Feminism online shaming of women

Meyer, Anneke ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4966-5794 and Milestone, Katie (2024) Feminism online shaming of women. Sociology Review, 33 (4). pp. 12-15. ISSN 0959-8499

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Abstract

When it comes to gender equality, digital culture has been hailed as both a problem and a solution. But does it silence women’s voices? In this article we want to focus on the prominent issues of toxic online practices, specifically shaming and trolling, to explore the state of gender (in)equality in digital culture. Women, feminism and gender have all been focal points of online hate campaigns. Here we want to explore the phenomenon and show two things: • Firstly, that online and offline discrimination and hate are deeply connected and it is misleading to see digital culture either as a problem or as the solution. • Secondly, that online gender shaming and trolling are part of a wider cultural and historical backlash which attempts to silence women and fight back against progressing gender equality and women’s rights.