It brings into focus the concept of collective identity that is essential to social movements by examining if Women’s March supporters on Instagram identify as part of a collective

Women’s March on Instagram: A Discourse Analysis on Intersectional Feminism and Collective Identity

Miriam Schulke S3432106

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Thesis BA Media Studies Supervisor: Rieke Böhling Second Reader: ​Çiğdem Bozdag LJX999B10 June 11, 2020 Wordcount: 8850

Declaration of Authorship

I, Miriam Schulke, declare that this thesis and its content are my own and are the result of my own original research unless otherwise stated. The thesis ​Women’s March on Instagram ​has not been submitted nor accepted anywhere else for the award of any other degree or diploma.

Miriam Schulke, June 11, 2020

Abstract

This paper aims to detect how Instagram users employ discursive themes and patterns when commenting on posts that address topics of intersectional feminism shared by the Instagram profile Women’s March. It brings into focus the concept of collective identity that is essential to social movements by examining if Women’s March supporters on Instagram identify as part of a collective. By conducting a discourse analysis on a sample consisting of comments on five different posts shared by Women’s March on Instagram, it has been revealed that Instagram users contribute to creating a safe community environment within Women’s March’s Instagram space by expressing support and love for others. Opinions are voiced in an urgent tone that results from emotional stimulation, and when critique and disagreement is communicated, it is mostly done so in a constructive manner. Some topics trigger the discussion of politics, and make Instagram users motivate others to act for change.

Lastly, collective identity has been found to be present among Women’s March supporters, and is expressed mostly in the form of emotional articulations, as well as support and

gratitude towards Women’s March, the topic addressed in the post, or other Instagram users.

Table of Contents

Declaration of Authorship 2

Abstract 3

Table of Contents 4

Introduction 5

Theoretical Framework 7

Digital Activism and Women’s March 7

Intersectional Feminism 10

Collective Identity Theory 12

Methodology 15

Sample and Justification 16

Data Analysis Plan 17

Limits of Methodology 19

Findings 20

Interpretative Repertoires 20

Collective Identity 26

Discussion 28

Conclusion 33

Bibliography 34

Appendix A 38

Appendix B 39

Introduction

Feminism is for everyone.​ The words are displayed above an illustration by Harini Rajagopalan (n.d.) that shows a group of people standing together, consisting of different races, gender identities, ages, cultures, religions, and abilities. It is part of an article on intersectional feminism, and represents the idea that it is essential to take into consideration all possible facets of social division when fighting for equality. Intersectional feminism highlights the importance of considering how overlapping identities such as race, sexuality, religion, and class, individualize women’s experience with oppression (Dastagir, 2017).

My research acknowledges the significance and relevance of intersectionality by analysing discussions about feminism themes that do not focus solely on white feminism, but instead include intersectional themes of sexual abuse and victim blaming, transgender

visibility, feminism history, the Harvey Weinstein verdict, and immigrant justice, addressed by the Instagram account Women’s March. Women’s March is a women-led, social

movement organisation structured around the main aims of “providing intersectional education on a diverse range of issues and creating entry points for new grassroots activists [and] organizers to engage in their local communities through trainings, outreach programs and events” (Women’s March, n.d.). On its Instagram page, Women’s March addresses social issues through the use of visuals, photographs, and artworks. The profile’s visual style can be described as colourful and playful which stands in direct contrast to the solemnity of themes addressed.

A key concept in activism studies is collective identity which stands for “an

individual’s cognitive, moral, and emotional connection with a broader community, category, practice, or institution” (Polletta & Jasper, 2001, p. 285). Collective identity is essential within activism and social movements because of its effect to unite and motivate large

numbers of individuals to fight for shared aims. This research aims to detect if and how collective identity exists within the digital space that Women’s March creates on its Instagram page. Therefore, this paper answers the following research question: How do Instagram users employ discursive styles and strategies to discuss themes surrounding

intersectional feminism shared by the Instagram account Women’s March, and to what extent do Women’s March followers identify as collectively part of a community?

Apart from intersectionality, a concept that defines progressive feminism, this

research is of further societal relevance when it comes to the shift of activism towards online spaces. Women’s March is a prime example of how digital spaces facilitate activism. The march in January 2017, which made Women’s March rise to popularity, was heavily

supported and extended online: Hashtags such as #womensmarch, #womensmarchglobal, and

#sistermarches made the organisation of 200 more marches in over 50 other countries possible. Thus, it is crucial to study the role social media plays in motivating social movements and facilitating social change. This research does so by investigating how language is used when discussing themes of intersectional feminism on the social media platform Instagram, and if and how collective identity is shaped among Instagram users supporting Women’s March. Furthermore, this research offers an insight into a mixed method approach of open and adaptive coding: it shows researchers interested in the same method a way to combine the two approaches, and gives an idea for how to make sense of and interpret the findings from the different approaches. In addition, it demonstrates how indicators of collective identity can be detected and analysed among discursive discussions within social media spaces.

In order to answer the research question, I will provide a theoretical background of the main concepts of digital activism, intersectional feminism and collective identity, that are

relevant to this research. Further, I will discuss why a discourse analysis is the most fitting method, how the data and sample was selected, how the two different approaches of open coding and adaptive coding were applied to the execution of the discourse analysis, and provide a reflection on the limitations of the methodology. After outlining the findings, I will present a discussion that includes a reflection on the findings and theory, as well as on the execution of the method, and general limitations of the research. Finally, I will conclude the paper by summarising the research project and answering the research question.

Theoretical Framework

In order to situate this study into its theoretical context, a number of concepts have been explored. The first concept is digital activism, where a brief overview of activism in the digital era is given with a focus on the Women’s March movement. Next is the concept of intersectional feminism, where in addition to defining and outlining the concept, the question of to what extent Women’s March stays true to its claims of including intersectionality in its actions is addressed. Last, collective identity theory is taken into consideration and related to activism which is central to this study.

