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The Fouth Wave of American Feminism: Ideas, Activism, Social Media

Thesis · April 2018

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 Uniwersytet Warszawski
Ośrodek Studiów Amerykańskich

Dominika Kowalska
Nr albumu: 340278

The Fourth Wave of American

Feminism: Ideas, Activism, Social
Media.

Praca magisterska
na kierunku studia amerykanistyczne
w zakresie kulturoznawstwo Stanów Zjednoczonych

Praca wykonana pod kierunkiem

dr hab. Agnieszki Graff-Osser
Ośrodek Studiów Amerykańskich

Warszawa, wrzesień 2017

Oświadczenie kierującej pracą

Oświadczam, że niniejsza praca została przygotowana pod moim kierunkiem i

stwierdzam, że spełnia ona warunki do przedstawienia jej w postępowaniu o nadanie
tytułu zawodowego.

Data Podpis kierującej pracą

Oświadczenie autorki pracy

Świadom odpowiedzialności prawnej oświadczam, że niniejsza praca dyplomowa

została napisana przeze mnie samodzielnie i nie zawiera treści uzyskanych w sposób
niezgodny z obowiązującymi przepisami.

Oświadczam również, że przedstawiona praca nie była wcześniej przedmiotem procedur

związanych z uzyskaniem tytułu zawodowego w wyższej uczelni.

Oświadczam ponadto, że niniejsza wersja pracy jest identyczna z załączoną wersją

elektroniczną.

Data Podpis autorki

 Streszczenie

Tytuł: Czwarta Fala feminizmu w USA: idee, aktywizm, media społecznościowe.

Celem niniejszej pracy jest przedstawienie i analiza aktywizmu współczesnego ruchu

feministycznego określanego jako Czwarta Fala feminizmu. Praca analizuje motywy,
jakimi kierują się współczesne feministki przy wyborze form aktywizmu, w którym
wykorzystywane są media społecznościowe. Charakterystyka aktywizmu tego ruchu
wykorzystuje przykłady feminizmu twitterowego i Marszu Kobiet na Waszyngton z
2017 roku. W pracy wykorzystano metody z kulturoznawstwa, socjologii, i studiów
nad mediami.

Słowa kluczowe
Feminizm, Czwarta Fala feminizmu, intersekcjonalność, Twitter, Facebook, Marsz
Kobiet na Waszyngton, media społecznościowe, aktywizm internetowy, Millennialsi,
Generacja-Z

Dziedzina pracy (kody wg programu Sokrates-Erasmus)

08900, inne humanistyczn

 Acknowledgements

My utmost gratitude goes to my thesis supervisor, dr hab. Agnieszka Graff, who

did not only offer me guidance but also contributed to my academic awakening.

Thank you for your kindness and patience. It was inspiring to observe your work,

passionate way of teaching, and to exchange feminist ideas.

I am also grateful to all the professors at the American Studies Center, whose

classes I had an honor to attend. I would especially like to thank dr Karolina Krasuska

who invited me to participate in the series of Gender and Sexuality seminars that

further motivated me to working on my research.

Lastly, special thanks to my feminist sisters who offered me support

throughout the process of writing and debated with me on the topics of feminism.
 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 2

CHAPTER I 4
1.1 DEFINING FOURTH WAVE FEMINISM AND ITS KEY CONCEPTS 5
1.2. HOW SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE FEMINIST ACTIVISM 14

CHAPTER II 20
2.1 #YESALLWOMEN AS AN EXAMPLE OF FEMINIST CONNECTIVE ACTION. 21
2.2. REASONS FOR WHICH FEMINISTS TURN TO TWITTER FOR ACTIVISM. 24
2.3. #SOLIDARITYISFORWHITEWOMEN: TWITTER AS SPACE FOR FEMINIST DEBATE AND
CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING. 25
CONCLUSIONS 33

CHAPTER III 34
3.1. REASONS FOR MOBILIZATION OF AMERICAN WOMEN. 36
3.2. HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE TO ATTRACT FIVE MILLION PEOPLE? 42
3.3. WHY DID THE LARGEST FEMINIST DEMONSTRATION EVER OCCUR IN 2017? 46
3.4. THE FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO WMOW SUCCESS; FROM CONNECTIVE TO
COLLECTIVE ACTION. 48
3.5. THE NEW NEW LEFT. 60
CONCLUSION 61

CONCLUSION 63

BIBLIOGRAPHY 65
 Introduction

The Fourth Wave of the American feminist movement is a recent phenomenon. This

wave is still in formation; it started being debated in connection to women’s activism

mediated through social media. The new generation of feminists is formed by digital

native late Millennials and Generation Z, but includes people of all ages who share

feminist values and are willing to adapt to this form of activism. The logic of post-

2010 feminist activism and approach to it is going through a change, but the goals and

dilemmas remain the same as in case of Third Wave.

This thesis examines the activist aspect of fourth wave feminism in the USA.

This problematic is confronted using tools and methods from sociological, cultural,

and media and communication studies. The analysis is based on social media posts’

content, existing sociological research on specific hashtag movements, debates around

these movements on feminist websites, sociological and marketing analysis of

Millennials and Generation-Z.

This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter briefly describes

previous waves of the movement, presents the theories used in this thesis, and focuses

on characteristics of the new generation of feminists and their relationship with social

media. The second chapter employs the category of connective action, a term from

recent social movement theory, to examine examples of feminist mobilization on

Twitter.1 It is argued that the Fourth Wave is diverse in its purposes and that it relies

on the Internet, finding it the most democratic of all channels of communication. This

chapter analyzes cases of #YesAllWomen and #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, which

aimed to raise awareness about the subject of violence toward women and the

remaining problem of racism within the feminist movement. It shows that women in

1
Lance Bennett, Alexandra Segerberg, “The Logic of Connective Action,” Information,
Communication & Society, vol. 15 no. 5 (2012), 739-768.

2
the twenty first century, despite the ongoing struggle, still face gender and race related

violence, often from their own community.

Nevertheless, they are challenging each other’s perceptions about feminist

issues and educate one another through online debates. The third chapter analyzes a

specific event: Women’s March on Washington of January 21st 2017. This massive

demonstration, it is argued, translated from connective into collective action of the

five million persons marching around the world. Different groups of age and interest

cooperated in order to produce the biggest feminist march in the history of United

States. The chapter maps the ongoing effort to change the status quo through legal

means.

This thesis argues that internet is more than just a tool for mobilization. Social

media—the channels used for expression and mobilization—make Twitter and

Facebook movements emblematic for Fourth Wave of feminist activism in United

States. It is worth noting that the Fourth Wave is no longer only a women’s

movement, as this would suggest exclusion of men and non-binary persons. Fourth

Wavers deeply care about trans-rights and keenly “call out” persons who are

“TERFS” (trans exclusionary radical feminists) or “SWERFS“ (sex worker

exclusionary radical feminists)—which in majority prove to be white liberal feminists

from previous waves.

3
 Chapter I

Characteristics of Fourth Wave feminists and their relation with social media.

In 2009 Jessica Valenti stated about the Fourth Wave of feminism that “maybe the

fourth wave is online.”2 The Fourth Wave of feminism comprises of people born after

1990; in majority late Millennials and Generation-Z. Building on Karl Mannheim’s

theory of generations, Ruth Milkman argues that U.S. Millennials (and even more

Generation-Z) “constitute a new political generation” of “digital natives” who grew

up with the Internet, were shaped by it, and used social media in an “unprecedented

scale.”3 She agrees with Mannheim that generations are formed not by biological but

by historical and sociological processes; in short, they are formed in reaction to

events. In case of the Fourth Wave of feminism the “trigger actions of the social and

cultural processes” were the Internet revolution and the Great Recession. As Milkman

argues, they left the unprecedentedly highly educated (women even more than men)

digital native Millennials unprecedentedly precarious.4 Therefore Mannheim's theory

allows the idea that all the age groups could be a part of Fourth Wave of feminism,

yet, as he stresses, “young people are especially susceptible to the influence of such

triggers.”5 This chapter will characterize the Fourth Wave generation of feminists and

examine their relationship with social media.

2
Deborah Solomon, “Fourth-Wave Feminism,” New York Times, 13.11.2009,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/magazine/15fob-q4-t.html (accessed: 14.07.2017).
3
Ruth Milkman, “A New Political Generation: Millennials and the Post-2008 Wave of Protest,”
American Sociological Review, vol. 82, no.1 ( 2017).
4
Camille L. Ryan, and Kurt Bauman, “Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015”. U.S.
Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, (March 2016): 20–578,
http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p20578.pdf (accessed:
9.01.2017).
5
Milkman, “A New Political Generation…”

4
1.1 Defining Fourth Wave feminism and its key concepts

Milkman argues that this generation confronts persistent racial and gender disparities,

discrimination against sexual minorities, and widening class inequality, all of which

they understand in the framework of “intersectionality.”6 This concept—a central idea

of Fourth Wave feminism—comes from Black feminism’s insight about power.7 The

theory of intersectionality explains how various forms of oppression—such as racism,

patriarchy, capitalism and heterosexuality—are inextricably intertwined and therefore

cannot be examined in separation from each other. The term was coined by Kimberle

Crenshaw in 1989 and was further popularized by Third Wave feminists.

Before engaging in an examination of the Fourth Wave it is useful to take a

look at the ongoing discussion about waves as a way of thinking about feminist

history. There is no agreement among scholars whether the wave metaphor is accurate

or whether it should be rethought.8 Skeptics argue that it is unjustified and harmful to

compress the entire US women’s rights activism from the 1840s to the 1920s into a

single wave, and to do the same with feminist activism between 1950 and 1980,

omitting the time between 1920 and 1950 as if nothing has happened during these

years. Especially problematic is that the wave metaphor “highlights periods when

middle-class white women were most active in the public sphere” and does not give

equal representation to minorities.9 Vincent Harding proposes an alternative, “river”

metaphor, while Eileen Boris adds a metaphor of “streams” and “strands” that fall

6
Ibid.
7
Kimberle Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique
of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,” University of Chicago Legal
Forum: Vol. 1989 , Article 8. Available at: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
8
Kathleen A. Laughlin et al., “Is It Time to Jump Ship? Historians Rethink the Waves Metaphor,”
Feminist Formations, vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring 2010), 76-135, DOI: 10.1353/nwsa.0.0118
9
Julie Gallagher, “Revisiting Constructs and Their Tyrannical Inclinations,” in: Laughlin, et al., “Is It
Time to Jump Ship?” 82.

5
into one river.10 Arguably, the metaphor best for twenty-first century feminist realities

would be that of horizontal, electromagnetic waves that connect people across

continents, enabling transnational feminist activism and online debates.

The notion of Second Wave appeared in 1960s as a way of differentiating the

Women’s Liberation movement from the suffragists, who were then retrospectively

labeled as First Wave.11 Theoretical attention to Second Wave emerged in 1980s and

1990s among literary and social science scholars.12 As Sara Evans argues, these

theorists “fixed the perception of 1970s Second Wave feminists as white, middle

class, self-interested, and anti-sex,” which description she finds selective and not

entirely true.13 The feminist movement of the Second Wave was a diverse one, from

radical feminists to liberal ones, divided in subgroups, or “currents.” Their views on

issues such as pornography, class, ethnicity, or sexual orientation varied.14 However,

the thing they all agreed on was that women were discriminated against and that this

should change; the movement struggled against gender inequality at home, work and

in public sphere. The Second Wave of feminism had its legal victories such as Equal

Pay Act of 1963, Reed v. Reed case of 1971, and Roe v. Wade case of 1973 that

legalized abortion.

10
Laughlin et al., “Is It Time to Jump Ship?”
11
Nancy A. Hewitt, No Permanent Waves. Recasting Histories of U.S. Feminism (New Jersey: Rutgers
University Press, 2010).
Martha Weinman Lears, “The Second Feminist Wave,” New York Times Magazine, 10 March 1968,
24.
12
Sara M. Evans, “Women’s Liberation: Seeing the Revolution Clearly,” Feminist Studies, vol. 41
(January 2015): 138-149.
13
Ibid.,141.
14
Lisa Duggan, Nan D. Hunter, Sex Wars: Sexual dissent and political culture (New York:
Taylor&Francis, 1995).
Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975, (Mineapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 1989), see especially Chapter 5: “The Eruption of Difference.”

6
 The emergence of the Third Wave was marked in 1992 by the statement of

Rebecca Walker “I am not a postfeminist feminist. I am the Third Wave.”15 The

emblematic moment for this wave was the 1991 hearing of Clarence Thomas, a Black

man nominated to the United States Supreme Court. Anita Hill, his employee,

accused him of sexual harassment. Thomas denied the accusation and the court voted

in his favor. Many Black men thought of his nomination as of an opportunity for

advancement for Black people, despite him being a molester. Rebecca Walker noticed

that even progressive Black men still prioritize race over gender issues.16 In that

moment she realized that there is a need for a next, Third Wave of feminist activism,

one that would take into account interconnectedness between race and gender, instead

of making any other form of oppression secondary to the gender one.

