Cyber feminism, represented demands of women in virtual social networks

• Published in: مطالعات رسانه‌های نوین Vol. 10; no. 37; pp. 322 - 271
• Main Authors: Hamideh Hosseinzadeh, Afsaneh Tavassoli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Persian
• Published: Allameh Tabataba'i University Press 01.04.2024
• Subjects: claims represented; cyber feminism; social networks; women
• ISSN: 2538-2209; 2476-6550
• DOI: 10.22054/nms.2024.73851.1568

This research was conducted in order to investigate cyber feminism in Iran and with the objectives of identifying the demands represented in feminist social networks. In the qualitative phase of this study, library sources were used to identify the demands represented, as well as to check the content of feminist social networks, therefore, a total of 44 pages were identified with the following related indicators: "1- Semiotic signs of feminist approaches in text editing and the content used, 2_ the presence of feminist keywords and related ideas in the text and content used, 3_ active feminist pages expressing demands. 4- The posts are related to the demands of women. 5- Focusing on Iranian women, 6- Introducing yourself as a feminist in the profile (bio) section of these networks", 16 popular pages with more than K50 followers were selected and subjected to data analysis. The findings of the qualitative phase were conducted using thematic analysis method, It is worth mentioning that in the current research, the classification has been done up to the level of main themes, And finally, the main themes have been obtained from the classification of minor themes, And we have reached 5 main themes. Classification at all levels has been done by manual coding, which finally resulted in a main core under the title of "removing restrictions imposed against women" and five main themes including: "1. Resolving gender injustice and inequality, 2. Resolving relative deprivation from relationships and lived experience, 3. Resolving the crisis of female agency, 4. Resolving stereotypes built around the discourse of discrimination, 5. According to these data, we can conclude: Cyber feminists take actions in the field of cyberspace, taking into account the premise of "applying restrictions against women", which results in the representation of demands in cyberspace.IntroductionOne of the important issues this research examines is to what extent the virtual havens of Iranian cyber feminisms, given the limitations they have in forming real-world havens, have been able to connect the separate and individual cells of the existing feminist system to the main sources and through that have a maximum impact on the women's community. From this aspect, the most important objectives pursued in this study are as follows: examining the characteristics of the demands represented in social networks, investigating the desires and axes of activism in feminist social networks, and reviewing the major schools of feminist thought present in feminist social networks.Materials and MethodsThe method of data collection in this study is conducted through qualitative thematic analysis, which examines and analyzes posts and texts in several feminist Instagram networks that have led to the representation of demands in the field of women's issues. The population includes all active feminist pages that meet the criteria for entry into the study. The sampling method was theoretical or purposive, where the researcher actively participated in the social network Instagram and engaged in participatory observation to search for samples. In summary, for sampling, after an extensive search among active networks that met the entry conditions to the study, a smaller number that had significantly represented demands and guided the research author in answering the qualitative phase questions were selected. This included 16 pages with over 50K followers and a collection of 320 relevant and necessary posts to answer the questions.Discussion and ResultsFrom the point of view of these feminist pages, throughout history, all kinds of norms have become customs and habits which, by determining gender roles, have restricted and encouraged women to the private sphere and engaged in domestic work and caring duties, and have pushed men towards social activities and Being bossy and high-handed which has led. Therefore, from the point of view of these feminist pages, it is very important to get rid of these stereotypes and prevent future generations from falling into them, and give women a chance to get rid of these gender roles. From the point of view of many pages, supporting and serving women by applying official laws and customary norms is only a fallacy that has been done in line with the systematic exclusion of women from all public spheres and social affairs. And this is while in order to achieve equality, we need to remove the repressive laws that have created the ground for limiting women's competition with men and removing women from the labor market and social affairs in favor of men during the determination of gender roles. It is organized in a way that always reproduces the domination of men over women. Therefore, according to these pages, the basis of the gender order is the inferiority of women, and all institutions and social relations are organized on this basis, therefore, according to the claim, the important issue is the empowerment of women in the structure. More precisely, what is said about the inferiority of women in relationships and isolation based on the content of feminist networks means that at the top of the gender hierarchy, in any way, is hegemonic masculinity, which is characterized by dominance, authority, and physical strength, and in contrast to it. All kinds of femininity are in subordinate positions of hegemonic masculinity; either when the woman is in the position of central femininity, complementing the hegemonic masculinity, or when they form subordinate femininities at the end of the power pyramid. In any case, women are marginalized and their experiences and narratives are forgotten, because culture and power are reproducing the gender order, and women with different opinions and thoughts are faced with laws, customs, and barriers that make them "oppressed" in this field. "ConclusionsSo from the point of view of these social pages, what has been evident so far in performance and relationships, Male dominance and following a male-centered procedure and the dominance of patriarchal relations have been, which has led to ignoring the basic rights of women and after that has caused women to be excluded and marginalized. So in terms of these pages in feminist social networks, If the society is to be freed from the male-centered practice and patriarchal relations in all elements of the family and social system, it is necessary to achieve a justice-oriented rethinking in her perspective and performance and seek compensation with an egalitarian and egalitarian attitude. These networks believe that not only women's rights should be recognized in private and family spheres, Rather, in the public sphere, the presence of women in society should be improved both quantitatively and qualitatively, and instead of being a decorative and showy presence Efforts should be made towards a creative, active, independent presence and to expand the goal of gender equality in society.