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Discourses of celebrities on Instagram: digital femininity, self-representation and hate speech

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Soudeh Ghaffari

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Abstract

© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Social media has given way to information and prosumption-oriented discursive fields wherein individuals construct their own social identities. Although interactivity, multimodality, user-centeredness and accessibility are the unique aspects of digital media but the fact that digital media as effective spaces for representing extreme self/other representation while being anonymous and free from following social norms, can cause dysfunctional social behaviours such as cyber hate. Mirroring the normative notions of femininity, masculinity and gender stereotype allows groups and individuals to connect and express similar manifestations of hate, which, often result in the emergence of a ‘discursive spiral of hate’, misogyny and sexism. This paper draws on the important caveats discussed around Social Media-Critical Discourse Studies understanding of the contemporary digital discourses to deconstruct the complex relations between gender, hate speech and celebrities’ discourses on social media. In particular, how Lena Dunham, American celebrity, portrays herself on her Instagram page by going against the hegemonic views and how the audiences, i.e. the digital prosumers perceive that portrayal. Analysing 2000 user-generated comments deconstruct how women are required to suppress their feeling and limit their authentic online presentation to maintain the outward countenance that matches the stereotypical gender roles in audiences’ state of mind.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Ghaffari S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Critical Discourse Studies

Year: 2022

Volume: 19

Issue: 2

Pages: 161-178

Online publication date: 23/11/2020

Acceptance date: 08/10/2020

ISSN (print): 1740-5904

ISSN (electronic): 1740-5912

Publisher: Routledge

URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2020.1839923

DOI: 10.1080/17405904.2020.1839923

Notes: Part of Special Issue: Social Media Critical Discourse Studies

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