopia 25 Codziennik Feministyczny 26 3. News Websites Akhbarek Her Zimbabwe

28 29

4. Blogs Blank Noise 31 Sad Asian Girls Club 32 Feminist Disney 33 Girls Get busy 34 All Male Panels 35 5. Video/Audio Channels Marina Shut Up 37 Call Your Girlfriend 38 6. Social Media Communities Equality FemSolution KazFem

40 41 42

7. Mobile Application HOLLA ON THE GO

44

V. Epilogue 45 VI. About the Authors 46


What is this guide about and how to use it? Dear reader, This is the Beginner’s Guide to Feminist New Media. Its objective is to make you excited about feminism, new media and their intersection. The guide contains 30 alternative initiatives, which advocate equality and women’s rights. We actually asked our friends and colleagues to help us compile the cases (crowdsourcing). After collecting more than 40 contributions, we had to select only 30 of them. We excluded established and well-financed initiatives or cases, launched by famous public figures. There are video channels, podcasts, blogs and social media groups to show the range of new media. In addition, the guide is ordered according to the main medium, which the initiative uses. The new media cases discuss both feminist theoretical framework and popular culture. They are reporting on variety of issues - sexual harassment, gender-based violence, discrimination, activism, sexism, abortion and reproductive rights. So there is something for everybody. If you are interested to learn more about feminist new media, just keep calm and continue reading. We equipped this book with clickable icons on every profile, so you can visit the initiative’s website and social media pages right away. The guide begins with our perspective on what feminism means. Because of our different backgrounds, our perspectives on being a woman are distinct. Then in the prologue section we present a comprehensive look at feminist theory, new and alternative media in a QA (question and answer) form. The next section is dedicated to the profiles of the 30 initiatives. It is ordered according to the main medium, which the initiative uses. We offer you a short description of the initiatives with the region and language, which the case represents. You can see the social media accounts and its main online platform. In the epilogue, we share what we found out about feminist new media and encourage you to explore on your own. So let’s start reading! 4


What does feminism mean to me? Afra I remember the moment in elementary school when I encountered a book with collection of letters, written by an Indonesian national heroine named Kartini. She was a Javanese aristocrat who wrote letters about her liberal and feminist ideas to her Dutch peers in the period 1900-1904. She was a strong advocate for equal access to education for women in the colonial era. The book was probably the first feminist publication, which I read intensively. I gained an understanding of the women’s multilayered oppression and struggle in the context of the Javanese society under Dutch colonial government in Indonesia. Kartini also underlined the importance of writing as a medium to express female voices. I saw feminism as a way of thinking that not only liberates women but also humankind from any form of oppression. Feminism speaks on behalf of women and other subordinated group, demanding equal rights and justice. It strives for personal and political autonomy. That is why feminist struggles often come from personal experience of women’s second class position in the society. Being feminist means breaking all of disempowered women’s myth, resisting all forms of violence, and giving voice to minorities. Understanding feminism does not come from a singular point of view, it manifests in plural perspectives depending on a particular oppression in a specific context. This is the reason why writing and other forms of women’s expression are important to disclose oppressions. I believe that feminism is about sharing stories, supporting each other and building a new history.

Radina I haven’t read much about feminism. To me is more about feeling and experiencing it. Born a few years after the democratic change in Bulgaria, I have been taught how a girl should be - tidy, polite and modest homemaker, who cooks and serves first her father and then her husband. And my experience is a proof of that Eastern European female concept. On family gatherings, instead of asking me, aunts ask my mother if I have a boyfriend, secretly wondering when I will get married. Furthermore, pursuing higher education seems unreasonable to my grandparents. A fact is that in Bulgarian universities there are still admission quotаs based on gender - the state needs more female doctors and more male IT specialists. Once I was part of a team with three girls and one boy. We were competing in a national physics tournament. We were simultaneously patronized and praised, because we were girls who were interested in physics and even dedicating part of their time on experimenting in a dark laboratory in the basement of our high school. Of course, the boy was teased for being part of a girls’ group. To me, that is inequality. Being a girl or a woman does not mean one thing, it is not a label which you can comprehend immediately. It is a personal experience and it is different for everybody. I refuse to be conformed to a gender role, which was created to oppress women and now is used to make profit. I believe in equality and rights for everybody, in inclusive society, where different people are welcome with open arms. That is why I am a feminist and I will never deny that.

5


Prologue Feminism is known as a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, advocate and ultimately achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality for women (Beasley, 3)*. Thus, being a feminist basically means that one supports and advocate for the equality for women. The feminist movement has been developing for decades and taken place in many parts of the world. Oppression in different context shapes feminist struggle globally. That’s the beauty of feminism, it does not only stand for a certain class, religion, ethnicity or culture - it is inclusive. At its core, feminism speaks for humanity and justice. Promoting equal access to education, eliminating violence against women or fighting against discrimination, feminism is one of the strongest forces in achieving social change. What is Feminist Media? From the beginning, the feminist movement has established a strong tradition to use media as one of its tactics. Feminism utilizes media to influence news agenda and the social discourse. It can be achieved by involving mainstream media or even more interestingly, by initiating alternative media. The establishing of feminist media is mostly enabled and facilitated by other causes surrounding it, such as suffrage, equal pay, violence against women, sexual diversity, body image, abortion, etc. Linda Steiner describes feminist media as media that “consistently advocate expansive political, social, and cultural roles for women and expose gender oppression”. So, any media that conveys women’s issues and supports the idea of feminism can be identified as feminist media. In this book, there are plenty of feminist issues that the listed media initiative address at the heart of the their message. What is Alternative New Media? The term “new media” represents a combination of material artefacts, people’s practices and social arrangements involved in human communication (Lievrouw, 7)**. There are several characteristics that differentiate new media from other forms of media. New media demonstrates a hybridity of communication process, combining previous technologies with innovations. It also connects people and devices around the world and generates networks. New media can be found everywhere and be adopted by most people. Moreover, what makes new media special is its interactivity, allowing direct interplay between the creator and the audience. In general, a lot of topics that are not part of the mainstream conversation can be considered as “alternative”. Here, alternative implies an attempt to challenge or alter dominant, expected, or accepted ways of society, culture, & politics (Lievrouw, 19). Alternative can be recognized through several approaches. Content wise, alternative can be understood as giving voice to opinions and covering stories that may not be reported by mainstream media. From the media production and consumption side, alternative media can be perceived as means to empower a community through active participation.