As the title of Astrid Henry’s book Not My Mother’s Sister suggests, Third

Wavers came out in opposition to the Second Wave.17 The prevailing metaphor is that

of rebellious daughters of feminist mothers. They rejected the idea of “sisterhood”, as

they disagreed with some of the Second Wave’s firm stances that there is only one

feminist agenda (except for stances on rape and equal pay), and instead allowed for

plurality and differences in personal narratives. They embrace the post-structuralist

erasure of binaries, regarding them as artificial constructs created in order to divide

people and benefit the groups in power. 18 This wave was the first one to start

embodying intersectionality, writing blogs, creating feminist websites, and making

zines and e-zines. They focused on ideas such as queer theory and abolishing gender

15
Rebecca Walker, “Becoming the Third Wave,” Ms Magazine 41 (Spring 1992), available at:
http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2002/BecomingThirdWaveRebeccaWalker.pdf (accessed:
4.08.2017).
16
Rebecca Walker, “Becoming the Third Wave,” in Court of Appeal. The Black Community Speaks
Out on the Racial and Sexual Politics of Clarence Thomas vs. Anita Hill, edited by Robert L. Allen and
Robert Chrisman (New York: Ballantine Books, 1992), 211.
17
Astrid Henry, Not My Mother’s Sister. Generational Conflict and Third-Wave Feminism.
Bloomington (Indiana University Press, 2004).
18
Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre, "Poststructural feminism in education: An overview," International
Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 13, no. 5 (2000): 477–515.

7
role expectations.19 They also reclaimed derogatory words used to describe women

such as bitch, cunt, whore.

Fourth Wave American feminists born after 1990 grew up with Third Wave’s

ideals of intersectionality and are inherently equality oriented. The dilemmas that the

Fourth Wave faces stay the same as in case of Third Wave. Their logic of action

consists of changing mentality of people around them with education on gender

equality. Fourth Wave feminists are as young as fifteen years old and most often get

their knowledge about feminism from the Internet. Rather than reading and sharing

books, they tend to reach to their internet-oriented peers with educational facts and

present them with their own firm stance on gender equality. Individual self-expression

seems more common that turning to government or NGOs for help. One difference

between Third and Fourth Wave of feminism is that Third Wave was often critiqued

for being post-feminist, excessively focused on popular culture and detached from

political reality, whereas – as we will see – statistics prove that the Fourth Wave is a

revival of feminism as a form of political engagement, a struggle for power.

Arguably, the current feminist revival is a response to another wave of anti-feminist

backlash, or as Korolczuk and Graff argue “new ideological and political

configuration” that undermines gender equality.20 Despite its focus on politics, the

Fourth Wave is also influenced, as well as influences feminist marketing and pop

culture.21

19
Claire R. Snyder, “What Is Third-Wave Feminism? A New Directions Essay,” Signs: Journal of
Women in Culture and Society, vol. 34 no. 1 (2008): 175–196.
20
Agnieszka Graff, Elżbieta Korolczuk, “Gender as ‘Ebola from Brussels’: The Anti-colonial Frame
and the Rise of Illiberal Populism," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (in print 2018).
21
Andi Zeisler, We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl, the Buying and Selling of a
Political Movement (New York: Public Affairs, 2016).

8
 According to a study conducted in May-June 2015, 60% of American women

and 33% of American men call themselves a feminist or strong feminist.22 According

to the Vox poll from the same year, 85% of respondents believe in equality for

women, but 52% would not call themselves a feminist, showing the problematic

nature of the label. 23 It is worth noting that the number of women aged 18-34

(arguably, Fourth Wave) and 50-64 (arguably, Second Wave) who claim the feminist

label is bigger than the one of other age groups.24 However, only 51% of women aged

35-49 (i.e. the Third Wave cohort) claimed the label.25 Moreover, the number of self-

labeled feminists has increased by 6 percentage points since 1995.26 Interestingly,

only 16% of women younger than 35 years old say that feminism is outdated

(compared to 33-37% in different age groups) and 84% of them say that feminism is

empowering (compared to 56-68% in different age groups).27

The research also tackles the issue of the form of activism. It confirms that

Millennial and Generation-Z women distrust previous generations’ ways of life and

activism.28 In 2015, before the twenty-first century feminist massive revival powered

22
Weiyi Cai, Scott Clement, “What Americans think about feminism today,” The Washington Post,
26.01.2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/feminism-project/poll/ (accessed:
11.06.2017).
This research, conducted by SSRS, interrogated over twice as many women as men, which might lead
to bias.
23
PerryUndem Research/Communication, Vox, “Topline Results from a Survey,” 4-12 March 2015,
https://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3570070/Vox_Poll_Toplines__2_.0.pdf (accessed:
17.07.2017).
“A survey by The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than half the people
who were asked whether feminism has a good or bad reputation chose ‘bad’—with little difference
between women and men—while 32% chose ‘good.’ But when they were asked the same question,
except with ‘the women’s movement’ substituted for ‘feminism,’ the results were essentially reversed:
with 54% choosing ‘good’ and 35% saying ‘bad.’” https://about.flipboard.com/inside-
flipboard/behind-the-story-washington-post-explores-new-wave-feminism/
24
Cai, Clement, “What Americans think about feminism today”
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
28
Kari Paul, “Here are all the things millennials have been accused of killing—from wine corks to
golf,” MarketWatch, 25.06.2017, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/here-are-all-of-the-things-
millennials-have-been-accused-of-killing-2017-05-22 (accessed: 18.08.2017). This article
characterized Millennials (and Generation-Z) as the thrifty and “do it yourself” generations that distrust
established institutions in general and prefer to do things online. They are accused of “ruining” the 9 to

9
by social media—and before Women’s March on Washington—29% of all women

(and 45% of women younger than 35) “have expressed their views about women’s

rights on the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.” Only 14% of

women phoned or emailed a public official in this matter; the age group of 50-64 was

the most active in this form of political expression (17%).

Alongside the poll, The Washington Post tried to explore the phenomenon of

Fourth Wave of feminism, cautiously calling it a “New Wave Feminism.” The

journalists came up with the following conclusion:

New Wave Feminism is shaped less by a shared struggle against

oppression than by a collective embrace of individual freedoms; less
concerned with targeting narrowly defined enemies than with broadening
feminism’s reach through inclusiveness. It’s held together not by a
handful of national organizations and charismatic leaders but by the
connective medium of the Internet and social media.29

In the article it is argued that the Fourth Wave shares the intensity and values of the

Second Wave, but differs in its ways of expressing and manifesting it. “They are not

necessarily part of a cohesive political movement but embrace feminism as a personal

guiding principle.”30 Fourth wavers also practice consciousness-raising, but instead of

meeting in a common room, they meet on social media under a common hashtag.

Millennial and Generation-Z women view themselves as feminists, yet many are also

critical of it, saying that feminism is not focused on the changes they seek. Critical of

feminism are especially women of color, who call the movement “white feminism”

and have started hashtag campaigns #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen. Another critical

group are anti-abortion feminists. Clearly, there is no single feminism that would fit

5 work week, fancy restaurants, non-ecological companies, organized holidays, hotel industry (to
hostels and airbnb or camping), movie business (with Netflix), they do not visit physical banks (they do
everything online), do not buy diamonds, and do not even marry as often as previous generations.
29
Shona Sanzgiri, “Behind the Story: Washington Post Explores New Wave Feminism,” The
Washington Post, 10.02.2016, https://about.flipboard.com/inside-flipboard/behind-the-story-
washington-post-explores-new-wave-feminism/ (accessed: 1.07.2017).
30
Ibid.

10
the needs of all. The dynamics of these debates which will be discussed in the

following chapters.

Since the Arab Spring, Twitter and Facebook have drawn attention for their

political potential. Social media were used as a form of organizing by various identity

groups, who identified as opposed to establishment and by extension were not

supported by national or mainstream media. Therefore social media became the

power of the powerless.31 As Ewa Majewska argues about Polish Black Protest, such

non-heroic acts of rebellion of common women as Women’s March on Washington,

and micro rebellions on Twitter, happen when oppressed groups come together and

cooperate to manifest their disagreement to the status quo.32 Instead of putting out a

rebellious sign in front of the grocery store, they tweet, write posts on Facebook,

Tumblr and Reddit, post pictures of their feminist art or themselves in a feminist t-

shirt on Instagram. They do as much as they can afford.

In the twenty-first century feminist protests do not need to be heroic in order

to work. Today’s feminism is not an open war on patriarchy, but rather a message sent

and lived by millions of women. This message comes with a firm stance that behavior

other than egalitarian is not an option and will not be tolerated. Arguably, the motto of

this wave is “No is a full sentence,” which is shared among feminists on social media

platforms such as Reddit (forum) or Tumblr (microblogging platform).33 Through this

sentence young women motivate and remind each other that they do not need to

justify their rejection of men’s advancement. Women have the right to set their own

31
Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless,” in: The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the
State in Central Eastern Europe (London: Routledge, 1985).

32
Ewa Majewska, “Słaby opór i siła bezsilnych. #CzarnyProtest w Polsce 2016,” Praktyka
Teoretyczna, 10 November 2016, http://www.praktykateoretyczna.pl/ tag/czarny-protest/ (accessed:
1.03.2017).
33
@GaveUpOnSociety, “A reminder for women about boundaries,” Reddit, 6.07.2017,
https://www.reddit.com/r/GenderCritical/comments/6lnxwx/a_reminder_for_women_about_boundarie
s/ (accessed: 24.08.2017).

11
boundaries. A Reddit user, @GaveUpOnSociety, explains on Gender Critical, a

radical feminist subreddit forum: “Females are socialized from birth to ‘not be rude,’

‘see others in the most charitable light possible,’ ‘be open minded and

accommodating.’ When a man says no it means no. When a woman says no

apparently it's the start of a multi book length negotiation.”34 Her post is supported

with comments of women who agree with her statement, give personal examples, and

discuss.35

Perhaps the greatest difference between this wave and the previous ones is the

extent to which feminist ideas have penetrated the mainstream. In the USA, feminism

is no longer a counter-cultural movement functioning in a gender-conservative

context. Since for this new generation of women feminism is part of their basic

identity, corporations are trained by young women to market their products

accordingly.36 They see that women will not buy products that do not serve them or

represent them or are not in accordance with their political views. In recent years

films and TV series started to have powerful women characters (e.g. Wonder Woman,

the first mainstream superhero Hollywood movie with a [white] female main

character, 201737); companies sell “feminist outfits,” public female figures proudly

claim the feminist label, and if they do not, they meet with critique. If men accused

the Second and Third Wave of “feminist terror,” they underestimated the movement.38

In the second decade of twenty first century, intersectional feminism is almost

34
Ibid.
35
Ibid.
36
Andi Zeisler, We Were Feminists Once…
37
Even though Wonder Woman was the first superhero Hollywood movie with a female main
character, it received critique from feminists of color and queer women.
38
See: Andi Zeisler, We Were Feminists Once… She writes: “Beyoncé staking her claim to feminism
was the start of a media domino effect. Shortly after, Emma Watson, beloved for years as Harry
Potter’s Hermione, gave a speech on the importance of gender equality to the United Nations. . . .
Brands like Verizon, Always, and Pantene began centering feminist themes in their ads for wireless
plans, maxi pads, and shine-boosting shampoos. . . .Seemingly overnight, almost every female
celebrity—and a fair number of male ones—who walked a red carpet was asked whether they were
feminists.”

12
obligatory for liberal women and men because Fourth Wave feminists stopped

negotiating and massively started saying “no” in both real life and in Internet calling-

out culture. One example of that is the question asked women on the red carpet about

their outfit followed by a Twitter campaign #AskHerMore. Amy Poehler created this

hashtag to shed light on the nature of questions posed to women and men by the

media. She believed that it is time to put an end to asking women about their outfits

and starting asking them serious questions. Since that hashtag went viral, men on the

red carpet started being asked whether they are feminists.39 Such hashtag campaigns

that are later intercepted by the mainstream media are Fourth Wave’s power in late

capitalism. No service provider is willing to take the risk of repelling such large

number of interconnected and therefore influential potential clients.

On the other hand, Andi Zeisler argues that the cultural prevalence of

feminism came at a cost of deradicalization and depoliticization. Ironically, it can be

observed that many young women proudly wear cheap t-shirts, produced for a slave

wage by children from the Third World, with a caption “Feminist.” The same young

women often are not familiar with radical feminist ideas, but would proudly post

pictures of themselves in such t-shirts, tagged with an appropriate hashtag on

Instagram or other social platforms. Feminism has simply become popular. A feminist

became a label to aspire to and be proud of, and it can be observed that celebrities are

massively claiming this label to increase their popularity. It is true that Katy Perry’s

perfumes marketed as “royal, rebellious, and feminist” will not magically end

patriarchy, but they do not harm feminism either. If anything, such marketing

familiarizes increasing numbers of women with the word and, arguably, encourages

them to claim the label and perhaps get political with time. For Fourth Wave feminists

39
Ibid.

13
there is no one definition of feminism. The label is customizable; not every feminist

has to be an activist. In the end, universalization of feminism is what the movement

has always strived for.

1.2. How social media influence feminist activism

Arguably, Fourth Wave of feminism started at the time of popularization of social

media (around year 2008) and their further development as an application for

smartphones.40 The Internet had become an important tool for organizing by the late

1990s. 41 Social media, originally created to connect people, serve as means for

mobilization. Social movement scholars Alexandra Segerberg and Lance Bennet

theorized connective action logic of activism, explaining how social media serve as a

tool for online mobilization, which may, but does not have to, lead to the streets. 42 If

the event remains exclusively online, it is a connective action. If it starts online and

leads to action in the streets, the connective action translates to collective

action. Bennet and Segerberg characterize connective action as “based on

personalized content sharing across media networks.”43 The content can be in the

form of a hashtag on Twitter, photo on Instagram, a meme on Facebook or Tumblr, or

a combination of all these. The frame is customizable; each person can add a

personalized sentence, link, or a photograph to this common frame, making a political

statement. Such a statement is then further spread by social sharing throughout social

networks. This way people feel personally included in the movement, contrary to

being passive recipients of similar events. Connective action may constitute an entire

40
Claire Cain Miller, “Twitter Acquires Atebits, Maker of Tweetie,” The New York Times, 09.04.2010,
https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/twitter-acquires-atebits-maker-of-tweetie/ (accessed:
9.08.2017).
For a fact, Facebook was created in 2004 and introduced its mobile version in 2007. Twitter was
created in 2006, and introduced a mobile version in 2010.
41
Jeffrey S. Juris, Networking Futures (Durham: Duke University Press, 2008).
42
Bennett, Segerberg, “The Logic of Connective Action.”
43
Ibid.