Digital Activism and Women’s March

The emergence of social media platforms in the past decades has impacted the way social movements are structured and carried out. Social movements can be defined as

“informal collectives of people who seek to enact a common political or social goal” (Brady, Cafaro, Cornet & Hall, 2017). As Brünker, Deitelhoff and Mirbabaie (2019) state, digital platforms have eliminated the physical boundaries of activism to the point that anybody who has access to the Internet is able to contribute to social change. This means that with the

emergence of social media platforms, such informal collectives are not tied to physical spaces anymore, but can consist of people located in places all over the world, brought together by their shared political or social goals. Other functions of social media platforms in relation to social movements include the sharing and fast spreading of information, as well as the generation of a “’shared awareness’ in a short period of time” (Afnan, Huang, Sclafani, &

Bashir, 2019, p. 2). Kingston and Martell (n.d.) explain that the ideal of shared awareness is reached when entities are aware of information shared between each other, and have the possibility to act on it. Shared awareness stands in close relation to the concept of collective identity in that both describe a connection between individuals or groups of people that are characterised by shared ideologies and aims. Thus, individuals and groups sharing ideologies and aims of intersectional feminism are characteristics of shared awareness and collective identity among followers of Women’s March.

The organisation Women’s March has risen to popularity in 2017, when on January 21st, one day after the inauguration of US President Trump, 4,2 million people in the US collectively went on the streets to march against threats on a range of human rights imposed by the new government (Burns-Ardolino, 2019). On that same day, 200 more Women’s Marches were organised in over 50 other countries. Hashtags such as #womensmarch,

#womensmarchglobal, and #sistermarches contributed to the organisation and rise in

popularity of the event. The main event took place in Washington DC, with an estimate of up to 680.000 people protesting (Sjöberg, 2017). Women’s March acts as an example for how online spaces have eliminated the physical boundaries of activism: Mary Badger, who became one of the main organisers of the Boston Women’s March after discovering a Facebook post of people planning the organisation of the event, explains how her committee

of marketing and communications held weekly meetings online, and how the first time she physically met her fellow committee members was on the day of the march (Anon, 2017).

This argument is underlined by Baer (2015) who, in her article on feminist politics in the digital era, highlights a number of differences between digital feminist activism and conventional feminist politics. One is the idea that social media platforms allow individuals and groups from all social, cultural and demographic environments to come together, which facilitates the distribution of a variety of ideas and opinions (Baer, 2015). Thelandersson (2015) states that “the Internet provides a space where feminists can learn from each other about why things some feminists see as harmless can be hurtful and offensive to others”.

Relating to the concept of shared awareness, this idea adds that not only are individuals aware of the information they share, but they have the ability to alter and influence information within this collective space.

In a previous study, I focused on the Instagram account Gurlstalk that shares

characteristics with Women’s March’s Instagram profile: Both address themes surrounding intersectional feminism through colourful visuals which often consist of drawings or other artworks, and raise awareness on a diverse range of social issues. By conducting a visual discourse analysis, I was able to detect the strategies implied by Gurlstalk in order to raise awareness on issues that stand in connection with intersectional feminism, as well as to shape a collective identity among followers. Namely, Gurlstalk makes use of Instagram’s visual affordances to address themes surrounding intersectional feminism within a supporting, intimate community environment; collective identity is shaped by forming group cohesion through building a community that includes followers and the founder of the profile, as well as showing solidarity for Gurlstalk followers (Schulke, 2020). Since Gurlstalk and Women’s March are very similar in terms of the content shared on their Instagram profiles, the research

outlined in this report can be regarded as a next step to the previous research by testing if the strategies implied by the Instagram account have the desired effect of shaping collective identity among followers.

Intersectional Feminism

Intersectionality focuses on how people of different social identities, such as race, gender, or sexuality experience individual discrimination, and is acknowledged as “the most important theoretical contribution of feminism” (Couto, Oliveira, Separavich & Luiz, 2018, p. 3). One of the first to discuss the concept in relation to feminism and race was Kimberlé Crenshaw. In her article from 1989, she addresses the issue that race and gender are viewed individually, and stresses the importance of including race in feminism theory. She claims that feminism originating from a “white racial context” increases the exclusion of Black women and reduces the “value of feminist theory” (Crenshaw, 1989, p. 154). As Collins and Bilge (2016) argue, it is essential to step away from a single-axis framework that takes into consideration only one aspect of social division, but instead focus on “many axes that work together and influence each other” (p. 11). Intersectional feminism highlights the importance to consider how overlapping identities such as race, sexuality, religion, and class,

individualize women’s experience with social division (Dastagir, 2017).

Crenshaw (1989) describes an incident in 1976, when a car manufactory was sued by five African American women for racial and gender discrimination. The claims were

dismissed with the reasoning that the company was not discriminatory against women in regards to their employment as secretaries, nor did it discriminate against race since the company employed African American men in factory positions (Crenshaw, 1989). This case highlights how race and gender were simply seen as two distinctive aspects. Thus, excluding

race from feminist theory results in the disregarding of either privilege or discrimination based on women’s race (Crenshaw, 1989). Today, intersectional feminism does not only concentrate on the interrelation of race and gender, but focuses on “the interplay between any kinds of discrimination, whether it’s based on gender, race, age, class, socioeconomic status, physical or mental ability, gender or sexual identity, religion, or ethnicity” (Anon, 2018).

A question to discuss is if Women’s March is successful in highlighting and representing intersectionality. On its website, so-called Unity Principles are introduced:

The Women's March on Washington convened a broad and diverse group of leaders to produce an intersectional platform known as the Unity Principles. Representing a new understanding of the connected nature of our struggles and a vision of our collective liberation, the Unity Principles continue to be a guiding light for our movement.

Women’s March, n.d.

These Unity Principles consist of the following focus points: Ending violence, reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, and environmental justice (Women’s March, n.d.). This information underlines that intersectionality is a core aim of the Women’s March movement. However, there are critics who claim that Women’s March is not successful in executing that aim:

Rose-Redwood and Rose-Redwood (2017) argue that Women’s March struggles to build solidarity among women from different backgrounds because of a ‘whiteness’ that defines the organisation, and quote Lemieux (2017), who claims that many white women marching with Women’s March are lacking when it comes to showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Moreover, claims are raised about Women’s March being “dominated by white

women who were concerned with relatively trivial issues, such as whether they could show their nipples in public, rather than with issues of oppression, such as the shooting of unarmed black people” (Heaney, 2019, p. 1), which results in many African-American women feeling excluded from the organisation (Brewer & Dundes, 2018).

