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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/22931
Record ID: e5d662f0-bbd7-4374-8cf2-52f3f767083e
DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2023.2199149
Web resource: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2023.2199149
Type: Journal Article
Title: Influence and expertise: distancing and distinction in online youth feminist knowledge cultures
Authors: Kanai, Akane
Zeng, Natasha
Keywords: Qualitative Research;Children and Young People;Intersectionality;Gender Relations, Gender Norms and Attitudes;Digital and Online Spaces
Topic: Gender relations, gender norms and attitudes
Population: Children and young people
Year: Apr-2023
Publisher: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Citation: Volume 27, Issue 8
Abstract:  This article examines how feminist knowledge is constructed and contested within online youth feminist knowledge cultures in Australia. Drawing on data from 50 young feminists engaged with social media, the study explores participants' interactions with three Australian feminist influencers—Clementine Ford, Abbie Chatfield, and Lillian Ahenkan (Flex Mami). It highlights the affective practices of critique, proximity, and distancing employed by participants and discusses how classed, racialised, and gendered dynamics influence the accessibility and legitimacy of feminist knowledge in these contexts. The findings underscore the complexities of social hierarchies and inequalities in feminist social media spaces.
Notes:  This research was included in the ANROWS Register of Active Research (RAR). Please visit https://www.anrows.org.au/register-of-active-research/ for more information on the RAR.



Project: Young women’s online experiences of learning about gender inequality

Abstract/project description: Online culture is central to how young people form their identities and learn about inequalities and divisions in society. This project will investigate the ways in which young women learn about gender inequality through online social media groups and discussion forums. Because information is easily accessible to digitally connected young people, it has changed how young people acquire knowledge outside of formal educational institutions. However, the information used online to analyse social division and inequality is often polarised, personalised, and difficult to verify. This presents challenges for young people and wider society in learning how to engage with the sources of information that shape their lives. The project will produce evidence on the benefits and challenges in using online knowledge to navigate experiences of gender inequality. The social benefits of the project include practical guidelines for assessing, analysing and using online political knowledge. These guidelines should be of use to young people, government, and community and industry stakeholders working with young people.

Aims: This project aims to investigate how young women engage with socially significant knowledge about gender inequality in social media groups and online discussion forums, and how they use this knowledge. This project expects to generate new knowledge by explaining how online environments shape knowledge acquisition for young people, using an innovative digital ethnographic approach. Expected outcomes include practical guidelines for assessing the positive and negative aspects of online culture as a pedagogical resource. This should provide significant benefits in helping young people to better navigate online cultures and to recognise, negotiate and, wherever possible, overcome gender-based inequality in their lives.

Description: Open access
URI: https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/22931
Appears in Collections:ANROWS Completed Register of Active Research projects
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