I Will Survive: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Social Media Phenomenon #MeToo

Abstract:

As activists become more prominent online, social media movements such as #MeToo arise quickly and on large scales. #MeToo gained momentum in 2017 after sexual allegations in Hollywood started to come to light. Soon, women and men all over the world took to social media to share their stories and support. Analysis of social media use with the hashtag and an understanding of feminist roots in the movement is vital to thoroughly understand the convergence that went on among participating individuals. Under the lens of Symbolic Convergence Theory, this study aims to explore the symbolic landscape of the #MeToo movement on Twitter. A Fantasy Theme Analysis was performed on a group of randomly selected Tweets that use the hastag “MeToo”, to look for prevalent themes among the users of the hashtag.

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In 2017, actress Alyssa Milano tweeted the phrase #MeToo after a message addressing sexual abuse and assault. After months of accusations popping up in the news from famous actresses, and occasionally actors, accusing people of sexual assault, Milano took to Twitter, tweeting the hashtag, adding, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet”. The tweet gained substantial comments and retweets and the phrase #MeToo spiked greatly in usage in the weeks and months following the initial tweet (Rife, 2017). People used the hashtag to share their personal experiences with sexual assault, show support for victims and criticize the general handling of sexual assault all over the world. Particularly retweeted by women, the phrase became a safe space for people to reveal their stories, give advice and add to other user’s experiences (Carissimo, 2017). It is important to note that the movement was started by women and was predominantly carried and continued by mainly self-identified women. The people involved in this movement created a shared meaning to the phrase and the participants achieved a shared consciousness. The language alone, “Me Too” shows a coming together, signaling the users of the hashtag also went through an experience. Symbolic Convergence Theory, a theory conceptualized by Bormann in the 1980s, describes the process through which individuals collectively come together into a common reality and contribute to the same narratives. In the #MeToo’s movement, research into the different narratives and themes that have culminated among the “group” on Twitter and other social media platforms would be, arguably, easier to conduct than an analysis of, for example, a team or group in person. As the movement is very recent, however, there is no literature into the convergence of #MeToo participants and no apparent themes have yet been analyzed. This study will examine and identify the major themes present in #MeToo movement, only utilizing social media platforms as evidence into the messages and communication between the people participating, as this movement not only began on social media platforms but predominantly reached people through Twitter and Facebook.

Literature Review

Social Media

Social Media has become a key communication tool in past years. According to the Pew Research Center, as of January 2018, 69% of all US adults use at least one social media site and 68% of US adults use Facebook, the highest used social media site (Pew Research Center, 2018). With the emergence of social media as a new way to communicate, people are able to create and share messages digitally throughout the world. As a means to transmit messages quickly and on a global scale, social media is an opportunity for activists particularly to reach lengths unable to reach with more traditional communication, a concept made clear when comparing the impact of the phrase “Me Too” on an individual in the United States in 2007, when Activist Tarana Burke coined it, versus in 2017, when actress Alyssa Milano prompted her 3.4 million followers on Twitter to retweet it (Carrissimo, 2017). Globally, social media has become a tool for group communication; activists and those involved in social or political “movements” have begun to use this digital media to transmit specific messages (Tan, 2017). Journalist for Cosmopolitan Magazine, a magazine typically catered to women and woman of color Morgan Jerkins even claimed that social media, particularly Twitter, is essential for young people and modern activism and to disregard the platform would be to “exclude young women from the conversation” (Jerkins, 2018). While traditional mass medias have historically excluded the voices of marginalized individuals, new media, such as Twitter and Facebook allows these same individuals to put forth their voices without editing or silencing (Kingston Mann, 2014).

Armstrong and Mahone (2017) assert that social media use among young adults can be characterized by meeting social interaction needs. They go on to note that social media interaction has become key in the identity formation of its users and a broader collective identity that often emerges as a result. Social Media has had a particularly strong effect on Rape Culture, a cultural climate inherently violent towards victims of sexual assault and women specifically (Armstrong and Mahone, 2017). Research shows that while social media has helped reinforce Rape Culture, the perceived privacy of social media allows for those who are less likely to disclose personal accounts of trauma to speak out publically against them (Armstrong and Mahone, 2017).

