Date of Award

9-9-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Department of English: English Studies

First Advisor

Angela M. Haas

Abstract

In May 2014, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured fourteen others near

the University of California campus in Santa Barbara. A “hatred of women” was cited as the

reason for his crimes. This incident inspired the hashtag movement #YesAllWomen on social

media. Users shared examples of how although “not all men” engage in violent behaviors that

Rodger exhibited, all women go through their lives fearing. This thesis uses a technofeminist

framework to examine how the #YesAllWomen movement functioned as an online social

movement on Twitter to encourage conversation as well as promote change. I also discuss how

technical communication classrooms can implement social media movements as pedagogical

tools through a social justice framework. Ultimately, I synthesize scholarship on

technofeminism, circulation studies, and digital activist rhetorics to argue that analyzing digital

activist rhetorics in specific hashtag movements can shape how we think about social media

activism as well as how technical writing students can benefit from studying digital activism to

effectively reach their intended—and unintended—audiences.

Comments

Imported from ProQuest Verma_ilstu_0092N_11319.pdf

DOI

http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2019.Verma.K

Page Count

84

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