* Beasley, Chris. “What is Feminism Anyway?: Understanding Contemporary Feminist Thought.” (1999). ** Lievrouw, Leah. Alternative and activist new media. Polity, 2011.

6


Prologue According to Leah Lievrouw, an information studies scholar, there are five genres of alternative and activist new media: culture jamming, alternative computing, participatory journalism, mediated mobilization and commons knowledge (23)*. The genres are not rigid and are mixed to create exciting new media initiatives. These five genres include: - Culture jamming artistically articulates a cultural criticism of popular or mainstream culture, which represents the dominant ideology of capitalism or in the feminist context, patriarchy. (e.g. logo mockery, satire humor, advertisement parody) - Alternative computing is performed through computational disruptions. (e.g. Hacking with an ethical commitment to expose corporate crime or promoting free and open source software to challenge the proprietary software) - Participatory journalism is performed by web-based tools and services that encourage open participation for the readers and fill in the gaps in mainstream media and information. (e.g. crowdsource news website) - Mediated mobilization makes use of digital media tools to mobilize people to participate in collective action. (e.g. online petition, Facebook’s page cause, twitter hashtag). - Commons knowledge engages with a variety of knowledge and is interested in how the inf≠ormation is organized, evaluated and presented (e.g. Wikipedia). Why Alternative Feminist New Media? The feminist movement benefits from the Internet through the many advantages of new media. One positive development is that the networked structure of new media allows cross-border communication and information distribution. Another advantage is using the interactive characteristic of new media to build an instant relationship within the feminist community and between different discourses and stories. New media has given a capacity for everyone to create their own medium and a facility to express genuine voices. New media expands the opportunity for feminist movement to activate network of fellow feminists around the world and to influence younger audience with more creative interventions. But somehow, there is still misconception and unfavorable image of feminism. And this misunderstanding of feminism is often supported by mainstream media. Therefore, the existence of alternative feminist new media remains vital in this context. Bold and innovative attempts to challenge the domination of male centric media and culture need to be appreciated. The alternative initiatives will inspire more people to explore feminism and to contribute to the movement. We made this guide, because we believe that courage is contagious.

* Lievrouw, Leah. Alternative and activist new media. Polity, 2011.

7


We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller. We say to girls, you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful, but not too successful. Otherwise, you would threaten the man.” - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Feminist writer and activist) at her TedxEuston talk “We Should All Be Feminists”

Profiles


Websites of Organizations


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Chouf Minorities

Chouf Minorities is a Tunisian feminist organization, focused on issues about body image and sexual rights. Chouf Minorities has a website and other forms of publication. In the context of the Tunisian revolution in 2010, voicing feminism became requisite for the democratic society. With increasing threats from radical politicization of Islam, Chouf Minorities makes a bold move to fight against discrimination faced by women in terms of their gender and sexual orientation. This initiative relies on audio-visual materials as the most effective approach to break down stereotypes and initiate change in society. That is why Chouf Minorities actively produces engaging publications and initiatives such as organizing International Feminist Art Festival of Tunisia, a digital guide on sexual and legal security online, photo series to question gender roles. All of the information about gender equality, sexual diversity and events that Chouf Minorities organizes are available on the website. Besides having the website as a safe space to express women’s voices, Chouf Minorities makes use of Twitter (@ChoufTn) to share information and events. Since Chouf Minorities participates in the women’s movement and influence cultural politics through online and offline engagement, it clearly indicates a mediated mobilization. Discussion about sexual diversity in the Tunisian context is not an easy task, yet Chouf Minorities bravely shеd light on the issue.

Website: www.chouf-minorities.org Year of establishment: 2014 Region/Country: Tunisia Language: French and Arabic

10


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Uprising Women of The Arab World Meet intifada (Uprising) Women of The Arab World (UWAW), a united medium to support the feminist movement in the Arabic-speaking countries. UWAW provides cross-media platform for women to initiate positive dialogue and pay attention to women’s rights in the Arab world. As a call of solidarity, UWAW invites all women in the Arab world to join the conversation, sharing their stories through pictures, articles, news, and many more. The website incorporates participatory journalism by focusing on under-reported stories and unpopular public opinion. It does not correlate with any religion or belief. The website features stories from many countries written not only by women but by men as well. The stories unveil never ending oppression, experienced by women in Arab states, such as sexual harassment, sexual abuse, discrimination, political subordination and many more. UWAW mediates online engagement through several platforms such as Facebook community page (with more than 120 000 members), Twitter and Flickr. In addition to stories and information sharing, UWAW also creates a photo-campaign as a call of action for its member about ongoing issues. For instance, during the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women all members and non-members are encouraged to post their photo with a statement to show solidarity. To continue the spirit of the Arab Springs, UWAW wants to spread the phrase “together for free, independent and fearless women in the Arab world!”.

