Female Empowerment on Instagram: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of Femvertisements Communicated by SMIs
(2021) SKOM12 20211Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract (Swedish)
- This thesis used Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to study femvertisements communicated by Social Media Influencers on Instagram. A critical perspective was adopted to study the convergence of advertising and feminism in the context of social media. The aim of the study was to explore the prevalent discourses of female empowerment, the main component in femvertising, and how existing discourses are sustained and challenged in the femvertisements. By critically exploring how female empowerment is articulated, the purpose is to better understand the ideological forces that shape gender asymmetries in femvertising in a Swedish social media context. As theoretical framework, the study used previously identified discourses of empowerment as... (More)
- This thesis used Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to study femvertisements communicated by Social Media Influencers on Instagram. A critical perspective was adopted to study the convergence of advertising and feminism in the context of social media. The aim of the study was to explore the prevalent discourses of female empowerment, the main component in femvertising, and how existing discourses are sustained and challenged in the femvertisements. By critically exploring how female empowerment is articulated, the purpose is to better understand the ideological forces that shape gender asymmetries in femvertising in a Swedish social media context. As theoretical framework, the study used previously identified discourses of empowerment as well as post-feminist discourses, Critical theory, Foucault’s theory of Power and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. To study the phenomenon, 50 femvertising cases were selected and analysed with guidance from Fairclough’s three-dimensional model for Critical Discourse Analysis, including a descriptive, interpretative, and explanatory analysis of both written and visual elements in the femvertisements. In the findings, four discourses of female empowerment were identified in the analysed femvertisements communicated by the SMIs on Instagram: self empowerment, collective empowerment, shame and vulnerability, and bold beauty. While some of the findings reflect new discourses that may challenge the prevailing orders of discourse, this thesis casts doubt on whether it offers any greater contribution towards transformational change in regard to women’s liberation, as it avoids social critique of the patriarchal structures and power imbalances causing gender asymmetries in society. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9064891
- author
- Andersson, Elin LU and Wihlborg, Ebba LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOM12 20211
- year
- 2021
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Femvertising, Social Media Influencer, Empowerment, Commodification, Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Theory
- language
- English
- id
- 9064891
- date added to LUP
- 2022-08-08 11:08:41
- date last changed
- 2022-08-08 11:08:41
@misc{9064891, abstract = {{This thesis used Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to study femvertisements communicated by Social Media Influencers on Instagram. A critical perspective was adopted to study the convergence of advertising and feminism in the context of social media. The aim of the study was to explore the prevalent discourses of female empowerment, the main component in femvertising, and how existing discourses are sustained and challenged in the femvertisements. By critically exploring how female empowerment is articulated, the purpose is to better understand the ideological forces that shape gender asymmetries in femvertising in a Swedish social media context. As theoretical framework, the study used previously identified discourses of empowerment as well as post-feminist discourses, Critical theory, Foucault’s theory of Power and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. To study the phenomenon, 50 femvertising cases were selected and analysed with guidance from Fairclough’s three-dimensional model for Critical Discourse Analysis, including a descriptive, interpretative, and explanatory analysis of both written and visual elements in the femvertisements. In the findings, four discourses of female empowerment were identified in the analysed femvertisements communicated by the SMIs on Instagram: self empowerment, collective empowerment, shame and vulnerability, and bold beauty. While some of the findings reflect new discourses that may challenge the prevailing orders of discourse, this thesis casts doubt on whether it offers any greater contribution towards transformational change in regard to women’s liberation, as it avoids social critique of the patriarchal structures and power imbalances causing gender asymmetries in society.}}, author = {{Andersson, Elin and Wihlborg, Ebba}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Female Empowerment on Instagram: A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis of Femvertisements Communicated by SMIs}}, year = {{2021}}, }