Graduation Term
2018
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of English: English Studies
Committee Chair
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.
Access Type
Thesis-Open Access
Recommended Citation
Verma, Karishma, "#Digitalactivism: Examining #yesallwomen and Teaching Social Media Activism in Technical Communication" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 1018.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/1018
DOI
http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2019.Verma.K