SCT describes the messages individuals communicate with one another, but due to its conception in the 1980s and limited further research done into the theory (comparatively to other theories, such as EVT), it can also be argued that its understanding of the effect of technology on the convergence of individuals is limited.

Roots in Feminism

The #MeToo movement gained considerable traction in mainstream media after Harvey Weinstein allegations went public from multiple mainstream actresses (Rife, 2017). Actresses who made statements, both publically and on Twitter, promoted messages of the individual, unique strength within women, for whom the movement was crafted for as can clearly be seen with the adjacent #YesAllWomen hastag that stemmed from #MeToo (Rife, 2017).

While first wave feminism dealt with suffrage and second wave feminism was geared towards reproductive rights and job equality, third wave is a hybrid movement encompassing various sexuality, gender and class - generally, it can be associated with modern social media movements (Gerl, 2016). This wave of feminism encourages inclusion among the multi-layered ideas of a “woman” (Gerl, 2016). Postmodern feminists, however, are contemporaries with third wave and share many of the same principles; though postmodern feminism is often regarded as politically ineffective by some, due to its abstract language and lack of accessibility to the general population and thus cannot reach the people it aims at affecting (Ebert, 1991). The age of feminism society is in now is murky to see; three generations can be found to be operating seemingly simultaneously, with individuals of all ages defining themselves as second wave, third wave and postmodern feminists (Stankovic, 2018).

Despite the intentions of both third wave feminism and postmodern feminism, movements like #MeToo, created by black women, have been criticized by some for a perceived lack of representation for women of color (Prois and Moreno, 2018). Despite feminism’s and the #MeToo movement’s aim at inclusivity, however, women of color still are disproportionately represented in all areas of media coverage (Gerl, 2016).

Furthermore, sexuality and sex abuse is a key point in both postmodern feminism and third wave feminism; with Rape Culture becoming more of a legitimized concept, prior myths on sexuality in women are being combatted with mainstream and social media (Gerl, 2016). Meenhakshi Durham’s study of Seventeen magazine in 1997 revealed messages in magazines aimed specifically at teenage girls encourage them to present themselves as sexually appealing for boys while being discouraged from enjoying this sexuality (Gerl, 2016). With #MeToo beginning as a movement to bring awareness not only to sex abuse, but also to the general mistreatment of women across the globe, feminists have been quick to join the movement.

Symbolic Convergence Theory

First theorized by Bormann in 1982, Symbolic Convergence Theory describes the practice where individuals’ interactions and messages create and sustain a group consciousness. When messages are created and responded to enough, fantasies may emerge. Criticized for being a confusing term, a “fantasy” is a shared interpretation or understanding of events that fulfill psychological or rhetorical needs (Bormann, 1985). Eventually, when enough individuals have the same response to a specific message, in this case, the #MeToo brand, a fantasy theme has been created. Fantasy themes are the mature extension of fantasies; these are the common messages and responses that give the most insight into the goals, viewpoints and psyche of a group in cohesion. When groups have a “unified way of viewing the world” - they have a rhetorical vision (Dainton and Zelley, 2015). Rhetorical visions are why we see individuals all come together and have the same opinions seemingly without speaking - individuals begin to act and behave as a unit as opposed to many different people. Based on Symbolic Convergence Theory, often referred to as Fantasy Theme Theory, communication creates reality. Knowing this, fantasy theme analysis is a vital skill for organizations and activists to have; reaching goals and strategic planning can easily be achieved after analyzing fantasy themes and using appropriate language to play to those themes (Cragan and Sheilds, 1992).

Arguably, Facebook and Twitter were made with an understanding of SCT, as it’s set up specifically to promote individuals seeing other’s thoughts, adding on to them (commenting) and reaching others with these messages (sharing). Twitter and Facebook are indicative of how individuals come together. Hashtags particularly allow individuals to see the messages of others, add to them and circulate these visions. By using a hashtag on Facebook and Twitter, individuals need only click to see other posts and tweets using the phrase, as the two sites compile them together. This act alone could be seen as making convergence easier among individuals. Feminism scholar Larisa Kingston Mann described the phrase “hashtag activism”, a term coined by media outlets, as a practice “involve[ing] various people repeating a single phrase accompanied by a personal variation on the theme, often including puns or other wordplay in ways that cause the theme and the individual wit to stay in the mind and to induce readers to discuss, praise, reshare, or otherwise communicate” (Kingston Mann, 2014).

