Doing feminism in the network

Networked laughter and the 'Binders Full of Women' meme

Bibliographic Data

ID4367178
AuthorsCarrie A Rentschler (0000-0002-2073-0559, McGill University, corresponding author), Samantha C Thrift (University of Calgary)
Year2015
Volume16
Issue3
Pages329-359
Publication date2015-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-7001 • E-ISSN: 1741-2773
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1464700115604136
OpenAlexW2342314624
LanguageEN
Citations received93
References cited30

We analyse how memes construct networks of feminist critique and response, mobilising the derisive laughter that energises current feminisms. Using the 2012 case of the 'Binders Full of Women' meme, we argue that feminist memes create online spaces of consciousness raising and community building. The timeliness, humorous affect and media techné of meme propagators become significant infrastructures for feminist critique, what we term 'doing feminism in the network'. If the Internet is particularly good at facilitating the diffusion of feminist jokes, as others argue, we illustrate how the networking and distribution capacities of social media platforms such as Tumblr, Facebook and the online shopping site Amazon.com also cultivate new modes of feminist cultural critique and models of political agency for practising feminism through meme production and propagation

Consciousness · Cyberculture · Feminism · Laughter · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology