In this essay, the concept of online and fourth wave feminism is enhanced through a study of the TikTok-trend #servingcvnt (serving cunt). This study builds on the engagement of contemporary forms of feminist culture with the ever changing dynamic of social media platforms. It offers insight into the otherwise inscrutable world of a TikTok subculture and discloses the mechanisms and practices behind the culturally tinged feminism taking place within it. Combining Muted Group Theory and the conceptual framework of recent feminist media studies, the process of reclaiming is explained and analyzed in terms of feminist humor and shamelessness as resistance tactics. The analysis uses material collected through digital ethnography, encoded through content analysis, that results in detailed studies of video material as well as a portrayal of the digital environment. The study showcases a digital environment tainted by feminine confidence, solidarity and a mentality of shamelessness and humor. #servingcvnt is a subculture constructed by females for females in which they encourage, support and inspire each other to take up space and emancipate from a shaming culture wherein to serve cunt is to reject ideas about how women “should not” be. By constructing their own culture and language, women form a safe sphere in which their own rules and norms apply and reign dominant. This study shows how feminist resistance is injected with a newfound power and possibilities enabled through TikToks media logic and affordances. Hence, this essay should be considered a study of the old phenomenon of reclaiming within a contemporary format of the social media platform TikTok. It is argued that the results and analysis of this study contributes valuable insights to contemporary feminist characteristics, tactics and environments, usable for other future researchers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-522527 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Lind, Saga, Eriksson, Hannah |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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