Website: www.uprisingofwomeninthearabworld. com Year of establishment: 2011 Region/Country: North Africa, Middle East, Armenia, Turkey, Circassia Language: English and Arabic

11


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Samsara News Abortion is still illegal and not acceptable in many countries, including Indonesia. Samsara is one of few progressive organizations working on the abortion issue there. In a country, where performing abortion is considered a crime by the state and disgraceful by the society, reliable information on this topic and access to it are very rare. At the outset, Samsara was a personal blog by Inna Hudaya. The blog received positive responses, support and inquiries and Samsara developed into an established organization, providing support and counseling on unwanted pregnancy and post-abortive healing. Samsara News website is currently regarded as credible information source for women and young people who wants to know more about sexual health and reproductive rights. Samsara also organizes workshops on these topics in several provinces. Samsara is known for its dependable hotline, catering private consultation for those who deal with unwanted pregnancy and post-abortive emotions and healing. Samsara is also actively involved in women’s rights movement by mobilizing its followers to join an action or event. For its various purposes, Samsara employs multi-platform approach using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Line app, as well as video-based platform like Youtube. Having successfully cultivated online network and organized offline activism, Samsara productively implements mediated mobilization. Samsara believes that universal access to reproductive health and recognition of sexual rights are paramount. Indeed, with Samsara News online, Indonesian women and youth know where to go to get the right information.

Website: www.samsaranews.com Year of establishment: 2007 Region/Country: Indonesia Language: Indonesian and English

12


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Linea Aborto libre Chile is known for one of the most restrictive abortion law in the world but it is about to change this year (2016) . Still, performing abortion is illegal and the promising change from parliament is only meant to lift the restriction in cases of rape and when there is a health risk for the mother or the fetus is not viable. This is the reason why Linea Aborto Libre exists in Chile. Linea Aborto Libre is a collective of feminists and lesbians who want to give assistance to women for information and counseling for safe abortion. In addition to operating the website, Linea Aborto Libre also runs a hotline on daily basis to serve those who are in need. In a context where having an abortion leads to a penalty of 5 to 10 years in prison, Linea Aborto Libre’s dauntless endeavor puts the contributors in a risky situation. However, the collective carries on its activity to give information on safe abortion, sexual health and rights. Linea Aborto Libre uses the website to distribute information through articles and its publications on safe abortion guideline. In addition to printed publication of the guideline, Linea Aborto Libre provides audio guidelines and response to questions on safe abortion. The audio information is available in Linea Aborto Libre’s Soundcloud page. The collective maintains social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter to interact with the audience and spread information, especially about the hotline service. Linea Aborto Libre believes that women have their rights to choose if/ when to become mothers and what to do with their bodies. Providing sufficient and reliable information to women is essential so women can make an informed decision for their body.

Website: www.infoabortochile.org Year of establishment: 2013 Region/Country: Chile Language: Spanish

13


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Fembot Collective Fembot started as part of a research interest group within the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon. Fembot is a collaboration among faculty, graduate students, media producers, artists, and librarians promoting research on gender, new media and technology. Part of Fembot Collective is an open access journal, Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, with an innovative model of peer review and tools for multimedia publication and its community. The review process includes an open editorial peer review and a community level of review for ongoing research. Fembot provides metrics on article views/downloads and the usefulness of comments. Fembot transforms the concept of “article� and embraces new media technologies for production and distribution. Moreover, the initiative creates and distributes open source tools and a developing toolkit to fight against online harassment for the community. Fembot organises hack-a-thons, technological courses and labs, dedicated to a range of different topics - from technology experiments to criticism of popular culture. In addition, the organization collaborates with Wikipedia The collective uses alternative computing, commons knowledge and participatory journalism to empower young feminist academics to create and research.

Website: www.fembotcollective.org/ Year of establishment: 2011 Region/Country: United States of America Language: English

14


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Pinkstinks

Pinkstinks is a feminist protest organization operating against marketing, products, advertising and media content, which promote gender stereotypes. Its campaigns are aimed at parents, teachers, children and people who don’t approve of gender roles, dictated by capitalism and economy. The goal of the organization is to create more opportunities for young people to understand gender equality, roles and gender stereotypes. As the name of the collective alludes to, Pinkstinks is fighting against female stereotype wearing pink and being polite and beautiful and men always being strong, not crying and dressed in blue.The initiative connects the establishment and maintenance of this gender roles to capitalism and economical interest, so that every item is sold twice. Pinkstinks pinpoint the issue being detrimental when gender stereotypes are taught to children. That is why the organization works in schools and with parents. Pinkstinks offers theater and education workshops at schools to empower children to oppose gender marketing. Here, the organization uses culture jamming. Furthermore, the group organizes online protests though mediated mobilization. On the website readers can find resources on gender roles, guides and workshops, articles and updates on on-going campaigns. Pinkstinks largest campaign is against the reality TV show Germany’s Next Top Model, produced by Heidi Klum.

