“Fearless, powerful, Filipino”: identity positioning in the hashtag activism of #BabaeAko

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigated the discursive production and contestation of identities in the Philippine hashtag campaign, #BabaeAko (“I am a woman”). Using Slocum-Bradley’s Positioning Diamond (2009) it explored the relational process of identity negotiation between the women of the campaign and the President along with his supporters. Explicit utterance of the identity category “woman” with attributes of fearlessness and power, and sustaining such positioning across social episodes, allowed #BabaeAko advocates to resist oppressive attributions grounded on structural inequalities. In addition, the twofold storylines of calling out misogyny and calling for solidarity established the discursive activism of the campaign as both “talking back” and “calling for” likeminded individuals. Findings are further discussed in relation to hashtag feminism and political action along with the implications of identity claiming to feminist online mobilization.