The Pluralization of Feminist Hashtag Landscapes: An Exploratory Mapping of Feminist Hashtags on Portuguese Instagram

Abstract

Feminist hashtags are often studied in the context of concise and highly visible hashtag movements. However, most social media and hashtag use exist outside the narrow confines of such movements. This article broadens the scope of exploration of hashtag feminisms, encompassing not only well-defined hashtag movements but also generic hashtags where feminist action might not be overtly or strategically mobilized. It grounds these explorations on the mapping of the Portuguese landscape of feminist hashtags on Instagram. Starting from four hashtags—#feminismoportugal, #igualdadedegénero, #naopartilhes, and #portugalmaisigual—this study explores hashtagging practices in 294 posts created by 101 users. Combining the analysis of a hashtag co-occurrences network with qualitative close readings, this article explores how these online practices incorporate varied typologies of fourth-wave feminist action, how a focus on intersectionality can be conducive to a heterogeneous and differentiated hashtag landscape, and how questions of effectiveness of hashtag activism can be problematized by low metrics of engagement. As such, this exploration of the Portuguese feminist hashtag landscape serves as an entry point for a critical reflection on the everyday uses of feminist hashtags, illustrating the tensions, complexities, and contradictions that such pluralized hashtag landscapes can encompass.