Website: www.pinkstinks.de/ Year of establishment: 2012 Region/Country: Germany Language: German

15


Web-based Platforms


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

The Wide Margin What is it like to be a feminist in Africa? This question is profoundly explored in an online essay collection, titled The Wide Margin (TWM). Bringing up strong African feminist thought, the initiative delivers powerful feminist perspective in exploring social, political and cultural issues. While TWM is based in Kenya, it also publishes essays which represent wider context and themes from Africa. The ‘wideness’ in The Wide Margin marks the women with diverse social, economic, cultural, and ideological backgrounds. Interestingly, ‘Wide’ in the name of the platform symbolizes the aspiration to facilitate a space, where other voices and ideas apart from the contributors can be showcased. Beautiful illustrations complete the thought-provoking essays that dissects feminist issues such as violence against women, transnational feminism, postcolonialism, female genital mutilation, sexual diversity and discrimination in the African context. The Wide Margin incorporates participatory journalism, covering contemporary issues with unconventional insight, compared to mainstream media in Africa. In contrast to the style of online content which tends to be short and light, the form of online essay is more complex, longer and thought-provoking. The initiative currently has four contributors and continues to call for more collaborators. Through its profound essays, The Wide Margin embodies the plurality of feminism.

Website: www.thewidemargin.org Year of establishment: 2015 Region/Country: Kenya Language: English

17


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

The Adventures of Cosmic Yoruba and Her Flying Machines Too

Mashing up history, feminism and fiction is definitely not a typical form of alternative media. Even so, The Adventures of Cosmic Yoruba and Her Flying Machines Too (Cosmic Yoruba) proves that it is possible. Cosmic Yoruba is a personal website, created by a young woman who loves history and enjoys fiction books. The author is concerned with the fact that women are passively included in the history (particularly West African history). Indeed, reading history feels like following a fictional story, allowing the reader to imagine and submerge into the setting and characters. Cosmic Yoruba taps into that field through publishing historical fiction and stories in the website regularly. The stories connect African female figures and historical facts. In a special section beginning with ‘Who was…”, Cosmic Yoruba explores African women who appeared in history even with a small role in the historical events. Parallel to the introduction of certain characters in history, Cosmic Yoruba displays references to historical fiction, briefly outlining a novel or book in the genre. There is a ‘Resources’ section to share relevant literature and information on women in African history. Through the lens of history, the reader follows the issues of oppression, colonialism and liberation. Cosmic Yoruba not only illustrates a form of alternative feminist media but also an alternative feminist history.

Website: www.cosmicyoruba.xyz Twitter: @cosmicyoruba Year of establishment: 2009 Region/Country: Nigeria Language: English

18


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

5 Harfliler 5 Harfliler is created by 5 people who launched the initiative to develop a specific website for women’s issue. The website hosts compelling articles with topics on art, culture and feminism. 5 Harfliler explores political agendas, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and discrimination and critically engages with current local issues. The audience can actively participate by sending their contribution such as text or visual material to the editor. To make women’s agenda more visible, 5 Harfliler utilizes social media platforms to update information and engage with the audience. It does not come as a surprise that the website gains its popularity among young people in Turkey. As a form of participatory journalism, 5 Harfliler has a different approach to make the content more interesting. Since 5 Harfliler highlights art and culture section in the website, showing eye-catching visual elements is mandatory. While the website is not explicitly proclaimed as a feminist media, most of its contributors are writing from a feminist perspective.*

Website: www.5harfliler.com Year of establishment: 2012 Region/Country: Turkey Language: Turkish

* Özbirinci, Yeşim. ‘5Harfliler: “Feministler dışında ahlakçılıkla suçlanan başka bi grup var mı?”. Gaia Dergi, 2015. <https://gaiadergi.com/5harfliler-feministler-disinda-ahlakcilikla-suclanan-baska-bi-grup-var-mi/> (accessed 5 May, 2016)

19


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Mujeres en Red Mujeres en Red (Women in Red) identified its initiative as a feminist newspaper. The website publishes and collects articles on several issues, relevant to the feminist agenda. It can be said that Mujeres en Red serves as an information portal for Spanish feminists or beginners who wants to learn more about feminism in the country. For the beginners audience, Mujeres en Red has a special section called “Key Feminism”. The section consists of key concepts and basic questions of feminism, dedicated to those who wants to know more about feminism. Mujeres en Red incorporates content from Wikimujeres (an initiative from a group of Wikipedia contributors that fosters equal representation of women in the community). The content comprises of profiles of inspiring women and historical events. The websites also acts as a repository for journal articles, books and any resource, related to feminism. This repository can be found in the “Digital Library” section and all materials can be downloaded for free. With those features, Mujeres en Red demonstrates common knowledge approach to alternative and activist new media.

Website: www.mujeresenred.net Year of establishment: 1997 Region/Country: Spain Language: Spanish

20


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Information Portal of Female Liberation Movements WOMENATION is a collective project of radical feminist groups. Their main goal is to fight back patriarchy and the male-dominated political system through showing their flaws and hypocrisies. The site is dedicated to empowering women to stand up against patriarchal oppression. The content of the blog consists of international feminist news, original posts on feminist issues, translated articles and book chapters and historical archives. The feminist beginner can read both theoretical texts and editorial-like posts. There are comment sections, where readers share their opinion. The site hosts a diverse feminist library - from writers like Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Wolf and Gloria Steinem to textbooks for women, survivors of domestic violence. The platform combines participatory journalism with the translations of important texts and blog-like articles and commons knowledge with the archived feminist library. WOMENATION offers a very broad look on feminism around the world and gives a comprehensive understanding on feminist issues.

