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Article published In: Internet Pragmatics
Vol. 5:2 (2022) ► pp.291–316

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“Completely incapable of logical thought”

Delegitimating the MeToo Movement in YouTube comment sections

 | Stockholm University
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Stockholm University.

Published online: 2 August 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00082.far
Abstract
While the MeToo Movement has generally been accepted as a legitimate response to what was considered endemic sexual harassment and discrimination in Hollywood, its goals and values have nonetheless been questioned and undermined. This study examines the comment sections of two YouTube videos produced by major broadcasting corporations in which the MeToo Movement in Europe is discussed. The comment sections are analysed in terms of expressions of attitude and evaluation, using the Appraisal framework. Through this analysis it is revealed that attitudes expressed in the comments legitimate and normalise anti-feminist ideologies through discursive construction of social norms. Conversely, feminism, as well as immigration, are delegitimated. Commenters delegitimate the MeToo Movement by construing its goals and values as misdirected or insincere. These attitudes are furthermore expressed through dialogically contractive comments, thus constructing them as accepted and matter-of-fact, rather than ideological.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Feminism and anti-feminism in online spaces
  • 3.Theoretical framework
    • 3.1Appraisal framework
    • 3.2Identifying discourses of (de)legitimation
  • 4.Materials and methods
    • 4.1YouTube videos
    • 4.2Coding ideologies
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Research question 1
      • 5.1.1Attitude
      • 5.1.2Engagement
    • 5.2Research question 2
      • 5.2.1Scapegoating
      • 5.2.2Denaturalisation
      • 5.2.3Corruption
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
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