14
political event that happens exclusively online (#YesAllWomen), or may serve as

organizing platform and lead to collective action on the streets (Women’s March on

Washington). The logic of connective action that leads to collective action facilitates

the organization and coordination of events such as Women’s March on Washington,

because it quickly reaches, connects and informs large numbers of targeted audiences

with little or at no cost. It is also a convenient tool for mobilizing exclusively online

communities and engaging them in a debate.

This preference for peer-to-peer interaction and self-organizing without

political parties or NGOs is emblematic for the do-it-yourself Millennials and

Generation-Z that grew up on Youtube tutorials. As marketing researchers report:

Gen Z consumers have been raised on social media and community, and
instantly distrust any brand voice that’s not perceived to be authentic, Witt
says. Involvement is key to connecting with this age group: ‘The primary
way to connect to Gen Z is peer to peer, really involving them in your
brand, your product development and making them feel part of.’44

As stated in PWC research, Generation Z is “always on their phones.”45 For people

whose online and offline lives are merged, inclusiveness through social media is the

only way to engage them in activism. This means that online friends (weak ties) are

nearly as important as friends in real life. As Manuel Castells argues, this preference

signifies an egalitarian approach to friendships, where “social characteristics are less

influential in framing, or even blocking communication.”46 People born in the Internet

era (after 1990) have more in common with their peers from different cultures than

with their own parents and grandparents. This makes the Fourth Wave feminist

44
Andy Friedman, “Marketing to Gen Z: It’s About Involvement,” American Marketing Association,
(date of publication is unknown) https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/Marketing-
to-Generation-Z.aspx (accessed: 11.08.2017).
Amy Mitchell, Jesse Holcomb, “State of the News Media 2016,” Pew Research Center
Journalism&Media, June 2016, http://www.journalism.org/2016/06/15/state-of-the-news-media-2016/
(accessed: 24.11.2016).
45
Amy Gibbs, “Creative, authentic, mobile: The characteristics of Generation Z,” Digital Pulse,
24.06.2017, https://www.digitalpulse.pwc.com.au/creative-authentic-mobile-gen-z/ (12.08.2017).
46
Manuel Castells, The Rise of The Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and
Culture, vol.1 (2000): 388.

15
movement transnational. Feminism is now a part of a broader social justice

movement. As it intersects with other identities, it is hard to separate it from racial

justice and LGBT movements.

According to a study of Pew Research Center from 2016, 62% of American

adults get their news from social media (71% among Millennials). The most popular

news platforms are Reddit (70%), Facebook (66%), Twitter (59%), Tumblr (31%),

Instagram (23%), YouTube (21%).47 Interestingly, the majority of all Facebook and

Instagram users are female.48 In addition, Blacks and Hispanics use Twitter and

Instagram (but not Facebook) in bigger numbers than whites [Figure 1]. Bonilla and

Rosa argue that the reason for increased presence of people of color in social media

platforms is that they enable “collectively identifying, articulating, and contesting

racial injustices from the in-group perspectives of racialized populations. Whereas in

most mainstream media contexts the experiences of racialized populations are

overdetermined, stereotyped, or tokenized.”49 Arguably, increased presence of women

(on Facebook and Instagram) and racial minorities (on Twitter and Instagram)

signifies that these platforms give marginalized people a sense of agency. Facebook

and Instagram are known as the visual platforms where users post pictures, often

selfies, thus avoiding a photographer’s hand and eyes.50 Arguably, this gives women

47
Jeffrey Gottfried, Elisa Shearer, “News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2016,” Pew Research
Center Journalism&Media, 26.06.2016, http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-
social-media-platforms-2016/ (accessed: 24.11.2016).
48
Maeve Duggan, Nicole B. Ellison, Cliff Lampe, Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, “Demographics of
Key Social Networking Platforms,” Pew Research Center, 9.01.2015,
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/demographics-of-key-social-networking-platforms-2/
(accessed: 1.03.2017).Interestingly, men preponderate on the social media platform (Twitter) that uses
short text over pictures (Instagram and partially Facebook).
49
Yarimar Bonilla, Jonathan Rosa, “#Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and the racial
politics of social media in the United States”, American Ethnologist vol. 42, no. 1 (2015): 4-16.
50
Facebook is becoming less and less popular among younger generations (Generation-Z) who distrust
posting their personal content on a platform that collects information, and stores it as corporate
property. Instead, they opt for Snapchat to send their selfies.

16
a sense of agency and illusory control over the content they post.51 Moreover, social

media are perceived as a safe space, where nobody can get shot or sexually harassed

for taking a stance. On the contrary, in case of Internet bubbles, Twitter could be a

place of comfort and support, which does not mean that Internet is a violence-free

space.

Figure 1
User demographics of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; data from Pew Research Center (2014).

51
Illusory because the content, once it is posted, becomes the property of a corporation, in this case
Facebook or Instagram. Due to this fact Generation Z, contrary to Millennials, opts for Snapchat that
allows sending photographs to chosen peers or a group, which they can see once and only for a number
of seconds, without storing them.

17
Marketing trends show that later in time Generation-Z will change social media

platforms from text oriented Facebook and Tweeter to picture oriented Instagram and

Snapchat.52 Thus, arguably, feminists in the next five years will be creating more

witty feminist art (on screens, streets, paper, bodies) that could be shared with the

world—a trend that has already started.53

Conclusions

For Fourth Wave feminists’ virtual space is as much of a public sphere as

physical space. Hashtag activism, however, has both supporters and skeptics. The

latter argue that it is mere slacktivism, which might be satisfying but in reality

accomplishes noting.54 Evgeny Morozov argues that online activists are in fact cyber-

utopians, who falsely believe that tweeting can change the world.55 Yet Morozov is a

political science scholar, and in 2017 no serious, well-informed feminist can dismiss

positive impact of hashtag feminism. The most frequent argument against it is that it

does not lead to the streets, yet when it is a form of connective action, it is not always

its goal to do so. On average, Americans spend five hours a day on mobile devices.56

In the twenty first century, it is easier to catch one’s attention online than offline.

Online activism is a way of informing, discussing, and raising awareness among

online communities which are no less real than offline ones as “[people] stare at

screens while waiting in line for fast food, riding in elevators or walking down the

52
Amy Gibbs, “Creative, authentic, mobile: The characteristics of Generation Z,” Digital Pulse,
24.06.2017, https://www.digitalpulse.pwc.com.au/creative-authentic-mobile-gen-z/
53
Selfie feminism on Instagram, feminist digital art on Instagram and Tumblr profiles.
54
Slacktivism implies that easily performed online political activities such as “liking” or retweeting
make participants feel good but lack real impact on political outcomes (Morozov, 2009).
55
Evgeny Morozov, The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, (New York: PublicAffairs,
2011), xiv.
56
Authors unknown, “U.S. Consumers Time-Spent on Mobile Crosses 6 Hours a Day,” Flurry
Analytics Blog, 2.03.2017, http://flurrymobile.tumblr.com/post/157921590345/us-consumers-time-
spent-on-mobile-crosses-5 (accessed: 3.08.2017).

18
street.”57 Therefore it is not on the streets but in virtual space where the feminist

slogans are most effective. This wave’s approach to activism is speaking up about the

harmfulness of patriarchy to women, men and non-binary persons.

This feminist generation of “Internet natives with no future” reclaims voice

and subjectivity on social media.58 It is even truer for women of color. Fourth Wave

feminists use social media as they are tired of vertical power structure where one

communicates to many. They are tired of the exclusion they experience as, mostly,

Millennials.59 They prefer “plebeian” tools with horizontal power structure that are

accessible to everyone without entry-level requirements such as a college degree. Not

having a college degree does not equal lack of competence; Millennials use Internet,

and now also pop culture, to learn about feminist issues and meet likeminded people.

When feminists connect online, even if they do not know each other in real life, it

gives them a sense of belonging. Because of the indexing nature of hashtags, it is easy

to find one’s own fraction within a broad feminist community.

57
The Associated Press, “Spend almost 11 hours a day using media? That’s OK: You’re average,” The
Denver Post, 29.06.2016 http://www.denverpost.com/2016/06/29/media-use-america-11-hours/
(accessed: 3.08.2017).
58
Ruth Milkman, “A New Political Generation…”
59
Generation-Z just starts entering the job market, they are still very young.

19
 Chapter II

Feminist hashtags on Twitter as examples of connective action logic of Fourth

Wave feminists’ activism.

Since 2013 hashtags have been used as a form of feminist activism. Arguably, 2014

was the year in which feminist online activism has reached its tipping point.60 As

Soraya Chemaly argues, “[women] who were isolated in their experiences by culture

and their families for the first time can exceed those boundaries.”61 Among the most

popular hashtags in 2014 were #YesAllWomen, #BringBackOurGirls,

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, and #WhyIStayed.

A post on Twitter consists of 140 characters, among them hashtags, links and

text. A hashtag is an index system that facilitates finding a certain thread or topic and

identifying people who share the interest. This makes Twitter a convenient space for

online discussions and activism, since the posts are always public, the tools encourage

audience participation by sharing, reacting to or posting a similar message under the

same hashtag. Because of these tools, feminists easily connect and interact in the

name of a common cause.

Hashtag activism occurs when big numbers of postings appear on social media

under the same hashtagged word, phrase or sentence with a social or political claim.62

It is characterized by multivocality and dialogicality.63 A hashtag it is also a trend

determinant because analyzing hashtags helps to define the tendencies. The most

reposted hashtags become noticeable events, and are taken on by the mainstream

60
Nisha Chittal, “How social media is changing feminist movement,” MSNBC, 3.26.15,
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-social-media-changing-the-feminist-movement (accessed:
1.08.2017).
61
Emanuella Grinberg, “Why #YesAllWomen took off on Twitter,” CNN, 27.05.2014,
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/27/living/california-killer-hashtag-yesallwomen/index.html (accessed:
17.07.2017).
62
Guobin Yang, „Narrative Agency in Hashtag Activism: The Case of #BlackLivesMatter”, Media and
Communication, 2016, vol. 4, no. 4: 13-17.
63
Bonilla and Rosa, „#Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and the racial politics of social
media in the United States.”

20
media as stories of collective public opinion and commented on. This chapter

examines two feminist hashtag campaigns #YesAllWomen and

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, arguing that hashtags are Fourth Wavers’ way of

raising awareness about the subject of violence toward women and the remaining

problem of racism within the feminist movement. Hashtag campaigns are also a

means for intra-community discussions and consciousness-raising. This chapter

argues that Fourth Wavers find the Internet the most democratic of all channels of

communication.

2.1 #YesAllWomen as an example of feminist connective action.

#YesAllWomen hashtag was used in May 2014 to raise awareness about sexism and

violence that women experience on a daily basis. This hashtag was created by an

anonymous Twitter user, a Muslim woman of color, after the shooting in Isla Vista,

California, near the campus of University of California, which left six people dead

and thirteen wounded.64 The shooter was a twenty-two-year-old man whose Internet

activity on masculinist forums was described as misogynistic. In his pre-shooting

video, the gunman declared as targets “all you girls who rejected me and looked down

on me, treated me like scum while you gave yourselves to other men.”65 His views

were gender as well as class and race based, but the killing spree was an example of

violence motivated by misogyny.66

64
Jennifer Medina, “Campus Killings Set Off Anguished Conversation About the Treatment of
Women,” New York Times, 26.05.2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/us/campus-killings-set-
off-anguished-conversation-about-the-treatment-of-women.html?ref=us&_r=1 (accessed: 27.11.2016).
Kaye M., “On #YesAllWomen, One Year Later,” The Toast, 26.05.2015, http://the-
toast.net/2015/05/26/yesallwomen-one-year-later/ (1.08.2017).
65
Irin Carmon, “Elliot Rodger’s war on women,” MSNBC, 26.05.2014,
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/elliot-rodger-war-women-yesallwomen-hashtag (accessed: 27.11.2016).
66
Elliot Rodger, “My Twisted World The Story of Elliot Rodger,” Document Cloud, (date unknown),
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1173808-elliot-rodger-manifesto.html (accessed:
22.11.2016).