Although Women’s March has the intention of intersectionality at its forefront, its successful execution is not ensured. Nevertheless, a study conducted by Heaney (2019) outlines that more than two-thirds of Women’s March organisers and participants identify the representation and empowerment of marginalised women as the “highest priority for the movement” (p. 10). Therefore, the fact that Women’s March acknowledges the importance of intersectionality within feminism raises the supposition that the organisation will increase its efforts to improve the execution of intersectionality at events in the future. In addition, when examining the content Women’s March shares on its Instagram profile, I notice that a

majority of posts fall under one or more of the Unity Principles which suggests that themes surrounding intersectional feminism are represented there.

Collective Identity Theory

Collective identity is an essential concept in activism studies. Polletta and Jasper (2001) define collective identity as “an individual’s cognitive, moral, and emotional

connection with a broader community, category, practice, or institution. It is a perception of a shared status or relation, which may be imagined rather than experienced directly (...)” (p.

285). In relation to activism and social movements, Sandoval-Almazan and Gil-Garcia (2014) argue that collective identity acts as motivation for people with common interests and goals to work together to achieve them. Thus, often resulting from collective identity is collective action. Both concepts of collectiveness are prominent within the Women’s March movement.

Burns-Ardolino (2019) highlights how the Women’s March movement which has such a wide range of aims succeeds in bringing together a diversity of people. She describes the first Women’s March in January 2017 in Washington as a “unified social movement across coalitions of diverse interest groups”, and, referring to Fisher (2017), states that

“solidarity, unity and collective resistance” were prominent at the event (p. 3). This argument offers a contradiction to the criticism discussed earlier of how Women’s March fails to build collectiveness among women from different backgrounds.

In a study conducted within a similar theoretical field, Brown, Fraistat, Summers and Ray (2017) design a content analysis to examine how the hashtag #SayHerName is used within the context of intersectional consciousness and social media activism to raise

awareness towards and fight against violence targeted at black women. The quantitative study does to by analysing more than 400.000 tweets connected to hashtags associated with

#SayHerName. One of the main findings states that these hashtags take on the purpose of collective action frames which “inspire action based on several dimensions” (Brown, Fraistat, Summers & Ray, 2017, p. 1839): First, they recognize and outline occurrences of

discriminiation or violation of a person’s rights. Second, they motivate “others to political action against these injustices” (p. 1839). And last, these collective action frames influence social actors to identify as part of a collective (Brown, Fraistat, Summers & Ray, 2017). This finding correlates with the argument above of how collective action and collective identity motivate and stand in close relation to each other.

Being a sub theory of social identity theory, collective identity “centralizes group cohesion, emotional attachment, and solidarity as critical to activist identity formation and maintenance” (Davis, Love & Fares, 2019, p. 4). Brünker, Deitelhoff and Mirbabaie (2019) have conducted a study on how collective identity is formed within the social movement

Fridays for Future on Instagram. By referring to theory from Polletta and Jasper (2001), Melucci (1988) and Miller et al. (2016), the study works with three bases of collective

identity: group cohesion, emotional attachment, and solidarity. This approach will be adapted into my research project in order to detect if and how collective identity is felt among

Instagram users interacting with the profile Women’s March. Analysing Instagram comments from the Women’s March Instagram profile in regards to the three bases of collective identity enables me to retrieve information on the complexity of to what extent a movement

characterised by intersectionality succeeds in shaping collective identity among a diversity of people.

Concluding, this theoretical framework offers an overview of the main theories that correlate with my research project, which are digital activism, intersectional feminism, and collective identity. This research angle will offer new insights into existing theoretical

debates by combining discourse on Instagram with the intersectional feminist movement, and focussing on the role Instagram plays in raising awareness on themes surrounding

intersectional feminism. Studying Women’s March on Instagram takes into consideration the relevance of both social media platforms, and the intersectional feminism movement in contemporary times. With an ever-adapting social media landscape, it is essential to stay on track with how different facets of social life interact with social media platforms. Therefore, studying discourse surrounding social movements on Instagram is of high relevance. Since the concept of collective identity stands in close relation to social movements, it is significant to include it in this research. This is done by relating to the three bases of collective identity, namely group cohesion, solidarity, and emotional attachment, which are adapted into the methodology in order to detect collective identity among Instagram users interacting with the Women’s March profile (Davis, Love & Fares, 2019, Poletta & Jasper, 2001).

Methodology

This study applies a discourse analysis in order to answer the research question of how Instagram users employ discursive styles and strategies to discuss themes surrounding intersectional feminism shared by the Instagram account Women’s March, and to what extend instances of collective identity found within discourse can hint towards supporters of Women’s March identifying as collectively being part of a community. This is the most fitting methodology for this study because it allows a detailed analysis of the employment of written words used to make meaning which can reveal opinions and attitudes towards certain matters. As Bryman (2016) states, “[p]eople seek to accomplish things when they talk or when they write; [discourse analysis] is concerned with the strategies they employ in trying to create different kinds of effect” (p. 532). In this case, discourse analysis is applied to detect the strategies Instagram users utilize to express their viewpoint on topics of intersectional feminism.

In their study on racism in New Zealand, Wetherell and Potter (1987) conducted a discourse analysis to study how “white European New Zealanders understand issues like inequalities of employment opportunities and how they make sense of their relationship with the indigenous Maori people” (p. 173). In order to do so, the study worked with interpretative repertoires. Interpretative repertoires cluster together certain types of discourse, allowing it to be analysed relating to social positions (Gravells, 2017). By referring to Potter, Wetherell, Gill & Edwards (1990), Gravells (2017) defines interpretative repertoires as “broadly discernible clusters of terms, descriptions, commonplaces (...) and figures of speech often clustered around metaphors or vivid images and often using distinct grammatical

constructions and styles" (p. 212). Going by this definition, interpretative repertoires were

adapted into this study in order to analyse opinions on, and attitudes towards themes surrounding intersectional feminism expressed through discourse in Instagram’s comment sections.