With #MeToo uniting women, and men, across the globe under a modern activist movement and different messages emerging as a result, I will try to answer the following research question:

RQ 1: What fantasy themes are present amongst supporters of the #MeToo movement?

Method

As stated above, social media has been a major part of the #MeToo movement, allowing women (and men) to create a rhetorical community and present images, messages and portrayals of women who had encountered sexual abuse - all while maintaining certain levels of privacy. In order to have a more thorough understanding of the rhetorical vision of this movement, a textual analysis of the movement was performed in order to gage what fantasy themes were present. 60 Twitter posts, randomly selected through Competitionagency.com/tweetdraw, which randomly selects tweets that use a hashtag, in this case, #MeToo, were analyzed for reoccurring words or phrases that present specific themes. Only tweets with the hashtag and additional, original writing by the user were considered and, as English is the primary language of this researcher, only tweets written in English were analyzed. Using the site ExportTweet, I was be able to take into account the popularity of the phrase and the individuals who participated in the movement in order to see who participated in this convergence and note who was absent.

Findings

Tweets using the hashtag #MeToo revealed overwhelmingly a female participation; characters included reporters, community organizers, friends and several other archetypes, all within the settings of public and private life. Within both of these settings, participants in the different narratives were seen demonstrating intense opinions not up for debate or willing to change. With these factors in mind, the research found three prominent fantasy themes: 1) I am an activist, 2) I am a survivor, 3) I am disappointed. Within these fantasies, as is common within a shared consciousness such as the participants using the hashtag #MeToo, overlap was common. For example, those who contributed to the fantasy “I am disappointed” were often the individuals identifying themselves as “I am a survivor”, the ones who strove for immediate change within the cultures they were criticizing.

Fantasy Theme #1: I am an activist.

The tweets using the hashtag #MeToo revealed overwhelmingly a call to arms for all individuals living, generally, in American society to come together and make fundamental changes. This stemmed, in large part, to the majority of the individuals involved in the converging identifying with the theme of being a survivor. For those who were victims of the sexual abuse described in many tweets and statements and those who knew victims, this only prompted them to vehemently protest and call attention to the discrimination and sex abuse faced by women across all fields of interest. In several tweets, individuals called attention to the abuse done to women, generally speaking, by those in positions of power, such as cops and politicians, thus expanding the setting from Hollywood (I.E. The Harvey Weinstein scandal) to more grassroots characters.

The theme could also be identified through the addition of new hashtags to reach more individuals and call more attention to issues. Many individuals tweeted out messages calling attention to the abuse received by women across all levels of life and the goal of ending this discrimination, followed by the hashtag #TimesUp. #LoveTrumpsHate emerged in several tweets - referencing the alleged mistreatment of women and the percieved discriminatory practices of the current president Donald Trump. Less popular, but still noticeable in the research was the tweet #EnoughisEnough. In one tweet, an individual writes “People keep calling us snowflakes but if you get enough snowflakes together you have a blizzard. Then, if you try to walk all over the snowflakes you’re caught in an avalanche! #EnoughisEnough #MeToo #NeverAgain” (Figure 1).

Many of the characters within this fantasy theme were celebrities and actors. Alyssa Milano, a prominent American actress, is credited as being the driving force behind the launch of #MeToo in the public’s knowledge (Rife, 2017). Tweets using the hashtag #MeToo fluctuated in popularity from the start point of this research, October of 2017, until the end, April of 2018, but drastic spikes in use came after tweets from well known actresses demonstrated their work in the cause and after events where #MeToo was mentioned. At the Golden Globes of 2018, actresses and actors wore black, specifically in support of the Time’s Up movement, which was aimed at exposing and dismantling systems within the United States, and the world, that promoted abuse.

Fantasy Theme #2: I am a survivor

As mentioned previously, much of the passion that pushed the characters in these narratives to identify as activists derived from the individuals’ identification as victims of the abuse they were describing. The tweets that followed the fantasy theme of being a survivor described sexual violence, gender discrimination, domestic abuse and more. In one tweet, a woman wrote “#IAmEvidence Daughters, Mothers raped in America & What Happens? Nothing! #MeToo #TimesUp”.