21
 In reaction to the shooting, men wrote posts and tweets with the hashtag

#NotAllMen in an effort to explain that not all men are violent misogynists. In

reaction to this hashtag, an anonymous female user deconstructed the #NotAllMen

hashtag by creating a #YesAllWomen one, expressing that even though not all men

are harassers, all women experience sexism and are targets of misogyny. Some of the

posts read:

BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE WOMAN I KNOW HAS A STORY

ABOUT A MAN FEELING ENTITLED TO ACCESS TO HER BODY.
EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. #YESALLWOMEN.67

BECAUSE I WORE A FAKE WEDDING RING WHEN I

WAITRESSED. “BELONGING” TO ANOTHER MAN WAS THE
ONLY WAY TO GET CUSTOMERS TO BACK OFF.68

BECAUSE EVERYONE'S FIRST RESPONSE TO A CASE OF RAPE

IS TO ASK THE VICTIM ‘HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING?’.69

#YESALLWOMEN KNOW HOW TO HOLD THEIR KEYS AS A

WEAPON.70

GIRLS GROW UP KNOWING THAT IT'S SAFER TO GIVE A FAKE

PHONE NUMBER THAN TO TURN A GUY DOWN.71

BECAUSE WE'RE PRUDES WHEN WE DON'T SLEEP WITH YOU

AND WHORES WHEN WE DO.72

BECAUSE THE SOCIETY IS MORE COMFORTABLE WITH

PEOPLE TELLING JOKES ABOUT RAPE THAN IT IS WITH
PEOPLE REVEALING THEY HAVE BEEN RAPED.73

67
Emily Hughes, 24.05.2014, Twitter.com/emilyhughes
44% of teenage students who admitted to sexually harassing their peers did not think that it was a „big
deal” http://www.aauw.org/research/crossing-the-line/
68
Tess Sharpe, 24.05.2014,Twitter.com/sharpegirl
69
Kayle DeGroote, 24.05.2014, Twitter.com/KaylaIChooseYou
70
Alice M., 24.05.2014, Twitter.com/AliceMittens
71
Kate Tuttle, 24.05.2014, Twitter.com/Katekilla
An online poll by stopstreetharassment.org showed that 75% of women have been followed by a
harasser on the street, see: http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/resources/statistics/
72
Erin Campbell, 15.05.2014, Twitter.com/OriginalOestrus
Network Writers, “Why everyone should read #YesAllWomen on twitter after Elliot Rodger’s rampage
in Santa Barbara,” news.com.au, 26.05.2014, http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/why-
everyone-should-read-yesallwomen-on-twitter-after-elliot-rodgers-rampage-in-santa-barbara/news-
story/75b07611e6b5b93aaa76b26518a4d0d3 (accessed: 13.12.2016).
73
Leah Meyerhoff, 24.05.2014, Twitter.com/LeahMeyerhoff.

22
 Users who wrote these posts used the power of the narrative form. The

hashtag offered an easily customizable frame #YesAllWomen that was followed by a

personalized story or example of the experience of living in a patriarchal culture. The

stories deconstructed and countered the defensive argument that not all men do

violence to women, which is used to brush off women’s confessions and silence them.

Instead of targeting individual men, women raised awareness by blaming the culture

that justifies abusive behavior.74 From the sample of 2 million tweets examined by

Barker-Plummers, the main topics in the conversation were women, men, rape,

feminism, fear, sex, and violence.75

These Twitter posts focused on everyday life events in a woman’s, often a

colored woman’s, body. Fueled by accumulated frustrations, they expressed bitterness

and disillusionment coming from knowledge that violence toward women is not only

still existing but also normalized and often excused. Despite the gravity of the topic,

they also used sarcasm and irony. They shared a common assumption that all women

lived under threat and gave examples of cultural adaptation (e.g. wearing a fake ring).

Some posts presented survival strategies for living in patriarchy.

The posts focused on personal experience (explicit micro event) that was

linked to political situation (implicit macro meaning).76 For example, many users

agreed that wearing a fake engagement ring protected women from groping because

men would respect other man’s claim more than the woman’s “no.” 77 Another

example would be “#YESALLWOMEN KNOW HOW TO HOLD THEIR KEYS AS

A WEAPON.” This statement does not simply imply that the woman lives in an

74
Three times more women than men participated in #YesAllWomen action.
Bernadette Barker-Plummer, David Barker-Plummer, “#YesAllWomen, Digital Feminisms, and New
Dynamics of Social Change,” Draft paper (November 2015) for presentation at International
Communication Association, June 9-13, Fukuoka, Japan.
75
Ibid.
76
Ibid.
77
Ibid.

23
unsafe neighborhood but that she has to fear sexual attacks on the street because she is

a woman.

The #YesAllWomen posts offered a counter-narrative to the masculinist,

mainstream one that violence toward women is “either not serious (e.g. cat calling) or

an aberration and exception (e.g. gang rape and mass shootings by misogynous men

and boys) to the norms.”78 Arguably, the ability to share their own version of the story

on their own terms is one of the reasons for this generation of women to turn to social

media for activism. Social media allow activists to present their own narratives on

their own terms. They allow the free flow of information within and outside of the

feminist community in the logic of many to many, instead of one to many.

2.2. Reasons for which feminists turn to Twitter for activism.

If traditional media are a bourgeois virtual space, social media are plebeian

public spheres79 Sending messages in traditional media, such as television, newspaper

or radio, requires a certain level of access, such as formal education, fame, and

connections, whereas social media can be accessed by anyone with a smartphone

connected to Internet. The logic of technology 2.0, such as social media, indicates that

information is shared by many to many, instead of one to many, which makes it more

democratic and equal.80 Twitter is not just a medium, it gives users a sense of agency

and helps them reclaim their voice; especially when users themselves are in control of

the tweets’ content. Traditional media have content restrictions, whereas social media

do not.

78
B. Barker-Plummer, D. Barker-Plummer, “#YesAllWomen, Digital Feminisms, and New Dynamics
of Social Change.”
79
Jurgen Habermas, “Further Reflections on the Public Sphere”, In: Craig Calhoun, Habermas and the
Public Sphere (Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1992), 421-457.
80
This does not mean total equality. A tweet by a celebrity with a lot of followers has a much bigger
chance of being reposted than a tweet written from a non-popular account.

24
 Yet, social and traditional media are not mutually exclusive. Traditional media

often report on viral online events (#YesAllWomen has been covered among others

by Time Magazine, New Yorker, CNN, The Atlantic, New York Times, Guardian,

Washington Post, BBC, People Magazine, Fox News), but they do it through a

different lens. In case of #YesAllWomen, mainstream media mentioned the name of

Elliot Rodger and put emphasis on the Isla Vista shooting because of the architecture

of news discourse based on “hooks.”81 Moreover, the conservative medias’ narration

on this event more often used the argument that #NotAllMen are violent and denied

micro-macro links between aggression such as groping and rape or murder, thus

missing the point of the action.82 It is flattering for feminists that mainstream media

report on feminist Twitter events as they are still considered a marginal phenomenon,

yet Fourth Wave activists do not entirely trust them to report the events without

tokenization and distorting the message.

2.3. #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen: Twitter as space for feminist debate and

consciousness-raising.

Twitter has become a consciousness-raising space for women where they can talk

about their personal experiences and strategy. This tactic, borrowed from Second

Wave feminists, was adapted to the needs of the Internet generation. Twitter promises

to provide anonymity, and by extension relative safety.83 It links different intersecting

groups by additional hashtags, for example #woc (women of color) or #LGBTQ or

#Queer. Kaye M., the anonymous Muslim woman of color who created the

#YesAllWomen hashtag says that it provides “a place to find my people, like-minded

81
B. Barker-Plummer, D. Barker-Plummer, “#YesAllWomen, Digital Feminisms, and New Dynamics
of Social Change.”
82
Ibid.
83
The posts can be written from personal or an anonymous account.

25
women and activists, and enjoying outspoken discussions on life and discrimination

and diversity and everything in between.”84 She adds:

As a Muslim woman, and a woman of color, I was constantly bruised by

the targeted javelins of stereotypes and casual hatred. Here, in this online
space, I was able to connect with voices that felt the same frustrations,
that shared my need to challenge the narrative and add our own, that were
able to topple yet another obstacle to our daily lives and our
individuality.85

Twitter is an especially popular space for activism among people of color, arguably

because it is accessible and safer than the streets. As Bonilla and Rosa argue, it also

does not misrepresent and tokenize as traditional media do.86 Since social media form

bubbles—clusters of particular groups of interests—Black feminists have their own.

#BlackTwitter gave birth to movements such as #BlackLivesMatter, and

#BlackFeministTwitter to its feminist counterpart #SayHerName.

In 2013 a black woman, Mikki Kendall, made another influential hashtag.

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, to illustrate “the ways in which white women shut out,

silence and ignore women of color, intentionally and accidentally” and “who want to

talk for us, but not listen to us.”87 Tina Vazquez wrote in Bitch Magazine, a popular

feminist journal, that this hashtag “inadvertently granted women of color permission

to express the pain of being silenced and ignored and dismissed, of being relegated to

a footnote in a movement that promised sisterhood.”88 Brittney Cooper, an assistant

professor at Rutgers, admits that there is power disparity in online feminist

84
Kaye M., “On #YesAllWomen, One Year Later,” The Toast, 26.05.2015, http://the-
toast.net/2015/05/26/yesallwomen-one-year-later/2/ (accessed: 16.07.2017).
85
Ibid.
86
Bonilla and Rosa, “#Ferguson: Digital protest…”
87
Tracy Clayton, “Twitter Takes on White Privilege in Feminism,” The Root, 13.08.2013
http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/twitter-takes-on-white-privilege-in-feminism-1790884913 (accessed:
15.07.2017).; Tina Vazquez, “Why ‘Solidarity’ is Bullshit,” Bitch Magazine, 16.08.2013,
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/why-solidarity-is-bullshit (accessed: 15.07.2017).
88
Vazquez, “Why ‘Solidarity’ is Bullshit.”

26
community between white women and women of color.89 She argues that white

women get more feminist book deals and writing careers than women of color do. She

claims that contribution of women of color to the online movement did not translate

into advancement opportunities.90 Feminists of color are also often chastised by white

feminists for their tone while trying to express their anger at the status quo. Despite

the intersectionality ideals that Third and Fourth Wave feminists claim, different

feminist groups do not listen to and do not understand each other. With her hashtag,

Mikki Kendall managed to illustrate one of the most enduring tensions in feminism.

Kendall wrote a first #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen post in reaction to a

debate around Hugo Schwyzer, a self-proclaimed male feminist and a Pasadena City

College professor of history and gender studies.91 For a long time, Black feminists

had complained that Hugo Schwyzer was publicly attacking them.92 His career was

built only on two undergraduate courses about feminism, yet, due to his privilege, he

obtained an academic job.93 Women of color claim that despite their voices, white

feminists kept dismissing their concerns, and instead were sympathizing with

Schwyzer. They continued publishing his articles on their online platforms instead of

siding with women of color.94 As argued in NPR, white feminists' approach was

"emblematic of the same myopic application of feminism."95 Kendall wrote:

’Digital feminists’ like Jill Filipovic…, Jessica Coen, Jessica Valenti and
Amanda Marcotte were, in our view, complicit in allowing Hugo
Schwyzer to build a platform – which, as he has now confessed, was

89
Michelle Goldberg, “Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars,” The Nation, 29.01.2014,
https://www.thenation.com/article/feminisms-toxic-twitter-wars/ (accessed: 14.07.2017).
90
Ibid.
91
Ali Vingiano, Jessica Testa, “Controversial ‘Feminist’ Hugo Schwyzer Has A Very Public
Meltdown,” Buzzfeed, 10.08.2013, https://www.buzzfeed.com/alisonvingiano/why-did-controversial-
feminist-hugo-schwyzer-have-a-twitter?utm_term=.hojyJ8PYG#.isv37kRqZ (15.07.2017).
92
Ibid.
93
Ibid.
94
NPR Staff, “Twitter Sparks A Serious Discussion About Race And Feminism,” NPR, 23.08.2013,
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/22/214525023/twitter-sparks-a-serious-discussion-
about-race-and-feminism (accessed:18.07.2017).
95
Ibid.

27
 based partly on putting down women of color and defending white
feminism.

For Kendall, this event meant lack of solidarity, and as she did not have opportunities

to publish in mainstream media or in academic journals, she started embracing her

frustration in a series of tweets. She illustrated her assumptions that white feminists

remain unchallenged by the historic call for solidarity.96 Some of the popular tweets

included:

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when Rihanna is criticized for wearing a

traditional carnival outfit but Lena Dunham is praised for going topless.97

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen calls Hillary the first viable women's

candidate even though Shirley was the first and only nominee.98

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when convos about gender pay gap ignore

that white women earn higher wages than black, Latino and Native men.99

96
Mikki Kendall, “#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen: women of color’s issue with digital feminism,” The
Guardian, 14.08.2013,
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/14/solidarityisforwhitewomen-hashtag-
feminism (accessed: 19.07.2017).
97
Black Bordeaux, https://twitter.com/SoleAurochs
98
Sydette, https://twitter.com/Blackamazon
99
Rania Khalek, https://twitter.com/RaniaKhalek

28
Figure 2
Tweet by Ayesha A. Siddiqi.

These tweets underlined the problem of marginalization of black feminists in public

debate and illustrated double standards regarding black and white women. The

necessity of creating this hashtag proves that many Fourth Wave feminists, despite

their efforts and claims of intersectionality and equality, replicate the failures of

previous waves.100

The controversies around #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen and its implications

sparked a debate on feminist websites, primarily between Michelle Goldberg, Tina

Vazques, Roxane Gay, and Sarah Milstein. For some, the

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen debate was healing, other feminists found certain

100
Although Mikki Kendall, despite being a Twitter feminist, is a Third Wave feminist (she is not a
Millennial nor Generation-Z).

29
arguments hostile and unfair. One of the main critiques to Kendall’s militant stance

was Michelle Goldberg who dubbed the debate “Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars.”101

In her article, she asks whether the online calling out culture advances the movement

or works toward its failure.