Sample and Justification

The data consists of comments shared on selected posts from the Instagram profile Women’s March by a variety of Instagram users. Women’s March was chosen as the profile to collect data from because it values intersectionality, as discussed in the theoretical

framework. The content Women’s March shares addresses a variety of themes related to intersectional feminism, such as racism, ableism, and homophobia which is relevant to this research because of its aim to analyse discourse on intersectional feminism. Furthermore, it has a wide following of 1.3 million, and the numbers of comments under each post range from less than one hundred to thousands, depending on the level of discussion the content of a post triggers.

The sample consists of 141 comments selected from five chosen Instagram posts which address the following topics: Victim blaming, Transgender Day of Visibility, the Harvey Weinstein verdict, remembering Katherine Johnson, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These topics have been chosen for analysis because they represent a variety of themes Women’s March addresses on its Instagram profile. In addition, they can be regarded as a mixture of topics that, on the one hand, call for strong opinions and discussions, such as victim blaming, and on the other hand, can be described as rather light topics of an informative nature, such as remembering Katherine Johnson, which can be classified as history on feminism. Therefore, these posts allow for a sample of comments that are rich in variety.

The selected posts have been shared within the time span of January 12, and April 25, 2020. Working with a recent set of data ensures that the results will be relevant since they address current themes and issues, and prevents the possibility of producing findings that are outdated and cannot be applied and worked with in the future. Nevertheless, attention was paid to ensure that the selected posts are not clustered together in terms of their publishing date as a measure to avoid any news agenda to be represented within the sample.

The sample of comments was selected manually and chosen randomly by going through the comment section and selecting the most recent comments. There was no previously set number for selecting comments but the intention was to collect 20 to 40 comments per post. A saturation was reached after 20 comments were selected from the post about remembering Katherine Johnson, while the post about transgender visibility only contained 17 usable comments. To make up for the low number of comments here, more comments were selected from the other posts. Comments in a language other than English were left out, as well as comments that were posted by bots.

Data Analysis Plan

The discourse analysis was exercised in two steps: First, it was essential to analyse the strategies Instagram users apply to express their opinion on themes surrounding intersectional feminism shared by Women’s March. This was done by conducting open coding of the data that intends to identify interpretative repertoires. Open coding, a coding method that is key to grounded theory, is defined as “the process of breaking down, examining, comparing,

conceptualising and categorising data” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p. 61) which allows the researcher to create their own codes by interpreting the data (Bryman, 2016). The data is viewed as “potential indicators of concepts”, and the coding process is characterised by

“constant comparison” of these indicators (Bryman, 2016, p. 573). According to Bryman (2016), the outcomes of open coding as a process of grounded theory include concepts and categories. Concepts result from open coding, while categories “represent real-world phenomena (…), may subsume two or more concepts (…), [and] are at a higher level of abstraction than concepts” (Bryman, 2016, p. 576). Applying this idea to this research project and the method of discourse analysis, interpretative repertoires take the place of categories which consist of two or more concepts. The process of coding has been carried out following Bryman’s (2016) guide by going through the sample a few times, and colour coding and noting down reoccurring themes and linguistic patterns, which resulted in many overlapping codes. These codes have then been sorted and matched together to shape the final

interpretative repertoires.

The next step of carrying out​​the discourse analysis relates to the second part of the research question which focuses on collective identity shaped among Instagram users that are supporting Women’s March. In order to answer that question, discourse analysis was carried out from the angle of adaptive coding. Adaptive coding is a counter approach to open coding and grounded theory because it is not applied by finding codes within the data, but is

characterised by working with a pre-set coding scheme that is matched with the data (Layder, 2013). As Layder (2013) argues, it is essential in an adaptive approach to define codes that relate to orienting concepts. For this research, the orienting concept is collective identity, and the pre-set codes are defined by pre-existing theory on collective identity. As discussed in the theoretical framework, there is a large number of theoretical contributions (see Brünker, Deitelhoff & Mirbabaie, 2019; Poletta & Jasper, 2001; Melucci, 1988; Miller et. al., 2016) that define collective identity by the three bases of group cohesion, emotional attachment, and solidarity. A colour-coding scheme testing for these three bases has been set up in order

to determine the level of collective identity within discourse on intersectional feminism among Instagram users. As mentioned, the coding scheme was built previous to the coding process; however, after familiarising myself with the data, the coding scheme was adapted and individualised towards patterns detected within the data.

Group cohesion

Indicators for group cohesion consist of words such as “we”, “us”, “together”,

“strong”, “lets do”, “with you”, and “sisters”. Furthermore, comments that address others act as codes for group cohesion, as well as hashtags.

Emotional attachment

Comments classified with emotional attachment consist of or contain emojis, such as hearts and crying or laughing faces, and words that hold emotion such as “sad”, “happy”, or

“crying”. In addition, implementing exclamation marks and all capital spelling has been defined as indicators for the base of emotional attachment.

Solidarity

Codes indicating solidarity consist of expressing support, for example by using clapping or thumbs up emojis, as well as showing gratitude and respect towards Women’s March, the topic addressed in the post, or other users.

Limits of Methodology

One aspect that could limit this research project is a potential bias from the

researcher’s side. Because of the qualitative approach of this research, the results are relying on and influenced by how I, as the researcher, personally interpret the data, and more

generally, build up the research project. In order to reduce bias, I continuously questioned and reflected on my decisions and interpretations, and strived to work as “transparent and

reflexive” as possible (Galdas, 2017, p. 2). In addition, the fact that this research studies topics that are all very current raises the possible issue that new information could emerge and impact the topic, and with it, people’s opinions. However, this would not undermine the relevance of the findings in regards to the research question.

A further limitation concerns the part of the research that focuses on collective

identity felt by Instagram users. The concept of collective identity here is approached through the angle of activism, and how collective identity can act as motivation for a collective of people to work together to achieve something. Thus, here, the concept is only applied to supporters of Women’s March. However, the sample consists of comments from supporters, as well as non-supporters, and there is no distinction between those which indicates that I make this distinction myself. This, again, relates to the limitation of bias, since I have to rely on my personal judgement of marking a comment as agreeing with and supporting or

disagreeing with and non-supporting Women’s March. Nevertheless, it is most appropriate to work with the same data set for both analyses since this ensures that overlapping results can be applied to both research aspects, and the research question can be answered fully.