Website: www.womenation.org/ Year of establishment: 2013 Region/Country: Russia Language: Russian

21


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

The Everyday Sexism Project The Everyday Sexism Project is a platform where women can share their experience, connected to gender discrimination, sexual abuse and harassment, catcalling*, slutshaming** , etc. The project records and preserves ordinary stories of day-to-day sexism to represent the abundance of sexism in ordinary women’s lives. Women can submit stories on the platform or on Twitter as tweet. They can add tags of the place, where the story happened. The site has sections for 25 countries such as Japan, Russia, Brazil and the Republic of South Africa to share experiences of what is sexism there. However, users are not active at every language and country. For instance, the last entry for Brazil is from September 2014, but for South Africa - April 2015. Furthermore, there are countries without entries like China. Although the site tries to empower different female voices to speak up about their experiences, the Everyday Sexism Project represents issues from the modern Anglo-Saxon society to disclose its hypocrisies***. That is why the idea behind the UK-based project is to empower women to share their experiences of sexism and not to feel diminished by the progressive society which states that there is no problem with gender equality. The Everyday Sexism Project uses participatory journalism to achieve this goal. In addition, there is a book deal with the American publishing house St. Martin’s Press for an updated edition with new chapters on women in media, politics, and on college campuses, as well as new material throughout.

* Catcalling is a practice when men yell disrespectful and sexual content at women in public ** Slutshaming is a practice where a woman is degraded because of her (rumored) sex life and called a “slut” *** Anglo-Saxon society refers to the native English-speaking people and societies of Britain, the United States, and other countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand

Website: www.everydaysexism.com Year of establishment: Region/Country: United Kingdom Language: English

22


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Feminist Fiction

Feminist Fiction is a blog created by Rhiannon Thomas, an aspiring young-adult writer. The self-proclaimed fan girl’s idea is to discuss feminism in the field of fiction - literature, video games, television, movies and music. The main question, the creator poses, is what is feminist fiction. Thomas publishes recommendations, reviews and character analyses from the world of Game of Thrones, Hunger Games , Doctor Who, Marvel and many more. Basically, the reader can find his favourite fictional world there. Rhiannon Thomas discusses misogyny in male characters, female stereotypes and examples of what could be feminist fiction. Fiction has a fundamental role in establishing societal norms for every aspect of life and its roles and stereotypes. That is the reason why Thomas decided to pursue analyzing pop culture artifacts like novels, TV shows and movies. She hopes to better understand these processes and try to intervene in misogynistic and sexist trends such as “the damsel in distress” trope or one-dimensional female character depictions. In the core of Feminist Fiction is culture jamming, where fictional characters and fictional worlds are subverted to discuss feminism.

Website: www.feministfiction.com/ Year of establishment: 2012 Region/Country: United Kingdom Language: English

23


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

The Coalition

The Coalition is a literary and cultural maga(zine)* dedicated to work by and for women of colour. The idea behind it is to empower female or femme identifying writers and artists of colour to tell their stories, so that the publishing industry is challenged to hear alternative voices. The website features essays, reviews, interviews, non fiction, prose and poetry, and visual work in separate sections. A new feature is the Roundtable podcast, which discusses real life issues of race and feminism. In addition, there is a quarterly print and online magazine. The website is developing, but the layout is really modern and inventive. This case exemplifies digital storytelling and participatory journalism.

Website: http://thecoalitionzine.com/ Year of establishment: 2015 Region/country: United States of America Language: English

* Zine is an independent publication with a small circulation. Often the ideas which are published in it are alternative or radical.

24


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Bitchtopia

Bitchtopia is a feminist creative platform, which is working towards a better definition of feminism. The initiative defines feminism as an all-inclusive movement which supports all genders, body sizes and types, sexuality, and their human ability to choose and exert their willpower or in short, equality. According to its creators, Bitchtopia is targeted at “bitches with a cause�, who either has something to say about being a woman or want to learn more about female experiences worldwide. The goal of the initiative is to educate and support feminist creators and readers. The content on the website is ranging from articles on popular culture and media to activism and personal stories. The design is fresh, whimsical and inventive. Relying on participatory journalism, Bitchtopia is always looking for new contributors. The user can submit works only one time or join the initiative full time.

Website: www.bitchtopia.com/ Year of establishment: 2013 Region/Country: Language: English

25


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Codziennik Feministyczny

Codziennik Feministyczny is a Polish feminist website. The title could be translated as “Eye-opening feminists”. The website consists of news, articles, interviews, blog entries, videos, photo essays and update on events and campaigns. The portal varies on different topics and it is very inclusive. The issues, discussed on the website, are sexual and reproductive health, abortion, discrimination, patriarchy, gender-based violence, LGBT* rights and rape culture. Furthermore, abortion is a prominent problem in Poland now, after the government proposed a severe restrictions on the procedure.** Another big topic on the website is discrimination in general - not only based on gender, but sexuality and ethnicity. The portal focuses on personal stories as well. In the interviews section the reader can find experiences of abortion, discrimination and activism. Codziennik Feministyczny utilized mediated mobilization and commons knowledge to depict the feminist movement in Poland.

Website: www.codziennikfeministyczny.pl/ Year of establishment: Region/country: Poland Language: Polish

* Initials which stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people ** Zofia Reych, ‘A Polish Abortion Ban Would Turn Women Back into Childbearing Instruments | Zofia Reych’, The Guardian, 2016 <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/08/polish-abortion-ban-law-poland> [accessed 15 May 2016].

26


News Websites


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Akhbarek

If you think feminist media in the Arab world is conservative, wait until you see Akhbarek - a colorful and lively news website from a female perspective. Along with eye-catching illustrations and headlines, the website delivers updates on social, political and women’s issues in the Arabic-speaking countries. The reason why Akhbarek pays special attention to the visual presentation and the writing style is its young audience. According to an interview with the co-founders on the popular website Motherboard, Akhbarek’s readers are young people between 15-24 years old*. To maintain a relationship with young readers, the initiative harnesses social media - from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram. The website covers regional issues which are rarely reported by mainstream media. Akhbarek aims to spread messages of pluralism and women empowerment to counter nationalist and fanatical tendencies in the Arab world. It includes topic such as selfesteem, latest TV series, music, social movements, feminism and religion. All articles are written in casual yet daring manner. Through creative initiative like Akhbarek, women and young people in the Arab world can talk openly about feminism and equality.