What Black twitter feminists perceive as calling out, white feminists often

perceive as an attack. Michelle Goldberg, a white feminist, argues that Black

feminists are policing other women on how to be radical enough. She argues that

calling out is too aggressive and intimidating.102 Katherine Cross, a Puerto Rican trans

PhD student who in her academic work studied online social dynamics, writes on her

blog:

I fear being cast suddenly as one of the ‘bad guys’ for being insufficiently
radical, too nuanced or too forgiving, or for simply writing something
whose offensive dimensions would be unknown to me at the time of
publication.103

Cross argues that white cis middle class “mainstream” feminism is more acceptable to

criticize than its other forms.104 White feminists, when called out for being racist, tend

not to speak in their own defense because they are afraid of being policed if they do.

They are accused of being ignorant, failing to notice the issue and thus showing their

racism. Even though Cross admits that anger of minorities is justified, both Goldberg

and Cross argue that due to hostility Twitter is not a safe space for activism.

Sarah Millstein, a white feminist, had a different opinion on

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen debate. She published an article in Huffington Post

addressing other white feminists: “5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own

Racism,” pointing out rules such as “assume your discomfort is telling you something

101
Michelle Goldberg, “Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars.” /
102
Ibid.
103
Katherine Cross, “Words, Words, Words: On Toxicity and Abuse in Online Activism,” Nuclear
Unicorn (blog), 3.01.2014 https://quinnae.com/2014/01/03/words-words-words-on-toxicity-and-abuse-
in-online-activism/ (accessed: 12.08.2017).
104
Ibid.

30
about you, not about the other person.”105 She argues that white feminists have a

problem with being defensive. In her opinion, they should educate themselves on the

ways in which power works, and learn to be more egalitarian.106

Roxane Gay, a black lesbian feminist, author of the popular book Bad

Feminist, points out that what was dubbed as Twitter War is in fact a mere

disagreement. She argues that tensions are not necessarily a bad thing, because such

disagreements and the lessons coming out of them can lead to internalization of true

intersectionality.107 She equally points out the generalizing aspect of the hashtag

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, noticing that not all white feminists are racist, and that

not all Black feminists are ready to turn their backs on feminism.108 She argues that

despite usefulness of internal disagreements in order to advance, such conflicts should

not overshadow the common feminist goal of ending patriarchy and fighting sexism.

She recognizes the importance of social media in the feminist debate, as they have

empowered the previously overlooked voices, and enabled coexistence of varying

streams of feminism.109

Marime Kaba and Andrea Smith add yet another voice to this debate, arguing

that Twitter is no more and no less toxic as the rest of the world. They argue that

social media mirror “the dynamics and forces of oppression that structure the world at

large.”110 They agree with Roxane Gay that social media provide opportunity for the

105
Sarah Millstein, “5 Ways White Feminists Can Address Our Own Racism,” Huffington Post,
24.9.2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-milstein/5-ways-white-feminists-can-address-our-
own-racism_b_3955065.html (accessed: 12.08.2017).
106
Ibid.
107
Roxane Gay, “Where Twitter and Feminism Meet,” The Nation, 17.04.2014,
https://www.thenation.com/article/where-twitter-and-feminism-meet/ (accessed: 12.08.2017).
108
The counter argument is that even though not all white women are racist, all racial minorities
experience racism.
109
Gay, “Where Twitter and Feminism Meet.”
110
Marime Kaba, Andrea Smith, “Where Twitter and Feminism Meet,” The Nation, 17.04.2014,
https://www.thenation.com/article/where-twitter-and-feminism-meet/ (accessed: 12.08.2017).

31
marginalized.111 They equally notice that before the Internet era feminists used to

write open letters in press to each other, but it was possible only for the privileged.

Social media opened the public debate and made it more democratic, offering access

to those who do not have opportunity to publish to traditional media or resources to

travel.112

This feminist infighting about race, dubbed as Toxic Twitter Wars, is not a

new phenomenon – after all three previous feminist waves had had their share of

painful debates on this topic – but as Lori Adelman argues, it might be more visible in

the digital age. Conflict is unavoidable considering the growth of the movement,

because as more people participate in the debate, there are more people to disagree

with. It is more visible because the debate happens in the online public sphere.113

Anonymity of the users has both good and bad sides. Often, neither name nor

biography of Twitter participants are known. Anonymity facilitates online bullying

for whatever reason or lack of it, for example lack of knowledge on a political issue,

“wrong” knowledge. In extreme cases, a bullying message ends with a hashtag

#GetHer/Him, which is a call for other users to start bullying that person. Another

double-sided perk of online feminist debate is that it is personal, not academic. On the

one hand, the fact that it is personal makes it authentic and offers catharsis, on the

other hand, it is unfavorable for the debate because the user has no distance to the

discussed issue and a small issue is prone for escalation.

111
Ibid.
112
Ibid.
113
Lori Adelman, “Where Twitter and Feminism Meet,” The Nation, 17.04.2014,
https://www.thenation.com/article/where-twitter-and-feminism-meet/ (12.08.2017).

32
Conclusions

How does Twitter feminism change the movement? In cases when a hashtag

goes viral, it attracts mainstream medias’ attention to an issue or problem that might

have been overlooked by this particular public due to existence of Internet bubbles. It

forces the mainstream audiences to listen to the marginalized voices. It is also a way

of discussion between different fractions of feminist community.

Tweets are narrative-based; they tell stories, often personal ones. As

Rosemary Clark argues, the dramatic performance of these personal stories increases

the effectiveness of the narration, and draws mainstream media’s attention. 114 A

drawback is that rage fuels more tweets, which generate page views and ad

impressions.115 The so-called Feminist Twitter Wars also create profit for Twitter

corporation. This way, marginalized communities enrich the white male application

developer lords from Silicon Valley.

Twitter, as it is only a tool, has both good and bad sides. It only depends on

how twitter feminists decide to use it. Arguably, the Twitter disagreements have a

potential to make the movement more aware of discrepancies in power between

feminists of different backgrounds and to make it stronger.

114
Rosemary Clark, “’Hope in a hashtag’: the discursive activism of #WhyIStayed,” Feminist Media
Studies, vol. 16, no. 5 (2016): 788-804.
115
Cross, “Words, Words, Words…”

33
 Chapter III

Women’s March on Washington as a Twenty-First Century Feminist Movement

On November 9, from the point of view of the majority of Americans who voted, an

unimaginable thing happened: Donald Trump won the presidential elections and was

to become the 45th President of the United States.116 His election was followed by

collective grief. Many Americans, especially minorities, felt threatened by promises

that Trump made.117 Some of these were: limiting immigration to the USA (especially

from Mexico and Muslim countries) even for the green card holders, sending refugees

back to their countries, defunding Planned Parenthood, repealing Obamacare. It

should be noted that during his presidential campaign, Trump managed to insult

everybody who he felt threatened by.118

Such behavior and policies indicated to many that for Donald Trump people’s

lives do not matter, and do not count as equal. He had gone on record differentiating

between good people versus “bad hombres” and “nasty women” who could be

“grabbed by the pussy” as if they were objects. 119 Yet, in the 2010s political

climate—in the aftermath of feminist, LGBT, and racial justice movements, and

116
The majority of Americans voted for Hillary Clinton (she won the popular vote by over 2.8 million
votes). Yet, Donald Trump won by 77 Electoral College votes. Not many people believed that a person
without political experience, who built his political capital on offending minorities, could become the
President of the United States.
117
Karen R. Humes, Nicholas A. Jones, Roberto R. Ramirez, “US Census Bureau, Overview of Race
and Hispanic Origin: 2010”, US Census Bureau, March 2011,
https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf (accessed: 11.02.2017).
According to 2010 Census data, racial minorities alone make up to 44% of total population including
Latino and Hispanics as a minority (Hispanic and Arab minorities count in the census data as whites).
Add to that women who are opposed to Donald Trump, LGBTQ community and it becomes a curious
case of minorities that constitute the majority.
118
Jasmine C. Lee, Kevin Quealy,” The 363 People, Places, and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on
Twitter: A Complete List,” The New York Times, updated 25.08.2017,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/01/28/upshot/donald-trump-twitter-insults.html (accessed:
30.01.2017).
119
Hillary Clinton also received criticism for calling Trump’s supporters “deplorables”.

34
especially after the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which gained popularity in the

social media, going back to the values of the times when white males dominated the

population seems unimaginable.

The idea for the march appeared online, but the march on 21 January 2017

was organized by four women: Bob Bland, Carmen Perez, Tamika Mallory, and

Linda Sarsour. The main event took place in Washington D.C. attracting 500

thousands people; sisterhood marches were organized in 673 places in the United

States and around the world attracting the remaining 4,5 million people.120

Gloria Steinem said in her speech during the Women’s March on Washington:

“The Constitution does not being with ‘I, the President’, it begins with ‘We, the

people.’” 121 Feminists felt the need to manifest their disagreement with Donald

Trump’s words and behavior. This massive response in a form of the march came

from progressive women who felt threatened by the President-elect’s declarations.

There was a real danger that Planned Parenthood, the biggest free reproductive

healthcare provider, would cease receiving public funding and would have to stop

helping women in need.122 Many people feared that they or their loved ones or friends

would get deported.123 They were scared that the policemen would shoot them on the

streets for fitting a profile or that they would be simply the victims of gun violence.124

120
The number has been rounded up. Data about the estimated number of protesters:
https://www.womensmarch.com/sisters
Lake Research Partners’s poll https://dailyaction.org/files/2017/03/poll.pdf

121
“Gloria Steinem at Women's March on Washington - Full Speech,” YouTube video, 10:13,
published by Democracy Now!, 23.01.2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ukHjJzRCas
(accessed: 3.03.2017).
122
“Scarlett Johansson's Speech at The Women's March On Washington (Full HD),” 8:53, published
by Reflect, 21.01.2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ofCjjUz-Q&t=67s (accessed: 3.03.2017).
123
“Sophie Cruz at the Women's March on Washington,” published by Define American, 2:58,
21.01.2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPa464CEbuE (accessed: 3.03.2017).

124
Moreover, Donald Trump is further liberating the gun policies.

35
They were equally scared of being raped and did not agree to be lead by a president

who represents patriarchal values and shares with the world his sexist, racist and

xenophobic opinions through Twitter and traditional media, thus, by extension, gives

other people legitimization to do the same, increasing the probability of attacks on

minorities and their rights.

Why did American women mobilize in such big numbers in 2017? What

factors contributed to the WMoW’s unprecedented success? What does it say about

American feminism of the 21st century? This chapter analyzes American women's

mobilization manifested through Women's March on Washington. It aims to answer

the foregoing questions and explain the factors behind its success, focusing on

intersectional feminism and the role of information and communication technologies

(ICT).

This chapter argues that while American women's mobilization manifested

through Women's March on Washington should be seen in the political context of the

election of Donald Trump for the President of the United States, the key to its success

was formulation of a coalition of different groups of interest—a phenomenon unique

to the era of intersectional feminism—and the fact that the march followed the logic

of connective action based on 2.0 Web (social media).

3.1. Reasons for mobilization of American Women.

Donald Trump’s electorate was predominantly white, male and rather older than

Clinton’s (40-65+). It was also less educated than Clinton’s. 125 Consider the

Ashley Killough, Ted Barrett, “Trump signs bill nixing Obama-era guns rule,” CNN politics,
28.02.2017, http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/28/politics/guns-mental-health-rule/ (accessed:
02.03.2017).
125
Exit polls by race, age and gender in 2016 elections, CNN politics, 23.11.2016,
http://edition.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls (accessed: 10.02.2017).

36
demographic characteristics of the voters in the 2016 election as split by gender:

women favored Clinton by 13 points; men favored Trump by 11 points (among which

was 71 percent of white non-college-educated men); 52 percent of white women

voted for Donald Trump. 126 Given this data, it could be argued that choosing Trump

for the President of the United States was a sign of the new wave of backlash against

emancipation of women and minorities. The fact that adds to the argument is that the

majority (83%) of those who voted for Clinton, stated that Trump’s treatment for

women bothered them “a lot,” while for the majority (86%) of Trump’s supporters it

did not matter “at all.”127 As Susan Faludi argues in her eponymous book:

[Backlash] has always arisen in reaction to ‘women’s progress’, caused

not simply by a bedrock of misogyny but by the specific efforts of
contemporary women to improve their status, efforts that have been
interpreted time and again by men— especially men grappling with real
threats to their economic and social well being on other fronts— as
spelling their own masculine doom . . . . Backlash has been set off not by
women’s achievements of full equality but by the increased possibility
that they might win it. It is a preemptive strike that stops women long
before they reach the finish line.128

Analogically, as argued by Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan Hajnal, the phenomenon of

white backlash which is not unprecedented, applies to racial and ethnic minorities and

has significant impact on political choices of both white and non-white Americans.129

Abrajano and Hajnal argue that in the past large segments of white population

mobilized against minority coalitions in order to remain in power. They name

examples of the Reconstruction period as the first large scale white mobilization

against empowerment of Blacks. Another wave of backlash occurred in the South of

126
Ibid.
127
Ibid.
128
Susan Faludi, Backlash. The Undeclared War Against American Women (New York: Crown
Publishers, 1991), 20.
129
Marisa Abrajano, Zoltan Hajnal, White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics
(Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017).

