"We Have Tiny Purses in Our Vaginas!!! #Thanksforthat": Absurdity as a Feminist Method of Intervention

Autor/inn/en	Sundén, Jenny; Paasonen, Susanna
Titel	"We Have Tiny Purses in Our Vaginas!!! #Thanksforthat": Absurdity as a Feminist Method of Intervention
Quelle	In: Qualitative Research Journal, 21 (2021) 3, S.233-243 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Sundén, Jenny) ORCID (Paasonen, Susanna)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1443-9883
DOI	10.1108/QRJ-09-2020-0108
Schlagwörter	Feminism; Teaching Methods; Intervention; Social Media; Females; Experience; Humor; Gender Bias + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Feminismus; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Soziale Medien; Weibliches Geschlecht; Erfahrung; Humoristische Darstellung; Geschlechterstereotyp
Abstract	Purpose: According to thesaurus definitions, the absurd translates as "ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous"; "extremely silly; not logical and sensible". As further indicated in the Latin root absurdus, "out of tune, uncouth, inappropriate, ridiculous," humor in absurd registers plays with that which is out of harmony with both reason and decency. In this article, the authors make an argument for the absurd as a feminist method for tackling heterosexism. Design/methodology/approach: By focusing on the Twitter account "Men Write Women" (est. 2019), the rationale of which is to share literary excerpts from male authors describing women's experiences, thoughts and appearances, and which regularly broadens into social theater in the user reactions, the study explores the critical value of absurdity in feminist social media tactics. Findings: The study proposes the absurd as a means of not merely turning things around, or inside out, but disrupting and eschewing the hegemonic logic on offer. While both absurd humor and feminist activism may begin from a site of reactivity and negative evaluation, it need not remain confined to it. Rather, by turning things preposterous, ludicrous and inappropriate, absurd laughter ends up somewhere different. The feminist value of absurd humor has to do with both its critical edge and with the affective lifts and spaces of ambiguity that it allows for. Originality/value: Research on digital feminist activism has largely focused on the affective dynamics of anger. As there are multiple affective responses to sexism, our article foregrounds laughter and ambivalence as a means of claiming space differently in online cultures rife with hate, sexism and misogyny. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01