Abstract
This chapter explores the experiences of those who have used #MeToo and associated hashtags. Gathered through an online open-ended survey, we showcase the complexities involved in participating in digital resistance to gender and sexual violence. Significantly, this chapter intervenes in public discourses that deride movements such as #MeToo for being a form of ‘slacktivism.’ Indeed, we showcase the ways participating in hashtags such as #MeToo enables individuals to understand their experiences as part of wider structural problems of sexual violence, and thus acts as a low-barrier entry point for other types of feminist activism and a more robust feminist politics, as well as contributing to and potentially shifting wider public discussions about sexual harassment, abuse, and violence.
The world should know that we face harassment everywhere.
—MeToo Survey Respondent
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Mendes, K., Ringrose, J. (2019). Digital Feminist Activism: #MeToo and the Everyday Experiences of Challenging Rape Culture. In: Fileborn, B., Loney-Howes, R. (eds) #MeToo and the Politics of Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15213-0_3
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