37
the United States during the Civil Rights Movement.130 They argue that “the current

backlash rarely incorporates the violent or explicitly racist elements of previous racial

conflicts but other parallels are harder to dismiss.”131

Let us try to understand why Trump attracted so many votes. In the twenty-

first century most women are economically and sexually emancipated, thus they can

no longer be forced to have sexual intercourse or to stay in an abusive relationship

due to the fact that few men can use the argument of the single provider to dominate

their partners. Moreover, women became politically emancipated to the point of one

of them running for president of the United States (and, as it turned out, winning the

popular vote), daring to reach for the highest office, which for ages belonged to white

men, just after America had its first Black President.132 Arguably, this was too much

of a cultural revolution for predominantly older, white, heterosexual, working-class

men, who felt that the world they grew up in, with unquestioned white heterosexual

male dominance over women and racial and sexual minorities has come to an end. It

meant that from the top of the power pyramid they were gradually falling to the

bottom. Many white men, especially in the so called Rust Belt, perceived Clinton’s

victory as a blow to their own masculinity, which made them use aggressive and

sexist rhetoric attacking Trump’s (and their own) opponent in order to restore their

manhood. The slogans included: “DON’T BE A PUSSY, VOTE FOR TRUMP,”

“TRUMP 2016: FINALLY SOMEONE WITH BALLS,” “HILLARY SUCKS BUT

NOT LIKE MONICA,” “LIFE’S A BITCH: DON’T VOTE FOR ONE.” “KFC

130
Ibid.
131
Ibid., 5.
132
Moreover, a Black woman (Michelle Obama) is being asked to run for the office in 2020. When
Gloria Steinem mentioned Michelle Obama’s name in her speech during Women’s March on
Washington, the crowd cheered the loudest during the entire speech.

38
HILLARY SPECIAL. 2 FAT THIGHS. 2 SMALL BREASTS… LEFT WING.”133

Such openly misogynistic aggression should be interpreted as a “manhood-restoring

tactic.”134

According to the precarious manhood theory, womanhood is biological, but

manhood is earned by proving oneself.135 Paraphrasing Simone de Beauvoir, one is

not born a man, one becomes a man. Therefore manhood can be lost with, for

example, losing a job, which, according to Arlie Russell Hochschild’s study, is the

biggest fear of conservative male voters.136 Womanhood, on the other hand, is not

perceived as connected to woman’s competences, it is lost with, for example,

menopause or undergoing a sex transition. Because of the anxiety of losing their

status, and by extension their manhood, many white men chose a President who

promised to bring them back the dominant position at the expense of women’s and

minorities’ rights. The men and women that voted for Trump did not want to be

perceived as weak and incompetent. In addition, as Hochschild discovers,

conservative voters did not want the federal government’s influence and help as it

meant weakness.137 Instead, they believed in the myth of the self made man.

One of the key controversy’s surrounding the recent election results has to do

with impact of feminism and other identity-based movements. In his New York Times

article, Mark Lilla looks at Trump’s victory from a political scientist’s angle. He

argues that Hillary Clinton failed to attract this group of men and women from the red

states because she excessively focused on “identity politics.” Lilla points out that if

133
Peter Beinart, “Fear of a Female President,” The Atlantic, October 2016,
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/10/fear-of-a-female-president/497564/ (Accessed:
2.02.2017).
134
Joseph A. Vandello, Jennifer K. Bosson, Dov Cohen, Rochelle M. Burnaford, Jonathan R. Weaver,
“Precarious Manhood,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 95, no. 6 (January 2009):
1325-39.
135
Ibid.
136
Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American
Right (New York: The New Press, 2016).
137
Ibid.

39
she had focused on commonalities instead of differences, she might have won. On the

contrary, Suzanna Walters argues that if sexist and racist comments did not

discourage people from voting Trump, and when “’trump that bitch,’ and ‘lock her

up’ (and much worse)” were the everyday refrains of Trump and his voters, it is

unconscionable to expect that “identity politics” was a deal breaker.138 Walters adds

that had Hilary Clinton universalized her politics, she would only serve straight white

men, because that is the true universal and “transparent” identity.139

Ironically, the election of Donald Trump brought large numbers of women

into political activism, contrary to the popular prediction that it would be Hillary

Clinton who would motivate women into action. Arguably, if Clinton had taken the

Oval Office over from President Obama, no abrupt change would have happened.

Clinton would have provided a steady growth of the economy and a safe public space,

leaving no space for feminist rebellion. Donald Trump managed to galvanize a great

number of people by insulting them with sexist and racist language, and shocking

comments and promises. 140 Significantly, most of the insults were expressed on

Twitter; the messages were quickly transmittable and quotable, and drew a large

public. He called Mexicans “bad hombres,” which antagonized much of the Latin-

American population. Comments that most offended women were calling his

opponent a “nasty woman he bragged about kissing women without consent as well as

about grabbing them by their genitals, as if they were his possession.141 His words and

138
Suzanna Danuta Walters, “In Defense of Identity Politics,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and
Society (In Print: Fall 2017), http://signsjournal.org/currents-identity-politics/walters/ (accessed:
3.03.2017).
139
Ibid.
140
Lee, and Quealy,”The 363 People, Places, and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter: A
Complete List.”
141
“RAW: Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005 Original”
YouTube video, 3:06, posted by Scanner Audio, 7.10.2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPomcb0_IaE (accessed: 3.03.2017). In the video Donalt Trump
says: "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet.

40
behavior reflect a machismo culture with which he identifies. Donald Trump

apologized for his words, yet the fact that a man who insults women and minorities is

nevertheless eligible for a chair of President of The United States, and is supported by

a part of his electorate precisely because of that, was a major source alarm to people

who came to WMoW on January 21st 2017.142 His words and behavior sent a clear

message to the public that disrespecting women and violence toward them and toward

minorities is acceptable and could pass unpunished.

Women’s March of Washington is a consequence of the fact that there could

not be an agreement to the white-supremacist-heteropatriarchal culture in 2016/17, in

a country where women and racial and ethnic minorities make up the majority of all

US citizens. Especially not after the Occupy Movement, which is known for its slogan

“We are the 99%,” implying that the factual majority derives its power from group

solidarity.

Given the name of the march, it is not surprising that 60.6% of marchers

declared they were there for women’s rights. 143 Other cited reasons were

environmental causes (35,5%), for racial justice (35.1%), for LGBTQ rights (34.7%),

reproductive rights (32.6%), equality (25.1%), social welfare (23.1%), immigration-

connected causes (21.6%), peace (19.5%), police brutality and/or Black Lives Matter

(18%).144

Ironically, Donald Trump did the feminist movement a favor by insulting

women and minorities, and promising to take their rights back while making

Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them
by the pussy. You can do anything.“
142
In “The Whimp Factor” Stephen Ducat described the direct link between femiphobia and a man’s
tendency to embrace the right-wing political opinions. He argues that politicians must relinquish
anything that is feminine to succeed. Such is a realm of American politics, which praises male
candidates for their sexist comments and punishes female candidates for their gender.
143
Dawn M. Dow JD, Dana R. Fisher, Rashawn Ray, “This is What Democracy Looks Like!,” The
Society Pages, 6.02.2017, https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/02/06/this-is-what-democracy-
looks-like/ (accessed: 20.02.2017).
144
Ibid.

41
“America Great Again.” Instead, he made feminist movement great—something that

feminists themselves could not achieve for over one hundred years—by uniting all the

intersecting groups women who then gathered together to resist his policies.

3.2. How was it possible to attract five million people?

It all started on Facebook. Teresa Shook, a retired attorney from Hawaii, on a wave of

disappointment with the presidential elections result posted a thought on her

Facebook wall on 9 November 2016. The thought was a call to action: let’s march on

Washington D.C. Within hours her friends started tagging and inviting their own

friends. When the event appeared on Facebook, and was shared in the secret group

called Pantsuit Nation, 10.000 persons confirmed their interest in the march

overnight. Bob Bland, a white woman from New York City, had shared the same idea

as Shook, and created a similar event. When they learned about each other, the two

women merged their events into one, which hour by hour was shared in big numbers

by the effect of budding, drawing thousands of participants.145

Whereas it is true that the election of Donald Trump was a trigger for the

Women’s March on Washington, the organizers underline that it was not specifically

aimed against him as a person, but at the highly racist and misogynist system he

represents. The real enemy, they declared was the system of US capitalism, which

supports the culture of patriarchy where white, rich, protestant, heterosexual, cis-

gendered, able-bodied men are the most privileged, and are handed economic,

145
Bob Bland, Official Co-Chairs’ statement regarding the origins of the Women’s March on
Washington. Facebook post in the Women’s March on Washington Group, November 21, 2016.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2169332969958991/permalink/2178409449051343/ (accessed:
22.01.2017).

42
political and representative power over minorities.146 It is also for this reason that the

march was not called “Everyone’s March” but specifically “Women’s March,” and

that it is lead by women of color (white, Black, Latina, and Arab). This does not mean

that men and privileged women were not welcome to join, but it means that because

of their advantage they were expected to look back and notice people who are often

deprived of rights and possibilities the privileged can enjoy, and support them by

showing up to minority-organized marches as allies.

The non-white background of three organizers was an important feature of the

WMoW’s and a major source of its success, as it gave representation to women of

color and made them feel that it is their march too. The WMoWs Chairs were:

Tamika Mallory, a Black woman, national organizer for the 50th Anniversary of the

March on Washington; Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American racial-justice advocate

from Brooklyn; Carmen Perez, a Latina justice and peace advocator; Bob Bland,

white fashion entrepreneur. The three minority organizers were not mere tokens, but

experienced activists who in 2015 had led a march from New York City to

Washington D.C. (#March2Justice) to end police brutality toward Blacks and

Arabs.147 They were professionals who have been organizing intersectional protests

for their entire careers, and their experience, contributed to the WMoW’s success.

Initially, the march was named by Shook as “Million Women’s March,” a

name that was originally claimed by Black women marching on Philadelphia in

1997. 148 The appropriation of the name evoked African American women’s

146
Among them women, who constitute a majority of American society, but are discriminated against
by the capitalist, patriarchal system.
147
Catherine Cusumano, “The Women of the Women’s March: Meet the Activists Who Are Planning
One of the Largest Demonstrations in American History,” W Magazine, 19.01.2017,
http://www.wmagazine.com/story/womens-march-on-washington-activists-organizers (accessed:
3.02.2017).
148
They did not mention Million Man March’s (1995) name as a source of frustration coming from
name’s appropriation.

43
frustration and resentment. They started using social media to express their

disappointment and to urge the organizers to change the name. One Black woman

wrote on the Facebook page of the WMoW: “I will not even consider supporting this

until the organizers are intersectional, original and come up with a different name.”149

The march was thus renamed as Women’s March on Washington, but this, too,

evoked dissatisfaction, because it appropriated the name of Dr. Martin Luther King,

Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington. Nevertheless, the name stayed, with the explanation

on the part of the organizers that their initiative draws from Kingean philosophy of

non-violence, and in a way celebrates his activism.150

Organizers appear to have been quite aware of the difficulties awaiting them.

The alliance of so many interest groups—women of color, white women, LGBT

community, women with different class and economic background, women with

different level of bodily ability, women with different stances on political issues such

as abortion, men and children—was not uncomplicated, as history of feminism is

rather a history of endless splits and identity politics. Historians of the movement

agree that it is still in a phase of negotiation of space, learning how to coexist and

support each other regardless of the differences. As Kathleen A. Laughlin et al. argue

in their essay, the history of feminism was for over one hundred years a history of

separate movements formed by women of different identities, and therefore different

groups of interest. 151 The beginning—as mainstream books about the history of

American feminism, such as Century of Struggle by Eleanor Flexner, indicate—lies in

Seneca Falls in 1848, where white middle and upper class women started the

149
Ashley Dejean, “Million Women March protest was appropriating black activism so organizers did
this,” Splinter, 11.12.2016, http://fusion.net/story/369581/million-women-march-protest-appropriation/
(accessed: 9.02.2017).
150
Some of the Black women argued that during the non-violent Women’s March on Washington no
person was arrested, and that the police did not intervene only because of the presence of white
women.
151
Laughlin et al., “Is It Time to Jump Ship?...”

44
movement, advocating for the women’s right to vote. Next to, but not with the

suffragists, stood Emma Goldman, a Jewish anarchist and feminist, who due to her

political views and working-class background did not entirely belong among the

upper-class ladies from the suffragist movement.152 Not long before Goldman, an

African-American feminist and suffragist from the South of the USA, Ida B. Wells,

was opposing lynching in the South with other Black women. She had to do it

separately from the mainstream suffragist movement, as most of white feminists were

afraid that supporting a Black cause would endanger their own. On the same basis

(threat to the feminist cause due to the stereotype of lesbians as of manly looking and

man-hating) lesbian feminists were excluded from the second wave feminist

organization NOW, presided over by Betty Friedan.153

Feminist movements of first and second wave were based on exclusion due to

differences of priorities among feminists. These exclusions were ignored or

downplayed and criticized by Third Wave feminists, who introduced the concept of

intersectionality, the idea that

multiple identities intersect to create a whole that is different from the

component identities. These identities that can intersect include gender,
race, social class, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, age,
mental disability, physical disability, mental illness, and physical illness
as well as other forms of identity.154

In the past, in a situation where minority women had to choose which group to be

loyal to, they were choosing the ones that were not centered around gender. Race and

ethnicity trumped gender for most black women. In other words, femaleness was not

their primary bond, as for women with multiple identities the one of gender was often

152
Marshall Everett, Emma Goldman the Woman Leader of Anarchists, (Whitefish MT, United States:
Kessinger Publishing, 2010).
153
Friedan called lesbians in NOW a “lavender menace,” a name they reclaimed later as a positive term
for lesbian feminists. They even founded an informal lesbian feminist group of the same name.
154
“Intersectionality,” Wikipedia, last modified 30.08.2017,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality

45
not the most oppressing. That caused a fragmentation in the feminist movement of

Second and Third Wave, and despite of the situation getting better, this division is

still in some part ongoing among the Fourth Wavers.

