Abstract
In this research, we examine the advocacy and community building of transgender women on Twitter through methods of network and discourse analysis and the theory of networked counterpublics. By highlighting the network structure and discursive meaning making of the #GirlsLikeUs network, we argue that the digital labor of trans women, especially trans women of color, represents the vanguard of struggles over self-definition. We find that trans women on Twitter, led by Janet Mock and Laverne Cox, and in response to histories of misrepresentation and ongoing marginalization and violence, deliberately curate an intersectional networked counterpublic that works to legitimize and support trans identities and advocate for trans autonomy in larger publics and counterpublics.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1868-1888 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | New Media and Society |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2018 |
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/ or publication of this article: This work was supported by grants from Northeastern University’s NU-Lab for Texts, Maps, and Networks and the College of Arts, Media, and Design. We are grateful for their support.
Keywords
- #GirlsLikeUs
- Counterpublics
- Transgender
- discourse analysis
- hashtags
- network analysis
- online advocacy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Communication
- Sociology and Political Science
