Examining Fourth Wave Feminism in Sports through the #MeToo Movement

Abstract

In recent years, feminism has been characterized by an online perspective, referred to as digital feminism. This new digital form of feminism is known as the fourth wave feminism. The #MeToo movement has raised significant societal awareness about issues of sexual harassment and abuse through digital platforms, allowing female athletes to share their negative experiences. This movement underscores the impact of fourth-wave feminism in the digital age by creating a global space for solidarity and action against sexual abuse and harassment in the sports world through social media. Social media and the press are two powerful tools that complement each other in reporting social events and informing the public. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the #MeToo movement, as a manifestation of fourth-wave feminism, on the sports world, and to explore the representation and role of feminist movements in digital media through digital feminism. Although there have been studies on digital feminism related to the #MeToo movement in various disciplines within the country, there has yet to be a study specifically addressing this issue within the context of sports. This research has been conducted using document analysis, a qualitative research method. News articles featuring the #MeToo hashtag from four of the most visited digital newspapers worldwide, CNN, BBC, The Guardian, and The New York Times, have been analyzed. A total of 3,463 articles from these four digital newspapers are examined. Content analysis is used to analyze the news, revealing themes such as sexual abuse, familiar authority figures, digital global sisterhood, and feminist domino effect. The results indicate that the #MeToo movement has created significant awareness about gender inequality in the sports world and that digital feminism demonstrates the capacity of media-driven social movements to reach a broad impact. It can be said that in future research on child protection in sports, psychological abuse, and sexual harassment, digital mass movements will play an effective role in raising awareness among individuals involved in sports about potential issues.

Keywords

• Digital feminism
• MeToo movement
• media
• sports
• women

4.Dalga Feminizmin Sporda #Metoo Hareketi Üzerinden İncelenmesi

Abstract

Feminizm son yıllarda çevrim içi perspektiften ele alınarak dijital feminizm olarak nitelendirilmektedir. Feminizmin bu yeni dijital tarzı 4.dalga feminizm olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Daha önceleri kullanılmış olsa da ABD'de yapımcı Harwey Weinstein’a karşı istismar suçlamasıyla yapılan sosyal medya paylaşımlarında #MeToo'nun etiket olarak kullanılmasıyla hareket popüler hale gelmiştir. Bunun sonucunda değişik alanlarda kullanılmaya başlanan hashtag spor ortamında istenmeyen durumların duyurulması ve kamuoyu yaratılması için kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. #MeToo hareketi, dijital platformlar aracılığıyla cinsel taciz ve istismar konularında önemli bir toplumsal farkındalık yaratarak kadın sporcuların yaşadıkları olumsuz deneyimleri paylaşmalarına olanak tanımıştır. Bu hareket, dördüncü dalga feminizmin dijital çağdaki etkisini vurgulayarak, sosyal medya aracılığıyla spor dünyasında cinsel istismar ve tacize karşı küresel bir dayanışma ve eylem alanı yaratmıştır. Sosyal medya ve basın toplumsal olayları duyurma ve kamuoyunu bilgilendirme konularında birbirini tamamlayan iki güçlü araçtır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, 4. dalga feminizmin bir yansıması olarak #MeToo hareketinin spor dünyasındaki etkilerini ve dijital feminizmin sosyal medya aracılığıyla feminist hareketlerin dijital medyadaki temsilini ve bu süreçteki rolünü incelemektir. Farklı disiplinlerde #MeToo hareketiyle ilgili dijital feminizm üzerinden ülkemizde çalışmalar yapılmış olsa da spesifik olarak spor içerisinde bu konuyu ele alan bir çalışmaya henüz rastlanmamıştır. Bu çalışma nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden doküman analizi kullanılarak yapılmıştır. 2017-2023 yılları arasında dünyada en çok ziyaret edilen dijital olarak yayımlanan 4 gazeteden #MeToo etiketinin kullanıldığı haberler analiz edilmiştir. Bu kapsamda CNN, BBC, The Guardian ve The New York Times dijital haber siteleri taranmıştır. Dört dijital gazetede toplamda 3463 haber incelenmiştir. Haberlerin analizinde içerik analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Cinsel istismar, tanıdık otorite fail, dijital global kız kardeşlik, feminist domino etkisi temalarına ulaşılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, #MeToo hareketinin spor dünyasında cinsiyet eşitsizliğine karşı önemli bir farkındalık oluşturduğu ve dijital feminizmin medya aracılığıyla toplumsal hareketlerin geniş bir etki alanına ulaşabileceğini söylemek mümkündür. İleride yapılacak olan sporda çocuk koruma, sporda psikolojik şiddet ve cinsel istismar çalışmalarında ve spor içerisinde yer alan kişilerin olası durumlara karşı bilinçlendirilmesinde dijital kitlesel hareketlerin etkili bir rol üstleneceği söylenebilir.

Keywords

• Dijital feminizm
• kadın
• medya
• MeToo hareketi
• spor

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