As noted by Kimberle Crenshaw, “the political demands of millions speak

more powerfully than the pleas of a few isolated voices,” which reflects the American

saying, “together we stand, divided we fall.” WMoW’s organizers go by this

philosophy, and it is certainly this movement’s biggest strength.155

3.3. Why did the largest feminist demonstration ever occur in 2017?

The Women’s March on Washington could be considered a starting event of a next

wave of the feminist movement—if the wave metaphor was still relevant in 2017—or

as part of transnational feminism. The march attracted persons of all ages, therefore it

cannot be connected to just one age group and cannot be reduced to the third wave

feminism label of rebelled daughters of second wave feminists. The march was rather

an example of coalition of all groups of interest and age, reaching beyond waves (or

forming streams that are a part of the same river) between which there was

historically little communication. This coalition included LGBT persons, people with

disabilities, workers, immigrants, refugees of all ages, genders, incomes, class

backgrounds, skin colors and ethnicities.

As stated on the official WMoW’s website, it places itself in a long line of

justice and equality activism of suffragists and abolitionists, the Civil Rights

Movement, the feminist movement, the American Indian Movement, Occupy Wall

Street, Marriage Equality, Black Lives Matter. The organizers recognize the lineage

without perceiving those equal rights movements as separate, but rather regarding

155
Kimberle Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence
Against Women of Color,” Stanford Law Review vol. 43, no. 6 (Jul., 1991), 1241.

46
them as parts of one intersectional feminist struggle. Without suffragists women

would not be able to vote and there would be no second wave, which won women

legal and institutional rights. Without second wave and their successes and mistakes,

third wave could not have university careers, learn and come up with emancipatory

slogans and much needed term of intersectionality. Without girl power and riot grrrl

way of expression of Third Wave feminists of the 1990s, Fourth Wave feminists

would not so boldly use social media in order to advance feminist and justice agenda,

which plays a great role in twenty-first century’s activism.

2016/2017 was the year of bridging differences between American women. In

her speech, Gloria Steinem addressed protests outside of America, including Black

Protest in Poland (despite confusing its date). 156 Although Teresa Shook never

mentioned being inspired by transnational feminist movements, it could be possible

that she and Bob Bland were inspired by Polish Black Protest that took place in the

fall of 2016 as the information from Poland alongside photographs and films travelled

the world.157 In October 2016, Polish women gathered on the social media and went

on the streets dressed in black, proving that protests and resistance work, by stopping

the abortion-banning law proposal from being legalized. They were supported by

sister-marches in several countries, which is a sign of budding transnational feminist

solidarity. Polish strike was followed by #NiUnaMenos protests in South American

countries, where the number of femicide is one of the highest in the world due to

violent machismo culture. Women from South-American countries united and

communicated, making their feminist strikes transnational.

156
Democracy Now!, “Gloria Steinem at Women's March on Washington - Full Speech.”
157
#BlackMonday hashtag reached 16 800 000 persons.
Wprost, “Ogromna popularność hasztaga #CzarnyProtest. Znalazł się wśród najpopularniejszych na
świecie,” Wprost, 5.10.2016, https://www.wprost.pl/kraj/10025875/Ogromna-popularnosc-hasztaga-
CzarnyProtest-Znalazl-sie-wsrod-najpopularniejszych-na-swiecie.html (accessed: 2.02.2017).

47
 One cannot exclude the possibility that foreign feminist demonstrations could

have been an inspiration for Teresa Shook to express the thought of marching on

Washington “I think we should march.”158 Whatever its sources, Women’s March on

Washington became a part of the 2016/2017 wave of transnational feminist rallies,

receiving a significant support from sister-marches all over the world.

3.4. The factors that contributed to WMoW success; from connective to

collective action.

The success of the WMoW could also be explained by the shift of 21st century

movements’ logic from connective to collective action, or rather combination of

both.159 Collective action logic (traditional, non-internet one), used by second wave

feminists consisted of a large group of people who were expected to act together in

order to achieve a common goal (e.g. economic emancipation of women). It was

time and energy consuming, therefore one had to be very motivated in order to engage

in such activism. In addition, one could have been expected to have previous activist

experience, which could be discouraging to many. Cited by Bennet and Segerberg,

Mancur Olson argues that "in large groups, in which individual contributions are less

noticeable, rational individuals will free-ride on the efforts of others: it is more cost-

efficient not to contribute if you can enjoy the good without contributing." 160

Moreover, in case where not enough people contribute and the goal is not achieved,

one has a sense of loss of time and effort, which is further discouraging. In the light of

158
Daisha Riley, “Grandmother Who Organized Washington March ‘Felt Women Needed to Stand
Up’,” abc NEWS, 17.01.2017, http://abcnews.go.com/US/grandmother-organized-washington-march-
felt-women-needed-stand/story?id=44814367 (accessed: 2.02.2017).
159
Bennett, Segerberg, “The Logic of Connective Action.”
160
Ibid., 749

48
this logic it is understandable why this event attracted so many people.161

Connective action is based on the Internet, and in case of WMoW, in the

social media. It significantly lowers the resource cost by retaining the emotional

commitment to actions. It requires little engagement in exchange for satisfaction

coming from a sense of belonging to the movement. Taking a selfie in a pussyhat

during the march, even better when it is a group photo with friends, contributed to

such sense of being a part of a great women’s movement, and a part of a historic

event. The WMoW participant, Leslie Jamison, noticed:

This did not seem like vanity so much as a useful motivating impulse, the
desire to say: I was a part of this. We all wanted our presence
documented. If activism would have to be totally selfless—no affective
payout, no emotional or digital souvenirs—it would never happen at all.162

The organizers used easy-to-personalize action themes, to which most people

can relate, such as “women's rights are human rights,” “we will resist,” or “we the

people.” Often the themes take a form of memes—easily transformable images—

spread on the Internet by individual users.163 The themes general, but at the same time

could easily be personalized.

One example of that is a white-red-blue poster-meme of a woman in three

variants: dressed in a hijab made of the American flag, with a flower in black, swung

by the wind hair (representing a Latina), and a Black woman with braids,

accompanied by a caption “WE THE PEOPLE are greater than fear,” targeting

systemic violence toward women of color [Figure 3]. Alongside that particular meme

were other: portraying a senior Native-American woman with a caption “WE THE

RESILIENT have been here before,” and a woman belonging to the LGBTQ

162
Leslie Jamison, “The March on Everywhere The ragged glory of female activism.” Harpers, April
2017, http://harpers.org/archive/2017/04/the-march-on-everywhere/4/ (accessed: 20.05.2017).
163
“Meme,” in: Oxford Living Dictionaries, https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/meme
(accessed: 6.03.2017).

49
community holding a poster which reads: “ACHIEVING OUR FULL SELVES BY

FULLY EMBRACING EACHOTHER” [Figure 3]. They carried an emotional

element, as they were immersed in US history, touching the pain of the minorities

caused by American politics, and because they were referring to the preamble of

Constitution of the United States, which further strengthened their claim for equal

treatment.

Other slogans-turned-graphics expressed solidarity (“Our Liberation Is Bound

In Each Other's”), resistance and persistence (“This Is A Marathon, Not A Sprint”),

gratefulness to the activists who came before ("We Honor The Legacy Of The

Movements Before Us"), encouragement to coming out to the streets (“The Rise Of

The Woman = The Rise Of The Nation”) as well as showing feminist pop-culture

icons such as Princess Leia. Immediately, the Internet community made the “Pussy

grabbing” memes, which was a reference to Donald Trump's words about grabbing

women by their genitals. Some variants depicted a cat ready to attack, accompanied

by the caption "Pussies Grab Back,” or a meme of Bernie Sanders holding a cat,

showing an example of the correct way of grabbing a pussy with a caption “THIS IS

HOW YOU GRAB A PUSSY” [Figure 4]. The pussy-grabbing theme was also

present on the WMoW in the form of signs. There was Donald Trump grabbing the

Statue of Liberty by her genitals, referring to his lack of respect for democratic

values. There was also a reference to online dating application Tinder, which sign

advised to “swipe left” on Trump’s profile, meaning no chance for a date for the

pussy grabber because such comments are the opposite to attractive [Figure 4]. The

50
Internet loved these memes and signs and the #PussiesGrabBack hashtag became

popular on Twitter, making WMoW supporters feel powerful for a short time.164

Such memes, due to their broad, but easily personalized content (adding a

funny caption by person A to the Bernie Sander’s photograph with a cat taken by

person B) are keenly spread over personalized networks (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,

Instagram). They travel through personal appropriation by social sharing, with a

possibility of reaching big numbers of people. Internet was a key factor facilitating

mass engagement in WMoW, as it lowered the entrance barrier to activism. It was

enough that one had access to a given social network and posted a comment or a

selfie with an adequate hashtag. Online activism was not time and money consuming

and it did not require a college degree or previous activist experience, which made it

an ideal tool also for the underprivileged.165

The WMoW's online coordinating platform and official social media channels

together took up the role of an established political organization that was not elitist

but highly approachable. The organization, contrary to the online activism, was

hierarchical. It had an agenda and a team of experienced organizers beside it, who at

the same time were not feminist celebrities and seemed to be the “everywomen” who

gathered online around a specific issue, even if in reality they were the established

leaders who have led democratic marches before. Additionally, due to their diverse

ethnic backgrounds, they were highly relatable by women of different groups of

interest and ethnicities.

164
Nicole Puglise, “'Pussy grabs back' becomes rallying cry for female rage against Trump,” The
Guardian, 10.10.2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/10/donald-trump-pussy-grabs-
back-meme-women-twitter (accessed: 1.04.2017).

165
Twitter is a tool used keenly by underprivileged people. It is often used by Black activists and
young people. Perhaps this is also Donald Trump’s way for establishing a connection with his young
or/and economically disadvantaged voters.

51
 Facebook and Twitter created a sense of belonging by making women feel that

they are a part of a group where people, regardless of their background and identity,

could share their opinions and ideas through comments or tweets, and participate in a

dialogue, which gave them a sense of agency. A Facebook comment of a Black

woman influenced a change of the name of the march from Million Women’s March

to Women’s March on Washington, as well as the composition of the National Chair

board (inclusion of minority women in the leadership team). 166 Women of all

backgrounds and identities felt that it is truly their march, that they have something to

say, and that their words and comments influence its outcome. Because they felt that

it was their march, they were more keen to engage in the event’s promotion: to post a

selfie with a hashtag, which encouraged their social network to join, write a post or

share materials advertising the march. The most popular of such online action was

#WhyIMarch, which consisted of posting a hashtag, following by a reason or personal

story, on person’s own social network. It could be accompanied by a selfie alone or

with friends. It had a function of self-expression, as well as of engaging the

bystanders, the audience of such statement.

In the era of 2.0 feminism of Women’s March on Washington everyone could

make a political statement, and because of that sense of belonging and agency, the

connective action of organizing on Facebook developed into a successful collective

action of marching on the streets of America and other countries. Mix of connective

and collective action was a convenient solution for those who could not march in

person, but wanted to participate or contribute. There was a variety of forms of

connective gone collective action participation that did not require coming to District

of Columbia yet demanded more than just mere clicktivism.

166
Farah Stockman, “Women’s March on Washington Opens Contentious Dialogues About Race,” The
New York Times, 9.01.2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/us/womens-march-on-washington-
opens-contentious-dialogues-about-race.html (accessed: 22.01.2017).

52
 If one was not able to physically march due to his or hers physical limitations

or chronic illness, one of the solutions was to participate in a Disability March. It was

organized online by a small group of writers with ability/health issues in order to

increase visibility of persons with disabilities who were a part of the WMoW

movement, but due to their limitations could not attend the march in person.

Participation in the online Disability March consisted of sending one’s photography

accompanied by a short description of oneself, optionally accompanied by the reason

why they marched, that would be published on the website and in the social media.167

One of the marchers, Ruthellen Hooker Sutton, wrote

I’m joining the march because I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a rare
genetic connective tissue disorder, and Complex Regional Pain
Syndrome. After a lifetime of disability, I’ve been in a powerchair for ten
years. My 28 year old daughter has it too, which breaks my heart and
frightens me for her future. I wish that I could be there in person, but I’m
grateful for this opportunity for disabled people to participate.168

Other reason frequently mentioned by Disability Marchers was defense of Affordable

Care Act, which for many was the only affordable solution to get treatment, as it

required the insurers to accept all applicants regardless of their pre-existing

conditions, charging everyone equal rate.

The pictures started being posted one day before the WMoW (January 20th)

and stopped on January 29th. They were also twitted with the hashtag

#disabilitymarch. 3014 persons took part in the online march.169 The case to use the

website and the social media in order to include people, who otherwise would not be

able to participate, was unprecedented in the history of justice marches. It increased

visibility and finally included women who claimed to be usually omitted by the

women’s movement, and it reminded the feminists that disability is just another

167
Disability March’s official website, https://disabilitymarch.com (accessed: 23.02.2017).
168
Ruthellen Hooker Sutton, Disability March, 31.01.2017,
https://disabilitymarch.com/2017/01/31/ruthellen-hooker-sutton/ (accessed: 22.02.2017).
169
The Disability March’s official website.

