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The gendered dimensions of the anti-mask and anti-lockdown movement on social media

Author

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  • Ahmed Al-Rawi

    (Simon Fraser University)

  • Maliha Siddiqi

    (Simon Fraser University)

  • Clare Wenham

    (London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Julia Smith

    (Simon Fraser University)

Abstract

This paper examines the anti-mask and anti-lockdown online movement in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat the spread of the coronavirus, health officials around the world urged and/or mandated citizens to wear facemasks and adopt physical distancing measures. These health policies and guidelines have become highly politicized in some parts of the world, often discussed in association with freedom of choice and independence. We downloaded references to the anti-mask and anti-lockdown social media posts using 24 search terms. From a total of 4209 social media posts, the researchers manually filtered the explicit visual and textual content that is related to discussions of different genders. We used multimodal discourse analysis (MDM) which analyzes diverse modes of communicative texts and images and focuses on appeals to emotions and reasoning. Using the MDM approach, we analysed posts taken from Facebook and Instagram from active anti-mask and anti-lockdown users, and we identified three main discourses around the gendered discussion of the anti-mask movement including hypermasculine, sexist and pejorative portrayals of “Karen”, and appropriating freedom and feminism discourses. A better understanding of how social media users evoke gendered discourses to spread anti-mask and anti-lockdown messages can help researchers identify differing reactions toward pandemic measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed Al-Rawi & Maliha Siddiqi & Clare Wenham & Julia Smith, 2022. "The gendered dimensions of the anti-mask and anti-lockdown movement on social media," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01442-8
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01442-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dominika Guzek & Dominika Skolmowska & Dominika Głąbska, 2020. "Analysis of Gender-Dependent Personal Protective Behaviors in a National Sample: Polish Adolescents’ COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Damir Sekulic & Mateo Blazevic & Barbara Gilic & Ivan Kvesic & Natasa Zenic, 2020. "Prospective Analysis of Levels and Correlates of Physical Activity during COVID-19 Pandemic and Imposed Rules of Social Distancing; Gender Specific Study among Adolescents from Southern Croatia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-13, May.
    3. Yating Chuang & John Chung-En Liu, 2020. "Who wears a mask? Gender differences in risk behaviors in the COVID-19 early days in Taiwan," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 2619-2627.
    4. Tobol, Yossef & Siniver, Erez & Yaniv, Gideon, 2020. "Dishonesty and mandatory mask wearing in the COVID-19 pandemic," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    5. Jonathan Caulkins & Dieter Grass & Gustav Feichtinger & Richard Hartl & Peter M Kort & Alexia Prskawetz & Andrea Seidl & Stefan Wrzaczek, 2020. "How long should the COVID-19 lockdown continue?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Kelsey E. Gonzalez & Rina James & Eric T. Bjorklund & Terrence D. Hill, 2021. "Conservatism and infrequent mask usage: A study of US counties during the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2368-2382, September.
    7. Ahmed Al-Rawi, 2021. "Political Memes and Fake News Discourses on Instagram," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 276-290.
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    Cited by:

    1. Priscilla Sham & Pui Kwan Man & Clifton Robert Emery, 2024. "Social media construction of sexual deviance in Hong Kong: a case study of a Facebook discussion," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Oriol Rios-Gonzalez & Analia Torres & Emilia Aiello & Bernardo Coelho & Guillermo Legorburo-Torres & Ariadna Munte-Pascual, 2024. "Not all men: the debates in social networks on masculinities and consent," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.

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