User:IsaBgm/TikTok

TikTok and Feminism

The growth of popularity and supposedly universal access to TikTok and other social media has contributed to a growth in popularity of digital feminist movements and discourse originating from the platform. Digital spaces like TikTok enable marginalized communities and activists, such as feminists, to feel like a safer and have an easier place to engage in discussion and dialogue or build an identity which might otherwise be impossible due to circumstances. The momentum of digital feminist movements through platforms like TikTok have additionally encouraged many social media agents and marketing campaigns around the world to adopt some degree of feminism as a part of their online image or personal brand. Tiktok's unique platform organization, of spontaneous peer-peer information sharing, has enabled its utilization for community-engaged, digital knowledge mobilization and exchange between social justice communities. However inversely enabled by the platform’s organic potential, both feminist challenges and anti-feminist reinforcement of dominant social, hierarchical, and gender values are widespread and instigated through TikTok, and content labelled as anti-feminist is itself popularized on TikTok.

Feminine Rage

Feminine rage is creatively and engagingly expressed on TikTok. Women utilize the platform's short-form video format to share personal anecdotes, experiences, and simply just express an ancestral and hereditary response to the challenges, oppressions, and wrongdoings faced by women, so while it may just look like women screaming, there's a deep rooted femininity within those rage-filled moments. Feminine rage is often characterized as accumulated anger from past generations that was left unexpressed. For example, Rico Nasty has pushed for the sound of female rage to be used in rap. Her first big hit, Smack a Bitch" came out in 2018 and went viral on TikTok. It has a harsh electric guitar, shouted singing, and angry lyrics. Another song with a very clear chorus that uses similar parts is "Rage." Its words are "I like bad bitches who be ragin', ragin', rage." Tiktok helps this information to be delivered concisely through challenges and trends which are used as platforms to express frustration or promote change. Fascination with feminine rage is not limited to visual media. In music, women have been publicly angry since at least the Riot GRRL era in the 1990s. This era is closely linked to third-wave feminism. Riot Grrrl mixed punk's style, ideas, and do-it-yourself sound with feminist political messages to fight patriarchy and get women involved in the movement. Bands like Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Le Tigre were important to the movement, even though they aren't well known now. Riot Grrrl is said to have died out in the late 1990s, but new versions of it have shown up here and there. It has always been just below the surface of popular culture, that is, until lately, when its new form started to catch on. Users participate by lip-syncing, dancing, or performing skits or even simply speaking to their audience, conveying messages of empowerment. This creates a portal which facilitates talks with the audience through comment sections, duets, and stitches to enhance and spread their viewpoints on feminism and gender equality.

Unique Developments of Feminism on TikTok

Feminism has established a dynamic presence on TikTok, showcasing advancements across a range of topics. Creators on the site include intersectionality by intertwining debates on gender issues with considerations of race, sexuality, and class. The platform's succinct video format encourages the sharing of instructional content on feminist history, perspectives, and current concerns. TikTok challenges and trends serve as effective platforms for promoting feminist ideals, challenging stereotypes, and supporting causes such as body positivity and consent. Personal narratives, frequently expressed via creative mediums like art, music, and dance, enhance a feeling of community by allowing individuals to share their experiences and challenges, thereby amplifying their voices. The platform functions as both an artistic channel and a center for creating online communities that promote unity and assistance in the field of feminism. Feminism has grown in new ways on TikTok, thanks to a mix of creativity, intersectionality, and ease. Short-form films are used by users, who are often called "creators," to question gender norms, share personal stories, and encourage acceptance. The platform has helped make feminist debate more open to everyone, letting different views reach people around the world. Hashtags like #MaleGaze and #WomanEmpowermentt have turned into virtual meeting places to talk about issues like fair pay for women, reproductive rights, and body positivity. TikTok's format promotes a mix of humor, education, and activism. This has helped feminism grow in the digital age, where empowerment is not only pushed but also shown through powerful visual stories.

TERFism

Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists, also known as TERFs, are a feminist fringe movement identified with a self-described opposition to "Gender ideology", specifically the concept and advocation of transgender rights and an exclusion of transgender women into the feminist movement. Scholars have highlighted the use of TikTok and other social media platforms as primary highlights of the growth of the anti-transgender feminist movement. The struggle between anti-transgender and pro-transgender feminist activists has been investigated as a exemplification of the polarizing nature of the platform, through Interactive elements which allow the hyper-personalization of the messages and reinforce their meaning. Additionally, other studies indicate that transfeminist discourse on social media is an expression of the intergenerational conflict within feminism, specifically between the Second and Third-wave feminism. Given the generational factor of the trans-exclusionary debate, it may be asserted the supporters of the discourse have a disproportionately older audience for TikTok, meanwhile, the overall demographics and support for transgender issues among young people find the dominant positions positions on TikTok supportive of trans-inclusionary feminism.

Media/Pop-Culture

Media and pop-culture events often become the subject of various TikTok videos. TikTok is frequently used as a platform to highlight disparities in gender equality through various means, including media and pop-culture events. Users post comments and stitch videos (use a small clip from one TikTok to respond in a different TikTok) to highlight disparities in gender equality.

For instance, TikTok was quick to discuss the 81st Golden Globes host Jo Koy after his comments about major female artists and Barbie, the 2023 movie directed by Greta Gerwig that emphasized the importance of feminism and feminine power. In a TikTok by user @elpiscup reiterates Koy’s remarks that while Oppenheimer is based on an award winning book, in reference to Barbenheimer, “Barbie is [based] on a plastic doll with big boobs,” and adds quotes from the Barbie movie in contrast. The audio goes on to say, “It is literally impossible to be a woman…we always have to be extraordinary but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.” Of the 7 million likes and 26,600 comments, several included “This movie NEEDED to be made. Jo Koy (had no idea who he was before the Golden Globes) is one of the reasons this movie had to be made” by user @Mexicant and “Jo Koy just proved the point of the movie…” by user @TimTaylor.

Another TikTok by user @linettisaep showcases moments in television where female characters question the patriarchy and uplift each other. For example, the TikTok highlights a scene from TV show Brooklyn 99 where Detective Amy Santiago states “I have seven brothers and I was the only girl. I always had to fight for a seat at the table,” to which Detective Rosa Diaz responds, “Well you’re not the only girl at the table anymore. We work at a police force full of dudes, we gotta have each others’ backs.” It also shows celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Taylor Swift giving speeches, quoting, "Have you ever heard someone say about a male artist, 'I really like his songs but I don't know what it is, there's just something about him that I don't like.'" This also TikTok plays a clip in the background from the song What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish, a song that Eilish hoped that the track would "change lives" and told her fans to "get ready to sob".

Exposing Sexual Violence

Content regarding stories of sexual violence is popular on TikTok. The platform is home to a plethora of stories from creators who have experienced sexual violence. The hashtag #MeToo was used in light of the MeToo movement as a way of identifying videos of creators on the platform to spread awareness of sexual violence, and the hashtag has garnered over four-hundred-thousand posts and 19 million views. A large portion of these videos are framed as educational, and studies have suggested significant effects on behavioral awareness among young men.

Anti-Feminism

Conversely, the platform has several anti-feminist communities. The Libs of TikTok accounts have been in the center of recent conflict; many different instances of threats have been reported following posts by the series of accounts. A subculture of involuntary-celibate, or incel, creators has held a standing on the platform. The creator subculture aims to promote lookism, male victimhood, and female privilege.