Findings Interpretative Repertoires

A list of concepts has been built by going through the data a number of times to code for reoccurring patterns and themes. This list of concepts was sorted into the final five interpretative repertoires that are prominent within the data set. The five interpretative repertoires are sisterhood, urgency, politics, motivating action for change, and critique and disagreement. They are outlined in detail below:

Sisterhood

One of the most outstanding themes is sisterhood. The interpretative repertoire of sisterhood is characterised by words and phrases such as “me”, “you”, “us”, and “sisters”.

Those can be found in comments under the post of transgender visibility: “​We see you. We celebrate your authentic self. 💗💙💗💙​” (lynn_mn2ct, 2020); “​Rise up, beautiful souls!

Show us your emanating Truth - your inevitable Self! You are intended. You are worthy. You are loved.​” (juliannazobrist, 2020). The words of “me”, “you”, “us”, and “sisters” stress the concept of unity and collective identity among Women’s March followers, with the latter being discussed in detail in a section further down.

Another reoccurring theme indicating sisterhood is support. The expression of support has been especially evident in comments regarding the post of victim blaming. The post has been shared during a time when the sexual assault allegations of Tara Reade against Joe Biden came to light, which triggered many comments that express support for Reade, such as

“​I believe TARA READE!”​ (thewhiteglovelady, 2020). Furthermore, support is shown with the use of clapping emojis, which indicate that the user agrees with and supports the topic addressed in the post, as can be seen with this comment: “​Finally👏​” (​bekah_truby, 2020).

Other users express support directly: “​We support the trans community!!!!”

(the_silentpartner, 2020).

An additional indicator for sisterhood is users sharing personal stories. An example for this is a comment made under the post discussing victim blaming: “​Thank you for bringing awareness! I can unfortunately relate as child victim in the 1970’s then domestic assault as a young adult. And Here we are in 2020, STILL having this discussion!💔When will we learn?😔​” (teresacapaldo, 2020). Under the same post, another user said “​My family not only blamed me but asked me why I was trying to get him in trouble (fun fact: they don’t

even know him)​” (zurdah, 2020). Sharing sensible and personal information like that suggests that the comments’ authors feel comfortable and confident within the online environment Women’s March provides and regard the Women’s March community as trustworthy and accepting, which can be defined as characteristics of sisterhood.

A further reoccurring theme relating to sisterhood is found underneath the post of remembering Katherine Johnson, and can be described as paying tribute to and showing respect for Johnson. This is done by commenting “RIP”, and using descriptive words of

“amazing”, “incredible” and “smart” when addressing Johnson. One user commented “​One incredible woman who was a true, worthy recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom​.”

(lizzieann26, 2020). Another wrote “​Rest In Peace amazing smartie pants!​”

(siobanclassylassy, 2020). Showing respect to a woman that has impacted feminism history supports the pattern of unity and solidarity that defines the interpretative repertoire of sisterhood.

The last reoccurring theme that connects to sisterhood are heart emojis. Heart emojis express love and emotion towards the themes addressed in the posts, and are a simple way for Instagram users to show solidarity and agreement with a topic. Heart emojis are prominent in all of the five posts which comments were analysed from, suggesting that they are not

necessarily bound to a certain topic but might hold different meanings: For example, heart emojis underneath the post of transgender visibility might portray love for the trans community, while heart emojis found underneath the post of the Harvey Weinstein case might stand for support for the survivors, or agreement for Weinstein’s conviction.

Urgency

The next interpretative repertoire is urgency. Two indicators for the interpretative

repertoire of urgency are the use of many exclamation marks, and spelling words in all capitals. An example are the following comments which address the conviction of Weinstein:

“​Finally!!! I hope he gets 20 to life for what he's done. I will be furious if he doesn't get jail time​” (plutopartners, 2020), “​Great news! I hope this begins a trend of ALL MEN being held accountable for their actions REGARDLESS of who they are!! Including President of US!

🤬🤬🤬​” (kathryntorimoto, 2020). Here, the users employ exclamation marks and all capital spelling to express their consensus with the verdict. Highlighting the words “all men” and

“regardless” by spelling them in all capitals underlines the user’s urge against making distinctions between who to hold accountable for their actions and who not, with a hint towards President Donald Trump.

Furthermore, also comments that disagree with the topic addressed in the post have shown indicators for urgency. An example is the following comment: “​NOPE. when u expect truth from ALL sides people like YOU seem to lose your minds. MANY girls lie. period.

pretending they don't diminishes the argument!​” (nellpost1, 2020). The user voices their contradicting opinion on the theme of victim blaming addressed in the post. Here again, all capital writing is implemented to stress the user’s point of how one should not believe the victim to be telling the truth at all times. The comment conveys a certain urgency to bring across that point, which is also supported by the use of short sentences, suggesting the user’s urge to be heard and understood.

Politics

The interpretative repertoire of politics is defined by comments that express certain ideologies towards politics in regards to the topic of the post. This theme has been prominent within comments on the post of victim blaming. As stated earlier, the post has been shared

when former US vice president Joe Biden was accused of sexual assault, which triggered many comments discussing the matter, such as “​Are we going to say the same thing with Biden’s accuser? 🤔​” (mitav.kanungo, 2020). One user said “​Even worse is when you elect one as president & put a few on the SCOTUS!​” (eblisster, 2020), touching upon sexual assault allegations against President Trump and members of the supreme court. Another example for this interpretative repertoire is the following comment, shared underneath the post celebrating transgender visibility: “​im still mad at Alabama for banning teenager to take pills for puberty like teens don't know what gender they want to be🙄​” (shethorityxx, 2020).

Comments addressing politics are often characterised by the use of rhetorical questions, such as the following example: “​Does that include Tara Reade, or is Joe Biden just untouchable because he’s the Democratic nominee?​” (strongmommy76, 2020). Here, the user does not expect an answer to their question but rather intends to influence others by emphasizing their point of how Biden should be held accountable for his actions regardless of his political position.