The settings of this abuse occurred in multiple spheres of life, in relationships, in the workplace, at home. In one tweet, a self identifying Asian American woman described a situation at her work where a client wanted her image to be “front and center” as the client proclaimed he “loves Asians!”, to which she reacted with a picture of a child looking shocked and weirded out. Use of reactionary pictures and emojis were common among this fantasy theme, such as the bicep emoji and photos of the abuse many were subjected to (Figure 2). Twitter users retweeted individuals’ detailed retellings of the survival of their own sexual assault in support.

Many women retweeted posts of one’s story dealing with sexual assault and added their own stories with the hashtag #MeToo. The tweets many times dealt specifically with healing and trauma prevention for others. Women developed narratives of personal strength and perseverance within this theme. Often times this theme overlapped extensively with the “I am an activist” theme, with users tweeting their own experiences and demanding change. The concept of Rape Culture was a common thread among the tweets that overlapped these two themes. For example, one tweet read “We applaud those who say #MeToo. And if you’re not ready to share, that’s courageous too. #Survival take #Courage. #EndRapeCulture.” (Figure 3).

Fantasy Theme #3: I am Disappointed

Perhaps the most prominent theme within this convergence was the theme of expressing disappointment at the situations described under the #MeToo umbrella. This theme overlapped with the prior themes in a majority of the tweets. The characters in this theme were parents, citizens, individuals of multiple races, celebrities, etc. just to name a few. Users on twitter often displayed this theme in a reactionary form, responding to dramatizing events, usually a sex scandal involving someone in a place of power. One user retweeted a news story dealing with a disgraced police office, writing “Why don’t women go to the police with their #MeToo stories? Because the police are so often the problem.” Many users detailed their disappointment with the rate at which change occurred in this society, in spite of the movement itself. Some suggested the #MeToo movement was not doing enough to achieve the change it described. One user wrote, “With #MeToo and #TimesUp movements going on right now, it’s unbelievable that men still honk at women on the street.”

The settings of this theme dealt exclusively with the specific users’ private lives, along with the Western society’s public life. Individuals were not only disappointed that they were survivors, or knew survivors, of abuse and discrimination, but disappointed that changes to the society which allowed these indiscretions to continue were slow to come. One user lamented “#MeToo today thought about all the times that I have been sexually harassed. I just couldn’t believe how many times.” (Figure 4). Emojis were rarely used within messages where this theme was prominent and the tweets usually demonstrated perfect grammar and sentence structures.

Interviews with prominent figures in the time period of this research, October of 2017 to April of 2018, also reflected this theme. As mentioned, the 2018 Golden Globes was an example of the online movement affecting the public sphere. Celebrities such as Emma Watson and Meryl Streep brought activists prominent within the movement, such as the woman who coined the phrase and gave interviews demonstrating their disbelief and disapproval of the treatment of women in Hollywood. One tweet of a news story regarding the Oscars had the headline “Reported tape delay on live show as Ryan Seacrest ignores sexual harassment scandal as he opens Oscars red carpet show”, referencing the recent allegations against Seacrest at the time.

It is important to note that amongst these narratives, different voices were present. The first voice was the Voice of Agreement. Those who voiced agreement were those who fell exclusively under the fantasy themes. For example, in Figure 5, the user tweeted a message promoting an event aimed at dealing with the “abusive” culture they live in. The language and the overall mood of this tweet demonstrate the theme of being an advocate, as well as the theme of disappointment. While the Voices of Agreement, i.e. the individuals compromising the majority of the researched and previously discusses tweets, are those who are in line with the rhetorical vision and narratives shared, the Voices of Disagreement demonstrated complete ideological differences. Where Voices of Agreement supported one another’s experience and showed desires to change societal norms, Voices of Disagreement viewed these desired changes and personal stories as unnecessary or over-exaggerations. Often times these voices were heard in reaction to events, such as an accusation against a public figure or another event, which, to these voices, demonstrated worse circumstances.

The style of tweets from Voices of Disagreement typically was more animated, with exclamation points and capitalization, as can be seen in Figure 6. The third voice was the Voice of Difference - these individuals were the voices absent from the narratives described. These voices couldn’t be heard clearly when analyzing tweets but could be seen in additional research such as articles published online and blog posts. Not only did these voices demonstrate a dismissal from the rhetorical vision, but anger at being ignored (Burke, 2017).

