RT Article
T1 Witches, Victims, and Villains: #MeToo and the Political Polarization of Sexual Violence
JF Violence against women
VO 30
IS 8
SP 1910
OP 1933
A1 Shoaf, Hannah
A2 Pierce, Hayley
A2 López, Jane Lilly
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1887961755
AB #MeToo sought to combat sexual violence but evolved into a polarizing movement in the United States. Using a random sample of 5,153 tweets with #MeToo posted between 2017 and 2019 to explore the language and themes individuals use to polarize conversations around sexual violence, we find that MeToo supporters used rights-and-justice-focused language to advocate for survivors. In contrast, MeToo detractors employed legal and violent language to victimize the alleged perpetrators and villainize victims of sexual violence and their supporters. This demonstrates how “linguistic hijacking” unfolded online, with movement opponents co-opting key terms (like “victim”) to undermine movement supporters’ goals.
K1 Politicization
K1 Polarization
K1 #MeToo
K1 Sexual Violence
DO 10.1177/10778012241239949