Website: www.akhbarek.com Year of establishment: 2015 Region/country: Middle East Language: Arabic

* Stuart, Hunter. ‘The Arabic News Site Empowering Women to Challenge Extremism’. Motherboard, 2016. <http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-arabic-news-site-empowering-women-to-challenge-extremism> (accessed 12 May 2016).

28


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Her Zimbabwe Her Zimbabwe makes its objective clear in the tagline “Her Voice, Her Revolution”. Her Zimbabwe was established in 2012 to utilize digital media as means to share Zimbabwean women’s stories with а feminist point of view. In addition to sharing information, Her Zimbabwe also encourages young women to partake in digital activism. Her Zimbabwe makes use of several online platforms. Her Zimbabwe uploads interview, music and event documentation in its Youtube channel and particular interviews in Soundcloud. It also interacts and mobilizes the audience through a Facebook page and Twitter. Moreover, Her Zimbabwe manages a series of offline discussions called “Critical Conversation” bringing journalists, bloggers, activists, opinion leaders and general public together. Her Zimbabwe is concerned with the digital divide in the country, especially with the lack of content created by women. That is why its main activity is fostering women’s online content production. Her Zimbabwe also pays attention to digital security as inseparable part of the digital participation, providing knowledge on online safety. In addition, Her Zimbabwe gives a space for male’s voice to support gender equality in “His Africa” section.The platform implements participatory journalism and mediated mobilization, balancing news, online and offline participation. Her Zimbabwe continues to encourage Zimbabwean women to challenge discriminative convention and fulfill the need of feminist news reporting.

Website: www.herzimbabwe.co.zw Year of establishment: 2012 Region/Country: Zimbabwe Language: English

29


Blogs


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Blank Noise Sexual harassment in public spaces is often perceived as trivial and common attitude in society. Even worse, people thinks that women with particular clothing style deserve to be harassed or teased. Blank Noise exists as audacious initiative to tackle such perception and any form of gender-based violence. Initially found as an art student project by Jasmeen Patheja, Blank Noise mixes public art intervention, participatory action and daring message to confront “eveteasing”*. Blank Noise works as a collective across regions and ages involving male and female volunteers or “action hero” as the collective calls it. Furthermore, the collective makes public calls to gather testimonials of people who have experience gender-based violence and “eveteasing” in public spaces by exhibiting clothes worn by the women at the time they were sexually harassed. It invites its audience to “Make Your Street Sign” to intervene in public spaces with informative visual materials. Blank Noise organizes “blog-a-thon” to celebrate International Women’s Day calling the audience to write a post about a personal experience of harassment on their own blogs. It takes cultural jamming approach with its public art intervention that converts meaning of sexual harassment. Blank Noise also mediates mobilization by giving a safe space for the audience to participate in the conversation with online hashtag #Ineveraskforit and offline actions. Whatever it takes, Blank Noise continues to inspire the action hero to join the movement and construct new meaning of sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

* Eve-teasing is euphemism for public sexual harassment in South Asia

Website: www.blog.blanknoise.org Year of establishment: 2003 Region/Country: India Language: English and Hindi

31


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Sad Asian Girls Club There are several stereotypes imposed on Asian women, such as submissiveness, exotic commodity and subservient to white men.* These stereotypes create layered discrimination against Asian women, situating them as a passive object of lust and fetishization. Two Asian-American girls named Olivia Park and Esther Fan are working to resist those disempowered images with an artistic approach.** Sad Asian Girls Club (SAGC) was born through its first manifesto video in the video-based platform Youtube. SAGC defies passive images of Asian women by creating content to challenge the stereotypes. The founders want to address feminism and racism in response to what they experience as Asian women in America. In Tumblr, SAGC shares stories and information on how Asian women has to face restrictions inside their homes and discriminative treatment outside. SAGC also publishes zine titled “PRESENCE:PRESENT”. SAGC is a hybrid form of alternative media of posters, cultural critique and mediated mobilization.

Website: www.sadasiangirlsclub.tumblr.com Year of establishment: 2016 Region/Country: United States of America Language: English and Chinese

* Kuo, Rachel. ‘5 Ways ‘Asian Woman Fetishes’ Put Asian Women in Serious Dange’. Everyday Feminism, 2015. <http://every-

dayfeminism.com/2015/12/asian-woman-fetishes-hurtful/> (access May 5, 2016) ** Cannon, Blair. ‘the female art collective subverting the silent asian stereotype’. I-D.Vice, 2016. <https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/ article/the-female-art-collective-subverting-the-silent-asian-stereotype> (access May 5, 2016)

32


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Feminist Disney Feminist Disney is a Tumblr blog, dedicated to examining social issues through the lens of Disney and popular culture. The main idea is to explore the way society, social groups and societal roles are represented in popular culture. Disney is the obvious choice of object of criticism, because of the variety of controversies around its movies - from discrimination and stereotypes to sexism and subliminal messages.* However, this initiatives tries to show positive Disney messages and how they can be used to change the world. In order to achieve that goal, the project utilizes participatory journalism to collect ideas and culture jamming to represent the Disney perspective on social issues. In addition, there are a lot of memes to complement the content of the blog and to make a strong point though humor.

Website: www.feministdisney.tumblr.com/ Year of establishment: 2011 Region/country: United States of America Language: English

* Subliminal messages are signals designed to pass below (sub) the normal limits of perception. The topic is very controversial, because they are used in advertising and movies to influence people to buy items or to feel a specific emotion.