Discussion

After analyzing numerous tweets from the #MeToo movement and reading dozens of opinion pieces regarding the movement, this study found three prominent fantasy themes: 1) I am an activist, 2) I am a survivor and 3) I am disappointed. As mentioned, individuals who participated in the converging within these narratives were different characters ranging from mothers and daughters, to actresses and retail workers. Existing in multiple spheres of life and interest, the individuals of the #MeToo movement were overwhelmingly victims of rape, abuse, discrimination, or knew victims of such circumstances. They converged to speak out against these issues, against spouses or boyfriends, against employers. They supported one another and shared their own stories, creating a shared rhetorical vision where women despite being continuously abused, were fighting to make lasting changes.

The individuals participating shared a world where they were safe from judgment. All of the fantasy themes intertwined with one another and for many times it was the first time that individuals could share any of these themes and experiences. The individuals were able to share their personal stories, giving them visibility for the first time, while also holding onto their privacy and anonymity because of the sheer popularity of the hashtag. Within this space, the hashtag #MeToo on Twitter, individuals experienced a safety in numbers and could dream freely. Dreams of societal differences where the trauma they experienced were prevented and as freely talked about as it was within the hashtag, as research demonstrates the experiences of said individuals were often silenced.

The use of social media was the greatest tool in this movement (Jerkins, 2018). While many factors affected the trajectory of the convergence experienced during the months of research, it is clear from the research, both tweets and numerous articles written about the movement from the perspective of people from multiple gender, cultural and class backgrounds that social media was the driving factor in the notoriety of this movement that allowed it to reach so many people. When #MeToo started out as a grassroots movement in 2006 by woman of color Tarana Burke, there was little traction in the public sphere (Carissimo, 2017). Based on the popularity of the hashtag #MeToo, it wasn’t until Alyssa Milano tweeted to her 3 million followers, in October of 2017, that there was such a strong reaction and use of the phrase among social media sites and mainstream media (Rife, 2017). Given the accessibility to most social media platforms individuals today have and the ease with which fantasy themes can be developed due to social media platforms’ set up (i.e. hashtags being grouped together in the same place), individuals participating within the movement were able to form their rhetorical vision in a clearer and faster manner, arguably than ever before (Pew Research Center, 2018). Given that the issue, sex abuse and discrimination, was one widely experienced by most people, as can be seen when looking at the research and articles written on the topic, convergence was seemingly inevitable.

Wconsidering this, it is vital to consider those who did not participate in the convergence or those whose voices were different, but just as important in the rhetorical vision. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the many voices present during the movement was one expressing displeasure at its existence. Mainly compromised of men, with the occasional woman, these individuals acted as the Voices of Disagreement. The Voices of Disagreement rarely, if ever, acknowledged the sexual assault epidemic described by the Voices of Agreement. In fact, by so vehemently denying these individuals’ experiences and narratives their validity, these voices spurred on more aggressive responses by the Voices of Agreement. In this way, while Voices of Disagreement did not actively participate in the convergence, they did play a role in it.

However, while the rhetorical vision of this movement reflected upon ideals of third wave feminism, which prides itself on inclusion, many people found this movement to be lacking in diversity. While research into the tweets demonstrates a large range of women and men of all classes participating, women of color felt dismissed from the movement (Chavez, 2017). This Voice of Difference could only be detected when looking at additional sources, generally op-eds that gave voices to those who were drowned out. Despite a woman of color being the one to begin this movement, credit was given to the privileged, more powerful that came out later (Burke, 2017). Further research into the racial dynamics of this movement should be performed to accurately understand the racial connotations of this movement and the affect this has on women of color.

This research had its limitations. There was no found method to randomly select Facebook posts using the hashtag and broadcasted news regarding the movement was not analyzed. Future research, if it has the available means to accomplish a more thorough fantasy theme analysis, will give a more accurate rhetorical vision of the movement. Also, while it raised questions about which societal practices affect this movement, such as racism, it did not strive to answer why women of color felt so left out. Even in this study, the research only began after a prominent white actress used the phrase #MeToo, not from its initial conception in 2006 by a substantially less privileged woman of color. Along these lines, another limitation was the rhetorical vision was not explored in terms of how it changed over the years, since 2006. Future research should take into account all of these limitations and strive to overcome them.