Twitter and What I Found Here

I'm a gender and women's studies major and searching for a minor. I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do career-wise, but a main job doesn't jump out at me. I think it's hard to say the career people with my degree often go into... So when I was on twitter I didn't look up a specific career, instead, I typed in things like "gender studies" and "women studies."

I found that I didn't even want to search "feminism" on twitter. There's a negative connotation to it and it's always present on social media. I typed it in anyways, and managed to find a bunch of accounts in favor of feminism (and the real feminism, the one thats definition is: "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men", not the man-hating movement that some men and women confuse it with). Also, these accounts did not only focus on problems encountered by women, but issues that affect all genders and cultures.

OpenClipArtVectors. "Emancipation Feminism Women Rights Power Fist" 10/21/13 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain License.

1. What kinds of things do people on Twitter seem to be talking about, debating, arguing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exchanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in these Twitter feeds.

The stories I found in these Twitter feeds are a lot about advocating for women's rights and equality. I was really happy to see that these accounts did not just focus on women's rights, but equality and justice for everyone. Retweets from "Women's Rights" account included tweets on changing policies and signing petitions for things such as, the boy scout's anti-gay policies, telling FratPACt to change their sexual assault legislative agenda, and campaigns challenging Victoria's Secret's refusal to carry plus sizes.

2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting conversations or stories you found in the Twitter feeds? Hyperlink us to the two different Twitter feeds and explain why you found those conversations interesting. Be specific and honest and be yourself. I don't want you to blah-blah-blah this. I want you to really engage.

1st story--

I heard about this new movie, "Carol" and how ABC wouldn't air it. I decided to see what people on twitter had to say about it. It's remarkable that everyone tweeting seems to be against ABC, shaming them for their homophobia by not airing a trailer that had a lesbian love scene. "50 Shades of Grey" was O-K to air because it was a hetero couple, but when there are two girls in bed showing bare backs and kissing, oh no!- That's too inappropriate for our television channel... It's 2016, yet some people can't change or keep up with the times. I find it so frustrating that media and society allow themselves to be hypocritical and intolerable. It's such a scary place for people who cannot be seen as equal due to their sexuality, race, gender, etc. It's too bad ABC can't support the production of "Carol," but honestly, I believe the movie alone has inspired people to gain tolerance and acceptance. Although there were many pro-movie tweets, I knew that there had to be people in disagreement.

ABC will not air the "Carol" movie trailer

2nd story--

I stumbled upon tweets about Caitlyn Jenner and decided to delve deeper into news about her. I came across a feed about Caitlyn winning the Arthur Ashe award for courage. I remember how this really struck a chord for some people, and it's interesting that there are so many different perspectives on the controversy. Some people believe she deserved the award because Bruce Jenner, a hugely famous Olympian and celebrity, transitioning into a women, was abundantly courageous. And could greatly help struggling transpeople or make society more accepting. However, there were also people who did not think Caitlyn deserved such an award because they thought she was using her gender transition to gain fame and publicity. Additionally, other people were not in favor of Caitlyn earning the award, but different reasons. Some people thought that someone with other, "greater," "substantial" achievements deserved the award; like soldiers that served our country. It's a controversy that continues to be mentioned and debated on twitter and social media today.

Caitlyn Jenner Wins Arthur Ashe Award

3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening on Twitter? Were the people in these feeds talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking about or things you had no idea they'd be discussing? Explain in concise specific detail.

I think the way users spoke on the twitter feeds were as expected. I find that a lot of twitter accounts are liberal, or the ones discussing gender issues, at least. Once I found an issue though, and dug deeper, I was able to find people who held different opinions- people angry about women complaining on some issues. When searching the feeds, I definitely was not expecting as broad of topics to be found. I think I was narrowing in on issues that hit closer to home or that I hear more about. Issues like campus assault, gender norms amongst young people, women in sports vs. men in sports... but after looking through enough accounts, I found a lot more tweets on things like the gender wage gap, assault of women refugees in other countries, and petitions for schools and learning opportunities for women around the world. It made me feel small and that I should be grateful, and upset if I found any negative opinion on the matter.