Digital Feminism in Indonesia: Exploring Language Use and Agency

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220304.018How to use a DOI?

Keywords

digital feminism; Magdalene.co; @indonesiafeminis; language use; agency

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between language use and agency depicted in two digital feminist media postings, namely Magdalene.co and @indonesiafeminis. Data were articles published in Magdalene.co and Instagram posts on @indonesiafeminis, interpreted using agency theory from December 2020 to June 2021. The results demonstrate that while both platforms are arguably populated by agents of roughly similar social backgrounds (highly educated, urban-based, and aware of gender issues), they appeal to their readership through the use of different angles. Magdalene.co foregrounding individuality, while @indonesiafeminis being more collective, respectively. By personalizing the relation between the writers and the issues, Magdalene would like to appeal to its readers that the women issues are very close to their everyday reality, which is also proven by the prevalent use of the Indonesian word saya ‘I’ in their publication to show individual agency. Meanwhile, @indonesiafeminis depersonalizes the issues by using kita and kami, both term mean ‘we’, to highlight the importance of collective agency in combatting gender-based issues and violence. These different agencies crafted by other platforms matter in their appeal strategy.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Kaysa Hilyatil Jinan
AU  - Evi Eliyanah
AU  - Nurenzia Yannuar
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/03/28
TI  - Digital Feminism in Indonesia: Exploring Language Use and Agency
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd World Conference on Gender Studies (WCGS 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 123
EP  - 131
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220304.018
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220304.018
ID  - Jinan2022
ER  -