33


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

Girls Get Busy is a feminist creative platform which supports artists, musicians and writers. People can submit their work and the platform will host it and publicize it. There is a monthly free zine with the same name. The blog also contains reviews of other feminist creations. In addition, there are announcement for workshops and events. The platform has playlists on 8tracks. The reader can find different genres - art, music, essays and other creative works for different tastes. Exploring social media the platform creates its audience - both creators and feminist art enthusiasts. That is how the initiatives finds its new contributors and their public. Girls Get Busy mediates mobilization and creates space for participatory activities.

Girls Get Busy Website: http://girlsgetbusyzine.tumblr. com/ Year of establishment: 2010 Region/Country: United Kingdom Language: English

34


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

All Male Panels All Male Panels is a blog where people share their artistic intervention on photos and screenshots of official meetings, conferences, seminars and other events with all male experts. Users can stamp their contribution to the blog with a picture of Baywatch sex symbol David Hasselhoff on a special platform.* Everyone can contribute to to blog - the user just needs to give some information for the submitted material. This initiative goal is to disclose sexism and androcentrism in public life, where only men can be experts, through artistic intervention and culture jamming. The actor David Hasselhoff becomes a patriarchal symbol of a society, where only macho male voices are heard and respected. Although the overall effect of the initiative is humor, All Male Panels discloses the male centric perspective in politics, science, economy and public life worldwide.

Website: www.allmalepanels.tumblr.com Year of establishment: 2015 Region/Country: Finland Language: English

* Baywatch is a popular American TV series from the 90’s with Pamela Anderson.

35


Video/Audio Channels


A Screenshot from The Channel (Captured May 15, 2016)

Marina Shut Up Marina Shut Up is a Youtube vlog (video blog)*, created by the young Asian American girl Marina Watanabe. The topics, she discusses, are ranging from strictly theoretical issues like what is feminism and its main concepts and terms to investigation of mainstream culture and media such as commenting on news segments and the Twilight saga.** The series explores society, politics and media from a feminist and intersectional perspective. In addition, the vlog contains personal videos about the creator, where Marina Watanabe shares her experiences with body image, sexism and discrimination. The vlog has special series such as Feminist Fridays and 4 Minute Feminism. The videos mainly represent the vlogger talking honestly to the camera. Marina Watanabe uses culture jamming and commons knowledge to talk about feminism and related modern day issues. The Youtube channel has nearly 70 000 subscribers.

Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/ marinashutup/featured Year of establishment: 2010 Region/Country: United States of America Language: English

* Vlog is a blog with videos ** American young-adult book series by author Stephenie Meyer, later adapted to screen in 5 movies

37


A Screenshot from The Podcast (Captured May 15, 2016)

Call Your Girlfriend Call Your Girlfriend (CYG) is a United States-based podcast which imitates talking to a BFF (best friend forever). CYG is created by Ann Friedman (host), Aminatou Sow (host), and Gina Delvac (producer). This podcast publishes one edition every week with various topic ranging from independent woman, diverse emojis on the mobile phone and monthly period blues to political elections. The badass team describes one of CYG’s edition topic as “a menstruation extravaganza: diva cupdate, period panty hacks, and a dramatic reading of Goodnight Menses”. CYG makes it clear that feminism engages with political issues, popular culture, technology, sexual and reproductive health, relationships and other aspects of life. And through the casual yet vibrant conversation in the podcast, the listener would agree that feminism is a daily issue. It does not stop there, CYG also hosts an interview segment, titled “Phone-a-friend” - conversations with inspirational women. The podcast utilizes several podcast platforms such as iTunes, Acast, and Stitcher. CYG gives information about its profile, edition, and related events on the website. It is an alternative media, which incorporates participatory journalism in podcasts for a broader audience. The listener will learn how to be ‘unapologetically feminist’ just like a CYG calls it.

Website: www.callyourgirlfriend.com Year of establishment: 2014 Region/Country: United States of America Language: English

38


Social Media Communities


A Screenshot from The Page (Captured May 15, 2016)

Equality

Equality is a feminist online community with nearly 12 000 followers in VKontakte (VK).* The community has a Live Journal blog as well.** Their slogan is “We don’t want peace, with little understanding, we want understanding which brings peace”. The collective is new but already gaining supporters. The community uses Live Journal to publish its content. It is mainly critical texts on feminist issues. In the VK group members share news, articles, events and their opinion. Members recommend and review movies and books. There are discussion boards on issues like sexual violence, pornography and prostitution. There are polls and surveys, for instance for the best feminist movie. The collective support other feminist initiatives, too. Equality uses mainly participatory journalism and mediated mobilization and to advocate for its causes and feminist agenda. The community offers understanding for the Russian feminist and helps organizing activist campaigns.

* VK is the largest European social network with more than 100 million active users, especially popular among Russianspeaking users. **Live Journal is very popular blog platform in the Russian-speaking world.

Website (a VK community page): www.vk.com/g_equality Live Journal page: www.g-equality.livejournal.com Year of establishment: 2016 Region/Country: Russia Language: Russian

40


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

FemSolution

FemSolution is a feminist student union at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The main purpose of the collective is to fight back against xenophobia and homophobia . The social group, hosted in VK, welcomes every religion, race and sexual orientation. FemSolution organises discussions and lectures. Furthermore, they create their own content such as posters, femics (feminist comics) and videos. They are published on the VK page. The main issues, FemSolution follows, are sexuality and sexual harassment, LGBT rights, body positivity, gender politics and gender in academia. The goal of the union is to create a strong feminist community at the university and to support the feminist discourse in the public life. On VK FemSolution has 283 followers. The organization is mobilizing people through the social networking site. FemSolution is a prime example of how students can advocate feminism and equality in university and in the public sphere in general.