53
intersecting identity. “We are not invisible. We are here. We have voices. We add

value. We matter.”—wrote Cathy Chester, explaining why the Disability March is an

important part of the WMoW.170

Beside the online Disability March there was another way to include persons

with disabilities. The marchers could walk in the name of the person who was not

able to march herself, just like a stranger from a Facebook group who proposed to

carry Cathy Chester’s name on a necklace so she could “walk” in Washington.171 The

group was called #MarchingWithMe, and the action consisted of pairing a person who

walked in a march with a person who due to their illness was not able to appear on the

march in person. The walker would pin a photograph of their partner to their coat so

they could symbolically march together.172 Additionally both partners would be

connected through social media and share photos and experiences from the WMoW

(presumably through Facebook’s Live streaming).173

To compliment online participation, one could additionally contribute to the

march by becoming a “craftivist,” a person who knits pussyhats (after downloading

the pattern).174 It is a pink hat with cat ears—a reference to Trump’s “grab her by the

pussy” comment. The idea came from the Los Angeles based Little Knittery shop’s

team: Kat Coyle, who was the designer of the pussyhat pattern, and her former

students, Krista Suh, Jayna Zweiman, who have spread the idea on the social media,

mostly on Instagram and Twitter [Figure 6 and 7]. It became a symbol of resistance

170
Cathy Chester, “Why the Disability March Is an Important Part of the Women’s March on
Washington,” The Mighty, 20.01.2017, https://themighty.com/2017/01/disability-march-on-
washington/ (accessed: 22.02.2017).
171
Ibid.
172
Leah Oren, “#MarchingWithMe,” Suffering the Silence 12.01.2017,
http://www.sufferingthesilence.com/single-post/2017/01/12/MarchingWithMe (accessed: 22.02.2017).
173
In reality the lack of Internet connection in such crowd (as it usually happen) was probably
impossible for live streaming.
174
Katie Dupere, “8 ways to support the Women’s March on Washington if you can’t make it to D.C.,”
Mashable 7.01.2017, http://mashable.com/2017/01/07/pussyhat-project-womens-
march/#_kB3JiyCCmq1 (accessed: 23.02.2017).

54
and unity, and a visual way of connecting with the marchers in the District of

Columbia. Knitting a pussyhat and sending it (also from abroad) to the collecting

points where they were distributed to the marchers was one of the solutions for

participation in the march when one could not do that in person. Wearing such hat

outside of the marching context was also a symbolic form of participation in the

resistance, which the organizers claim to uphold as long as Donald Trump is a

president of the United States. The pussyhat was in the same time a visual opposition

to Trump’s red trucker “Make America Great Again” hats present on his rallies and

adding to the visibility of the crowd. The pussyhat was not linked to a specific culture,

which was a good strategy in the multicultural USA, but rather became a powerful

symbol resistance to the misogyny and sexist culture. This made it a universal token

to use for people all around the world who wished to express their opposition to such

culture.175

The so-called “craftivism” had a function of bonding for women in close

community circles, but also across space and age. As argued in American ELLE

magazine by Krista Suh, the hats have been knitted by teenagers and seniors of 99

years old. In the interview with Al Jazeera, Kat Coyle mentioned an email that she

have received: “I'm 70 years old and haven't knitted in 50 years. I have friends in

theirs 80s who are activists and are making more hats.”176 One of the national Co-

Chairs, Linda Sarsour, notices that there was even a tutorial on making the

“pussyhats” on YouTube, facilitating the production of the hats for those who had no

175
Jamison, “The March on Everywhere. The ragged glory of female activism.”
As argued in the Harper’s article, the hat was pink, implying that all the vaginas are pink, which is not
true. The pussyhat is a symbolic representation of a vagina, which fails to represent women of color.
176
Melissa Chan, “Pussyhat creators craft next step in defiance of Trump,” Al Jazeera, 20.02.2017,
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/02/pussyhat-creators-craft-step-defiance-trump-
170212062524948.html (accessed: 30.02.2017).

55
prior knitting experience.177 “This is an example of what grassroots organizing looks

like, people keeping each other warm at the march, that people can contribute.”178

Being warm during the march was an important factor of being able to participate in

the whole event.179

Whether half-jokingly or quite seriously, women said that knitting was also a

way of alleviating one’s post-elections anxiety and anger.180 During the WMoW one

could observe signs saying “I’M SO ANGRY I STITCHED THIS JUST SO I

COULD STAB SOMETHING 3000 TIMES.”181 Nevertheless, mental health and

symbolism were not the only kinds of impact that the Pussyhat Project has made. Al

Jazeera talked to a woman who was selling the handmade pussyhats with a “portion

of proceeds going to Planned Parenthood,” and to another one who donated 50

percent of the money from her sells to the American Civil Liberties Union.182 Knitting

fostered as well political actions. Some of the “craftivists” used their time making

pussyhats to “brainstorm ideas of combating Trump.”183 The article in Al Jazeera also

informed that at some point the social media network of the Pussyhat Project

redirected the knitters to call senators in order to stop the confirmation of Betsy

DeVos as a secretary of education (nevertheless, they did not succeed at stopping the

confirmation).184 It cannot be denied that a grassroots movement of pussyhats knitting

that started in a Knittery Shop and was spread through social media engaging

177
Amy Goodman, “Amy Goodman Interviews Women’s March Organizer Linda Sarsour, Now a
Target of Islamophobic Attacks,” Democracy Now! 24.01.2017,
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/1/24/amy_goodman_interviews_women_s_march (accessed:
30.02.2017).
178
Ibid.
179
American Women kept themselves warm with pussyhats in the same way Polish women kept
themselves dry during the rainy day of the Black Protest in October 2016. Both an open umbrella and a
pussyhat became symbols of women’s resistance.
180
AFP-JIJI, AP, “PussyHat activists knit feminist challenge to Trump,” The Japan Times, 19.01.2017,
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/19/world/politics-diplomacy-world/pussyhat-activists-knit-
feminist-challenge-trump/ (accessed: 30.02.2017).
181
Jamison, “The March on Everywhere…”
182
Chan, “Pussyhat creators craft next step in defiance of Trump.”
183
Ibid.
184
Ibid.

56
thousands of people made an impact. As one of the knitters has told The Japan Times,

“One hat is a curiosity, but 100,000 hats is a movement,” and in reality the pink

crowd, that to Gloria Steinem looked like an ocean, did make an impression [Figure

5].185

Figure 3
Posters created for the Women's March on Washington. Amplifier Foundation.

185
AFP-JIJI, AP, “PussyHat activists knit feminist challenge to Trump.”

57
Figure 4
Photo credit: Feminist Fight Club, Amanda Duarte, Stella Mars, 2. Photo credit: Ted Goldman, 3.Photo
credit: Paul Hunter/CSC, 4. Credit: Twitter, author unknown

Figure 5
Photo credit: Courtesy of Twitter/kylesingerrr. The pink “ocean” of marchers during WMoW, 21
January 2017.

58
Figure 6
Photo credit: Melissa Chan/Al Jazeera. Kat Coyle, standing, designed the first hat pattern.

Figure 7
Photo credit: Reuters. Zweiman and Suh are knitting the pussyhats.

59
3.5. The New New Left.

Despite the WMoW being a one-day event, the movement around it is still resisting

(as promised in slogans). A grassroots movement, with the roots in a social media

platform, was followed by a mass mobilization and transformed into a nascent

political force, named by the media a progressive liberal movement or the New New

Left that is lead by women. The community built around the march engages in a range

of political actions aimed at pressuring those in power.186 It consists of educating

themselves in intersectional feminism in order to become a better ally, gathering local

communities and organizing for 2020 elections.187 Through the group euphoria that

appeared after the protest’s success, the march revived the spirit of sixties civic

activism in Americans and encouraged women to take bigger part in politics by

convincing them that it is in their interest as well to make and influence laws. WMoW

10/100 actions campaigns to call the congress people or take part in politics

encouraged women to run for political office. After Women’s March on Washington,

Emily’s List—a progressive organization that recruits and trains women to run for

political office—noted the increase of candidates from 900 in 2016 to 11,000 in

2017.188

During the last year of Obama’s administration, Michelle Obama organized

the United States of Women summit, which focused on gender equality in United

States. Their slogan “Today, we will change tomorrow” looks forward to the future,

which contrasts with Donald Trump’s election slogan “Make America Great Again”

186
“10/100 actions,” Women’s March, https://www.womensmarch.com/
187
Ibid.
188
Ed O’Keefe, Mike DeBonis, “Democrats partner with political newcomers aiming to create anti-
Trump wave in 2010 midterms,” The Washington Post, 21.04.2017,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democrats-partner-with-political-newcomers-hoping-to-
create-anti-trump-wave-in-2018-midterms/2017/04/21/91514ec8-2502-11e7-bb9d-
8cd6118e1409_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.69c9e2609113 (accessed: 15.03.2017).

60
that harks back to the nostalgia of the past (a time highly unfavorable to women and

minorities). While looking forward to the 2020 elections, many voices call Michelle

Obama for running for the president’s office. Moreover, according to the WSJ/NBC

poll, 59% of respondents view Michelle Obama in a positive light, which make her

more popular than her husband (51%), Hillary Clinton (40%), and any other

politician.189 In the light of the success of Women’s March on Washington and

women’s recent political awakening, it is probable that America’s next FLOTUS will

be an African-American woman (given that she would be willing to run for the

office).

Conclusion

The Women’s March on Washington was the biggest feminist march in the history of

US, with five million people marching around the world and over three million in the

United States alone (the number depends on the source). The march in the District of

Columbia alone drew three times more people than Donald Trump’s inauguration.190

It managed to gather such great number of participants by the virtue of combining

connective and collective action logic, and because of its highly inclusive,

intersectional character. The effortlessness of taking part in an online discussion and

of taking an action also contributed to the popularity of the WMoW movement.

During only two and a half months of planning, The WMoW engaged new women in

activism (33% of marchers were the first-time protesters) and proved the old

American saying true “United we stand, divided we fall”—showing rather a socialist

189
“Study #16991,” NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey, mid-October 2016
http://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/16991NBCWSJMiddleOctoberPoll.pdf (accessed:
15.03.2017).
190
Tim Wallace, Alicia Parlapiano, “Crowd Scientists Say Women’s March in Washington Had 3
Timesas Many People as Trumo’s Inauguration,” The New York Times, 22.01.2017,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/22/us/politics/womens-march-trump-crowd-
estimates.html (accessed: 30.03.2017).

61
penchant of group solidarity than a neoliberal belief in power of an individual. The

unity trend was not only national.191 Women’s March on Washington should be

considered a part of the Fourth Wave: a transnational wave of feminist

demonstrations that took place in fall/winter 2016/2017 around the world.192 All these

demonstrations were powered by social media and organized in response to systemic

violence done to women and minorities due to oppressive legal regulations, or lack of

sufficient regulations in case of South America. It indicates that in twenty-first

century women keenly stand up for themselves and their “sisters” when their human

rights are in danger. Despite the intersectional improvement, the movement still

receives an inside critique for being “too white.” It is negatively called “white

feminism” for standing up mostly for white, and by extension cis-gendered, able-

bodied, economically privileged, heterosexual women, which in other words is a non-

intersectional feminism.193

WMoW is not an internet-born revolution that will suddenly change the

dynamics of American politics, but it showed the strength of the opposition and

mobilized women and minorities in the precarious time. It is probable that after the

feminist and activist awareness and interest in running for a political office has been

increased, women’s mobilization will continue and it will influence the 2018 and

2020 elections, the new president, other politicians, and citizens.

191
Dow, Fisher, Ray, “This Is What Democracy Looks Like…”

192
Such as Black Protest in Poland and Ni Una Menos protests across South America.
193
Cate Young, “This Is What I Mean When I Say “White Feminism,” Cate Young Analyzing pop
culture from a feminist perspective blog, 10.01.2014, https://www.cate-
young.com/battymamzelle/2014/01/This-Is-What-I-Mean-When-I-Say-White-Feminism.html
(accessed: 30.03.2017).

62
 Conclusion

The Fourth Wave of feminism is based on weak-tie online connections through which

it organizes and acts. It is composed of women, men, and non-binary persons of all

backgrounds, who strive for total equality. It wants to achieve it through connective

action by self-education on social media platforms through various methods such as

writing educational posts (Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, Twitter), calling out, sharing

personal experiences, illustrating their struggle by posting selfies with a text caption,

or creating feminist art. Contrary to previous waves, the Fourth Wave is focused also

on changing people’s mindset toward equality through race and gender education

(online or through personal contact).

Even though the Fourth Wave is still in formation and is primarily composed

of internet-native late Millennials and Generation-Z, but it is open to people of all

ages who share the values of all-encompassing equality and are willing to participate

in online activism. This thesis examined closely the example of Women’s March on

Washington: an event that was, arguably, organized by Third Wavers, but powered

mostly by Fourth Wavers, and attracted big numbers of Second Wavers, thus showing

the power of inter-generational alliance.

Even though the Fourth Wave is global and is about connecting, and not

dividing into separate strands, it still faces problems. Because it is so broad and all-

encompassing, there are still tensions between different feminist groups, mostly

around race. Arguably, these tensions may seem to be feminism’s weak point, but as

Roxane Gay argues, they are educational, eye-opening and needed in order to create

true solidarity and understanding. Such solidarity is what is needed in the face of what

Graff and Korolczuk characterize as global “anti-genderism” or what Donald Trump

63
proudly calls making “America Great Again.” Illiberal Populism with its conservative

gender agenda will not be defeated by the mostly digital-oriented Fourth Wavers; it

needs all kinds of activist skills and experience. Yet the logic of activism and

educative, inclusive approach of Fourth Wave of feminism, as well as willingness to

debate problematic topics, creates an umbrella for all feminists to work together.

64
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