Motivating Action for Change

A further reoccurring theme that has been shaped into an interpretative repertoire is motivating action for change. An indicator for this is the pattern of prompting others to vote:

“​Demand the future you want. Vote​” (giveadamn_vote, 2020), “​And then he had chest pains.

Aw, poor guy, guess he never thought the day would come. Today's charges are just the first of many. Stay strong, sisters, and ​#votebluenomatterwho​ up and down the ballot.​”

(donelanstacey, 2020). These two examples show that when prompting others to vote, the reader is addressed and spoken to directly, which emphasizes the motivating effect of the message. This also becomes evident in the following example: “​Amen, sisters! I’ll drink to a

more accountable justice system!! Don’t stop pushing for it, wherever and whoever you are!​”

(giolittobarb, 2020). Here, the user employs the pronoun “you” in order to personalise the message and speak to the reader directly, which has the effect of enhancing their aim of motivating them to act for change. In addition, the use of the word “sisters” points back to the interpretative repertoire of sisterhood, shaping a connection between the commentator and the reader that further helps to bring across the message of the comment.

Next, hashtags are included in comments to spread messages and motivate action for change: “​Justice is not enough. It shoukd be a life sentence.. ​#Weinsteinguilty​"​ (milishak, 2020). The user expresses their opinion and includes the hashtag as a way to reach others who share the same opinion. The same can be said about the following comment:

"​#justiceforjohnnydepp​", (judeinwonderland, 2020).

Last, making use of the word “should” has been marked as an indicator for motivating action for change because it is employed to portray a certain ideology of what the

commentator deems as right and ideal. Two examples commenting on the Weinstein case are the following: “​still should've been charged with first degree rape ://​” (laura_r0g, 2020),

“​Rightful action should be taken against every culprit!​”, (odisha.development, 2020). The users express their opinion on the case and what their ideal outcome would be, and the employment of the word “should” underlines their statements.

Critique and Disagreement

The last reappearing pattern that has been defined as an interpretative repertoire is critique and disagreement. This theme has been most prominent within comments from the post that negatively addresses the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.).

Comments falling under this repertoire voice a contradicting opinion on I.C.E. in an

argumentative way by outlining points for I.C.E.: “​I.C.E. is also responsible for preventing human trafficking...so....​”, (grunge_girl2019, 2020), "​@devinmchazlett​ atleast someone is aware! ICE saves lives! Without ICE 1000s of women and children would be sold into the sex trade, raped, murdered ect.​”, (taylerxanne, 2020). Other users just state their opinion without any arguments underlining their stance: “​Ice is good tho​”, (devinmchazlett, 2020).

Furthermore, comments that include critique and disagreement are directly addressing the reader: “​I will never blame the victims, but you need to understand that not all predator being accused are guilty.​” (jill_klajick, 2020). Here, the user employs the pronoun “you” to speak directly to Women’s March, as well as anyone who supports the idea expressed in the post. Another example is the following: “​mother here: when girls falsely accuse boys the entire movement is threatened. SPEAK to that, too!​” (nellpost1, 2020). The user actively prompts Women’s March to pay regards to the possibility of false accusations by addressing them directly. Generally, critique and disagreement has made up a small amount of the sample, and has rarely been expressed through hate speech or vulgarity, but could most often be described as constructive and argumentative.

Collective Identity

Apart from defining interpretative repertoires, the data has further been coded with regards to the concept of collective identity. By integrating the three bases of group cohesion, emotional attachment and solidarity into the coding scheme, a number of findings have been detected. Before listing the findings, it is important to note that comments that disagree with the matter addressed in the post have been excluded in the analysis. This is because this research intends to detect collective identity only among supporters of Women’s March and its aims and beliefs.

Group cohesion

Group cohesion has been determined among comments underneath the posts victim blaming, trans day of visibility, and the Weinstein verdict. Indicators for group cohesion strongly overlap with indicators of the interpretative repertoire of sisterhood which highlights the similarity of the two findings. As an example works the use of the pronouns “you” and

“us”, and words like “everyone”, “sisters”, and “together”. For instance, the following comment includes strong indicators for group cohesion, as well as sisterhood: “​We must change the culture! Everyone’s voice, everyone’s awareness, everyone’s effort. Everyone counts.​” (latoyazavala_is_free, 2020). By implementing and repeating the word “everyone”, the user shapes unity among Women’s March followers, and so does the use of the pronoun

“we”, which positions the user within this formed unity.

Emotional attachment

Emotional attachment has been coded among comments of all five posts, but is most prominent among comments shared underneath the posts transgender visibility, and

remembering Katherine Johnson. Emotional attachment is frequently expressed in the form of emojis, such as hearts, and laughing and crying faces. Indicators of emotional attachment overlap with indicators for the interpretative repertoire of sisterhood, by expressing love and emotion in the form of emojis, as well as indicators for the interpretative repertoire of urgency, since the usage of exclamation marks and all capital spelling is interpreted as emotional outbursts. The following comment works as an example: “​LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE AT THE BACK!!!!!!​”, (robinvivienne_, 2020). The all capital spelling and the use

of many exclamation marks indicates that the statement is triggered by emotional arousal, which is likely to be caused by the topic of victim blaming that the comment replies to.

Solidarity

The last base of collective identity has been detected among comments of all posts, and is, next to emotional attachment, the most prominent. Indicators for solidarity overlap with indicators for the interpretative repertoire of sisterhood, as the codes for solidarity are expressing support, for instance with the use of clapping emojis, as well as showing gratitude and respect. Comments directed to the post of remembering Katherine Johnson express solidarity in the form of wishing her to “rest in peace”, and using descriptive words of

“amazing”, “incredible” and “smart” when addressing Johnson, which has been identified during the definition of the interpretative repertoire sisterhood. Many clapping emojis have been found among comments underneath the post about Weinstein’s verdict, such as the following example: “​Consequences 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽​”, (janetg707, 2020). Clapping emojis are interpreted as the user agreeing with and supporting the message that is voiced by

Women’s March, which has been marked as a characteristic for solidarity.

