#GirlsLikeUs: Trans advocacy and community building online

Sarah J. Jackson*, Moya Bailey, Brooke Foucault Welles

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

100 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1868-1888
Number of pages21
JournalNew Media and Society
Volume20
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 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
  • Twitter
  • discourse analysis
  • hashtags
  • network analysis
  • online advocacy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Sociology and Political Science

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