Website: www.vk.com/femsolution Year of establishment: 2016 Region/Country: Ukraine Language: Ukrainian

41


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

KazFem

KazFem is a Kazakhstani feminist activist group. The collective organises political protests and performances mainly in Alma Ati, the capital of Kazakstan. One of the main issues for the social group is domestic violence. The initiative is hosted on VK platform. The group has 739 members. Again the social media VK is used to mediated mobilization. People share opinions, articles and news. As claimed by KazFem , the social group publishes the first Kazakhstan femzine “Юдоль”.* It is available for free and the reader can read it online or download it as a PDF.

Website: www.vk.com/kazfem Year of establishment: 2015 Region/Country: Kazakhstan Language: Kazakh, Russia

* Femzine is an alternative independent publication dedicated to feminist and women’s issues.

42


Mobile Application


A Screenshot from The Website (Captured May 15, 2016)

HOLLA ON THE GO is a free app for Android and iPhone launched by the international activist organization Hollaback!, a non-profit and movement dedicated to end harassment in public spaces. The app empowers women to share their experiences of sexual harassment and to contribute to a map to prevent others of being threatened. Incidents of harassment are mapped in pink dots and incidents of bystander intervention are in green. Furthermore, the user can find a resources section with information about how to respond to harassment and be a better bystander. In addition, the site of Hollaback! offers social media safety guide and support for women. The app relies on participation (participatory journalism when incidents are reported to the map) and mediated mobilization.

Holla on The Go

Website: http://www.ihollaback.org/resources/ iphone-and-droid-apps/ Year of establishment: Region/Country: Global Laguage: English

44


Epilogue Hey beginner feminist, It is time to say goodbye, but before that we want to share with you some of our observations of feminist new media. First, there are more than one discourse in feminist media. This was exemplified by the variety of issues, which were discussed in the selected cases. This fact is unsurprising but fundamental at the same time. Feminism is inclusive term, but we should not forget that different people have specific experiences, so there are initiatives to cater to them. Western feminism (Western Europe and North America) is interested in empowering feminist creators (Girls Get Busy, Bitchtopia, Fembot Collective and The Coalition), condemning sexist social behaviors like slutshaming and catcalling (Holla On The Go app, The Everyday Sexism project) and criticizing popular culture (Feminist Disney, Feminist Fiction and All Male Panels). The post-socialist countries in Europe are cradle for other feminist discourses, which are concentrated on uncovering patriarchal oppression and moving past old stereotypes of the housewife and the female worker (Womenation, FemSolution, KazFem, Equality and Codziennik Feministyczny). The African and Asian initiatives emphasize women’s rights and fighting oppression (Chouf Minorities, Uprising of Women in The Arab World and Sad Asian Girls Club, Her Zimbabwe and 5 Harfliler). Despite of all of the different topics, the most common issues for all of the 30 initiatives are abortion, reproductive health and rape culture (Asia with Samsara News and Blank Noise, the Arab world with Chouf Minorities and Uprising of Women in The Arab World; from Africa - The Wide Margin and Her Zimbabwe; in Europe - Womenation, Equality, Holla On The Go app, The Everyday Sexism Project and Mujeres en Red; in North and South America - Linea Aborto Libre and the Fembot Collective). Often initiatives, concentrated on these issues, have a political or/and an activists aspect as well. Another interesting observation is that unexpected platforms are mediating feminist activism. For example, for Western discourses Tumblr is the place for sharing stories (or digital storytelling such as The Everyday Sexism Project), art and culture jamming (Feminist Disney). For the Eastern feminists VKontakte is the social networking site to host discussions (Equality, FemSolution and KazFem) and LiveJournal is the archive for articles, analyses and translations of important texts (Equality). The last of our points is that two activist approaches characterize feminist new media. The first is digital storytelling (The Wide Margin, The Adventures of Cosmic Yoruba and Her Flying Machines Too, The Coalition, Bitchtopia and The Everyday Sexism Project). Furthermore, women are empowered to share their experiences through having a platform, where their voice is heard. The second approach is culture jamming - feminist theory used for analyzing pop culture and unveiling societal hypocrisies and stereotypes (Feminist Disney, Feminist Fiction and All Male Panels). Moreover, this approach is a modern way to address serious problems, because of its ironic and humorous nature. So we hope we encourage you to explore feminist new media and activism. And maybe call yourselves feminists or become an activists. The choice is yours. However, this guide is not finished and closed. We are using Creative Commons license, so that you can continue the work and investigate and learn more about feminism and its new media life. You can use it, share it and contribute. So, looking forward to meeting you again. xoxo Afra and Radina

45


About the Authors Afra Suci Ramadhon Afra is a student in the New Media and Digital Culture Master’s programme at the University of Amsterdam. She previously worked as a part-time researcher and coordinator in an Indonesian youth organization. She loves to explore media, human rights, feminism and subcultures. She is a practical dreamer and sci-fi enthusiast. In her spare time, she enjoys listening and playing music. contact: afrasuci@gmail.com

Radina Teodosieva Radina is also a student in the New Media and Digital Culture Master’s programme at the University of Amsterdam. She is born in Bulgaria, where she was awarded her Bachelor’s degree in Book Publishing. Radina is interested in publishing and transmedia storytelling. This guide is her first step into feminist activism and theory. contact: radinatteodosieva@gmail.com

46



Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.