Discussion

Analysing the discourse on topics of intersectional feminism, namely sexual assault and victim blaming, transgender visibility, feminism history, sexual assault justice in regards to the Weinstein verdict, and immigrant justice, has brought up a number of fruitful findings.

The interpretative repertoire that is represented most among the data, and has the strongest overlaps with collective identity is sisterhood. Sisterhood overlaps with all bases of collective identity, most strongly with group cohesion and solidarity, which supports the finding that

Instagram supporters of Women’s March do share collective identity. The discourse analysis has discovered that certain discursive choices have the effect of expressing support for others, such as the reoccurring use of clapping emojis, and agreeing with Women’s March through the expression of love and emotions by integrating hearts and crying or laughing emojis.

Furthermore, Women’s March creates a safe space within an online environment which has become evident by users feeling comfortable and safe enough to share personal stories. Thus, as sisterhood is closely connected to all three bases of collective identity, the fact that

sisterhood is strongly represented further underlines that notions of collective identity are very much apparent all throughout the sample.

Next, it has become evident that Instagram users are emotionally triggered and stimulated by the topics addresses by Women’s March, mostly by the themes victim blaming and sexual assault related to the Weinstein verdict, which has been defined as the

interpretative repertoire urgency. A hypothesis that sparks further research here is that the strong emotions of Instagram users might be a result of having personal experiences with the themes addressed by Women’s March. Since the interpretative repertoire of urgency is

defined by emotional outbursts, it stands closely in connection with collective identity and the base of emotional attachment. Hence, expressing emotions on the two topics hints towards the conclusion that Instagram users identify as a collective when it comes to discussing themes of victim blaming and justice in regards to sexual assault.

Moreover, Instagram users functionalise the Women’s March online environment as a space to mobilize people to act for change. This has been most evident among comments on victim blaming and the Weinstein verdict which can be interpreted as users being discontent with how sexual assault is currently handled, and want to convince others to see reason to act for change. Statements that address politics are most often triggered by the content of a post,

as can be seen with the post concerning victim blaming which was shared within the time of the Biden scandal, triggering many comments to address this and voice their opinion. Asking rhetorical questions to bring others to think about a topic stands in close relation to

motivating action for change. The fact that themes of victim blaming and the Weinstein verdict have strongly triggered Instagram users to express and convince others of their opinion, or at least motivate them to voice their own opinion by voting, leads to the conclusion that the topic of sexual assault justice is one that Instagram users have strong feelings and opinions about. This connects to the interpretative repertoire of urgency which also has been most evident among comments on the two posts addressing sexual assault justice.

In addition, it is important to note that on the occasion of when critique and disagreement is voiced, it is mostly done so in a constructive manner. By rarely including hate speech or vulgarity, Instagram users show that even when they disagree with a topic, they stay respectful towards Women’s March and other users. The interpretative repertoire of critique and disagreement has been most represented among comments on immigrant justice which leads to state that among the five topics, this is the most controversial one. In the selected post Women’s March shares on the topic it becomes clear that it strongly positions itself against the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a standpoint that is apparently not taken on by all of its followers.

As stated before, collective identity has been detected among comments on all of the five themes of intersectional feminism. The most common bases are emotional attachment and solidarity. Expressions of emotional attachment are often triggered by themes of sexual assault and are expressed through emotional outbursts, while Instagram users show solidarity through supporting and honouring others, and communicating respect and gratitude towards

Women’s March. Group cohesion is shaped by users expressing love and building, as well as making use of the safe online environment by opening up and sharing personal stories.

As a more general reflection, most of the comments that were selected for analysis did not have any replies, claiming that not many discussions have been sparked and Instagram users viewing Women’s March’s content rarely interact with each other. This could be identified as a contradiction to collective identity being shaped among followers since interaction works as a characteristic for feeling collectively unified; however, it could also mean that most comments are not very discussion-sparking, and users do not feel the need to remark on such comments. In addition, many comments are short, and some consist of only emojis, which correlates with Instagram’s overabundance of content and the fact that one does not linger on one post for long.

Another point to reflect on are the research ethics. It could be claimed that Instagram users cannot argue against third parties accessing the data since the comments are shared publicly. However, as Boyd and Crawford (2012) state, “the process of evaluating the research ethics cannot be ignored simply because the data are seemingly public.” (p. 672). In the case of Instagram, some accounts are private and only approved followers can view posts and comments. This is not the case with Women’s March, since the profile is public and its content and comments can be accessed by anyone. Nevertheless, this research includes sensitive data, such as users sharing their personal experiences with sexual abuse. Townsend and Wallace (2016) argue that when sensitive data is “revealed to new audiences [it] might expose a social media user to the risk of embarrassment, reputational damage, or

prosecution” (p, 7). Since this research is not carried out for publishing, the data will not be revealed to new audiences. Although, if that was the case, the researcher could anonymize the identity of the Instagram users to eliminate any potential risk of harm.

To reflect on the methodology, applying a discourse analysis has allowed for a

detailed, qualitative examination of the data and produced interesting findings. It has become apparent throughout the data analysis process that each post sparks different discourse within the comments since they address different topics, and often do so with different stylistics and underlying tones. On the one hand, it might have been easier if the data consisted of

comments relating to similar posts because that would allow for an easier comparison and grouping of the discursive choices. On the other hand, taking comments from various posts addressing different themes produces a wider variation of findings, and underlines the idea of intersectionality significant to this research.

Apart from that, this research offers new insights into activism studies in the digital age. It portrays how Instagram users express their viewpoints on themes of intersectional feminism within Instagram’s online environment and takes into consideration the concept of collective identity that motivates social movements. Furthermore, the research addresses the importance of intersectional feminism by including a variety of social justice issues within the analysis which makes it stand out among other studies that focus on the feminism movement.

When it comes to general limitations, it is important to mention that the content of the posts, apart from their broad themes, has not been taken into consideration. As touched upon above, the posts address the themes in different styles and tones which can trigger certain types of comments. In addition, the findings solely declare that collective identity is apparent among Instagram followers of Women’s March, but are lacking in measuring the extent of it.

