Paper short abstract:

Feminist scholars argue that hashtags operate as locations for producing public speech. This paper analyzes viral hashtags such as RapeatAzania, #Menaretrash asking what kinds of stories are being told and by whom? Whose stories are being listened to and when? And what stories are being left out?

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, South Africa has witnessed a rise in feminist hashtags against sexual, gender-based violence and femicide (SGBVF), signaling an increasing belief in the transformative potential of digital platforms for womxn’s participation in the public discourse. Feminist scholars argue that hashtags operate as locations for producing public speech offering women the opportunity to speak out. As one of the key legacies of second-wave feminist politics, speaking out in response to rape has become a widely accepted cultural phenomenon “founded on the belief that producing and disseminating a genre of personal experiential narratives can end sexual violence” (Serisier, 2018: 4). Such beliefs are based on the assumption that all women who speak out will be listened to equally but as bell hooks explains, “for black women our struggle has not been to emerge from silence into speech but to change the nature and direction of our speech. To make a speech that compels listeners” (hooks, 1986: 124). Working from Oyewumi (2005)’s assertion that “the categorization of women in feminist discourses as a homogeneous, bio-anatomically determined group which is always constituted as powerless and victimized does not reflect the fact that gender relations are social relations and, therefore, historically grounded and culturally bound”, this paper analyzes Twitter data from viral hashtags #RapeatAzania, #Menaretrash and #RUREFERENCELIST, all centered on the idea of speaking out, asking what kinds of stories are being told and by whom? Whose stories are being listened to and when? Lastly, what stories are being left out?