Exploring Hashtag Feminism Around Sexual Violence on Farsi Twitter: Affective Practices, Hierarchy of Deservingness, and Media Solidarities

Abstract

This study investigates the participation of Iranian women in hashtag feminism on Farsi Twitter as a means of resistance against marginalization. Using frameworks of hashtag feminism (Jackson, Bailey, & Welles, 2020) and media solidarities (Nikunen, 2019), the research analyzes Bidarzani—a grassroots feminist campaign—tweets and online conversations around these tweets in 2020. Key themes include naming sexual violence experience, the transition from victim-blaming to systemic condemnation, and affective digital witnessing of pain. This moment of accumulation of personal narratives and users’ affective attunement in a context where rape discussions are silenced provides the possibility for collective survival. However, despite Bidarzani’s efforts to offer an intersectional feminist approach, limitations in users’ participation suggest a hierarchy of solidarity and deservingness, where affective practices are not equally expressed across class and geographical lines. Through these findings, the research contributes to the ongoing dialogue about the implications of digital feminism in the Middle East.