Thus, it would be interesting to conduct further research on to what degree collective identity is felt among Women’s March followers, for example by carrying out interviews. It would

also be relevant to examine how effective collective identity is in regards to motivating people to act for change.

Conclusion

To conclude, themes surrounding intersectional feminism addressed by Women’s March on Instagram spark interesting and diverse discourse. Users express their opinion on sexual assault in an urgent way that results from emotional stimulation, and possibly personal experiences with the matter. By showing support and love in the form of emojis, Instagram users contribute to creating a space in which others feel comfortable enough to share personal and intimate stories and open up about their experiences with themes addressed by Women’s March. Some topics trigger the discussion of politics, and make users motivate others to act for change, often by prompting them to vote. When critique and disagreement is voiced, it is mostly done so in a constructive manner.

When it comes to collective identity, this research has demonstrated that collective identity is present among followers of Women’s March. The dominating bases of collective identity are emotional attachment, which is expressed by emotional outbursts, and solidarity, which has been detected in the form of showing support and attribution, as well as respect and gratitude towards Women’s March, the topic addressed in the post, or other Instagram users. Group cohesion is apparent among three of the five posts data was analysed form, and is shaped by users expressing love, often through the implementation of heart emojis, and building, as well as making use of the safe online environment by opening up and sharing personal stories. It can therefore be concluded that followers and supporters of Women’s March do feel collectively part of a community while discussing themes surrounding intersectional feminism on Instagram.

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Appendix A Codebook

1. Interpretative Repertoires Sisterhood

Urgency Politics

Motivating Action for Change Critique and Disagreement

2. Collective Identity Group Cohesion Emotional Attachment Solidarity

Appendix B Coded Data

Sexual Assault and Victim Blaming

1. strongmommy76

Does that include Tara Reade, or is Joe Biden just untouchable because he’s the Democratic nominee?

2. mitav.kanungo

Are we going to say the same thing with Biden’s accuser? 🤔 3. randolphpittscomposer

I believe Tara Reade.

4. zurdah

My family not only blamed me but asked me why I was trying to get him in trouble (fun fact:

they don’t even know him) 5. thewhiteglovelady I believe TARA READE!

6. _21nd

Majority of the time victim is not blamed but neither is the alleged perpetrator, do not forget about innocent until proven guilty and the hundreds of false rape allegations that ruin

innocent people’s lives.

7. teresa​capaldo

Thank you for bringing awareness! I can unfortunately relate as child victim in the 1970’s then domestic assault as a young adult.​ ​And Here we are in 2020, STILL having this discussion!💔When will we learn?😔

8. that_vegan_stoner_

#IBelieveTaraReade 9. lyzz731

28 Women had accused Trump of sexual abuse, now the Berniebrothers are trending a hashtag in Twitter attacking Biden, who are they trying help? Trump?

10. p​oppy_strikes_4_climate

blame the predators not the victims 🙌🙌

11. explodedbrain So no to Biden then?

12. nellpost1

mother here: when girls falsely accuse boys the entire movement is threatened.​ ​SPEAK to that, too!

13. latoyazavala_is_free

We​ must change the culture! Everyone’s voice, everyone’s awareness, everyone’s effort.

Everyone counts.

14. eblisster

Even worse is when you elect one as president & put a few on the SCOTUS!

15. sammicollins101

🙌

16. citizenkahn

Fyi, if you see a horrid comment and the poster has way more followers than posts, they may be a bit. I report as spam and block each I find

17. annaclante BOOM!!!!

18. jake.esayian

A big reason to train in self defense alongside owning a firearm and knowing how to properly use it.

19. angelaglynn

Couldn’t agree with this more!!!

20. zara.​hyatt Thank you 😢❤

21. nellpost1

NOPE. when u expect truth from ALL sides people like YOU seem to lose your minds.

MANY girls lie. period. ​pretending they don't diminishes the argument!

22. beverlysbuzz I do not blame the victim

23. jill_klajic_

I will never blame the victims, but you need to understand that not all predator being accused are guilty.

24. hellifik​nowwhy

🙌🧡🙌🧡

25. pen_el_o_peee

🎯

26. jpwvu94

Expect for when the perp is a democrat 27. lifeisawesomelybeautiful

👏

28. brin_kimberley

My ex did...the first person I was with after what happened happened..

29. shit​memes​dawg

Any women that want to join a WOMEN FIRST group chat, let me know 😌👑

30. chichimaks Very true

31. cfe​rucci

👏💗

32. maggierus02

April is also National ​#autism​ Awareness Month.

What causes autism?

Why do some people vehemently protect the perpetrators of those who push the products that have been shown to cause autism?

Why do people deny the science that proves the connection of these products to the damage being done?

Does that science not matter?

33. dannyraider1098

#ibeleivetarareade 34. mazies_madre16

All the fuckin people posting comments in defense of their opinion..

35. richingel

When it was their guy conservatives screamed at Ford and said she could be mistaken. Now that there is no evidence and it’s not their man they scream believe her! The hypocrisy is deafening.​ ​Vote blue no matter who

36. bry0ung

What? I thought the political left progressive types didn't like binaries? What ever happened to the spectrum of belief one needs when locating identities or sexual preference? Just cuz you blame the victim (like j-walking piss drunk and being killed when doing so) doesn't mean you side with the driver, it just means I think the piss drunk j-walker definitely should have made some better decisions and had they done so, would not be blamed for their current demise.​ ​Just saying - let's get rid of this binary.

37. me_dee_oaker Now do joe Biden ❓

38. sarahnitaji Truth!!!

39. thefrancescoshow

🙌🏾

40. robinvivienne_

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE AT THE BACK!!!!!!

Transgender Visibility

41. the_silentpartner

We support the trans community​!!!!

42. doble​vstyle

@mayari265​ ♥ 43. sarah.colette

❤​ ❤ ❤

44. chameleongarden

🧡

45. bbs​chumac

@samson_instant.gratification​ love you!

46. amson_instant.gratification

@bbschumac​ ❤ ❤ 47. lynn_​mn​2ct

We see you. We celebrate your authentic self. 💗💙💗💙

48. gramlierz

👏👏👏👏

49. okonokos.mx