Handbook on Gender and Digital Media
Published on 5. September 2025
Book
Hardback
452 pages
978-1-0353-1356-3 (ISBN)
Description
This timely Handbook explores the intersection between gender and digital media, examining how virtual platforms both challenge and reinforce traditional gender norms and inequalities. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it reflects on key issues such as gendered digital labor, self-expression and intersectionality in cyberspaces.
Leading and emerging international scholars discuss how gender identities are portrayed in virtual environments, addressing issues of stereotyping and visibility for marginalized groups. They demonstrate how digital platforms have become crucial tools for gender and LGBTQIA+ activism and investigate how feminist theories critique and reshape virtual infrastructures. Chapters delve into detailed case studies including Christian lifestyle creators and their influence on women; affective masculinity in video games; the normalization of misogyny within the manosphere; and how Afghan women's rights activists use digital technologies for community building. The Handbook ultimately advocates for greater critical engagement and activism regarding the role of digital media in shaping perceptions of gender and power.
Students and scholars of family and gender, media studies, digital sociology and communication will greatly benefit from this expansive Handbook. It is also a crucial resource for activists involved in digital advocacy and feminist movements, as well as practitioners, professionals and policymakers in technology, media and digital industries.
Leading and emerging international scholars discuss how gender identities are portrayed in virtual environments, addressing issues of stereotyping and visibility for marginalized groups. They demonstrate how digital platforms have become crucial tools for gender and LGBTQIA+ activism and investigate how feminist theories critique and reshape virtual infrastructures. Chapters delve into detailed case studies including Christian lifestyle creators and their influence on women; affective masculinity in video games; the normalization of misogyny within the manosphere; and how Afghan women's rights activists use digital technologies for community building. The Handbook ultimately advocates for greater critical engagement and activism regarding the role of digital media in shaping perceptions of gender and power.
Students and scholars of family and gender, media studies, digital sociology and communication will greatly benefit from this expansive Handbook. It is also a crucial resource for activists involved in digital advocacy and feminist movements, as well as practitioners, professionals and policymakers in technology, media and digital industries.
Reviews / Votes
'Harp, Bachmann, and Loke have created a unique volume that reflects both the global and individual diversity of women's experiences in today's pervasive digital spaces. The Handbook encompasses a variety of theoretical approaches and research methods, illustrating the ongoing reproduction of inequalities and women's resistance to these practices.' -- Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh, Butler University, USA 'Acknowledging the realities of the systems of power at work in both gender as a social construction and digital mediascapes, this volume explores and expands the territory of feminist media studies in its inclusive, transnational, multimethodological and theoretically eclectic scope. Perhaps most important is the reader's focus on transformative progressive change and feminist activism through praxis. The contributors include a global pantheon of established and emerging voices in this growing subdiscipline. The book makes a timely and important contribution to both feminist media studies and feminist science and technology studies.' -- Meenakshi Gigi Durham, University of Iowa, USA 'This smart feminist trio has commissioned a rich set of chapters that taken together offer a comprehensive account of the gendered complexities at the heart of contemporary digital media, including their globalizing tendencies and local variations, the way they undermine but also strengthen community, resistance, and activism. These provocative explorations reject simplistic binaries and underscore relevant tensions and contradictions.' -- Linda Steiner, University of Maryland, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-1356-3 (9781035313563)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Dustin Harp, Department of Communication, The University of Texas at Arlington, USA, Ingrid Bachmann, School of Communications, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile and Jaime Loke, Bob Schieffer College of Communication, Texas Christian University, USA
Content
Contents
1 Introduction: navigating gender, media and power in a digitally connected
world 1
Dustin Harp, Ingrid Bachmann and Jaime Loke
PART I GENDER, POWER, AND PARTICIPATION IN DIGITAL MEDIA SPACES
2 Gender and politics go digital: interrogating politicians' social media
behaviour across four election campaigns 11
Karen Ross, Susan Fountaine and Margie Comrie
3 Thank you for sharing: gendered digital consumption of digital news 25
Natalia Aruguete, Ernesto Calvo and Carolina Verena Franco
4 Technological innovation in journalism: a reading against the grain 40
Sara De Vuyst
5 YouTube couple influencers: the reimagination of coupledom in
contemporary South Africa 53
Priscilla Boshoff and Jeanne Prinsloo
6 I choose you: reading and transcending women's condition in games of
women, by women, for women 70
Abby Youran Qin
7 Health literacy and health equity: community and digital opportunities for
improved LGBTQ+ health 84
Teresa Wagner
8 Christian lifestyle creators and their influence on single women,
newlyweds, and new mothers 99
K. Macy Burkett
9 Amplifying queerness and queer coming out experiences in fan
communities through TikTok 113
Janey Umback and Amy Shields Dobson
PART II THEORIES, METHODS, AND INTERVENTIONS FOR
TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE
10 Online silencing: women and the political economy of digital
communication 127
Carolyn M. Byerly
11 How do you feel about it? An exploration of the importance of emotions
and feelings in the study of gendered digital media 141
Sofie Van Bauwel
12 Masc affect: affective masculinity in video games research 153
Joshua Foust
13 Gendered affordances in political participation on social media 167
Karen Gheza
14 Gender and digital publics: utilizing the three-level model of the public
sphere in social movement research 178
Ricarda Drueeke and Elisabeth Klaus
15 "It is nice, you learn to be supportive": digital technologies, community
organizing and the ethics of care among women leaders of disadvantaged
communities 195
Teresa Correa, Isabel Pavez and Catalina Farias
16 Proposing a code of ethics for the metaverse 206
Don Heider and Dustin Harp
17 Reaching women of color through digital media for health research:
opportunity, challenges, and lessons learned 218
Hannah A. Affleck, Grace Ellen Brannon, Arian Goudar, Kyrah K.
Brown and Yue Liao
PART III DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, ONLINE THREATS, MISOGYNY AND
SURVEILLANCE
18 Digital media and emerging tactics of gendered harassment 234
Ingrid Bachmann, Dustin Harp and Jaime Loke
19 Abused and silenced: how free speech and online platforms fail women 245
Kyla Garrett Wagner and Caitlin Ring Carlson
20 "I wanna push you around. And I will, and I will." Mainstreaming
misogyny in the manosphere 259
Penelope Ingram
21 Invisible boundaries: how masculine spaces enable the misuse of women's
intimacy 273
Jaime Loke, Dustin Harp and Ingrid Bachmann
22 Reclaiming the personal: feminist politics of digital privacy beyond
encryption 286
Zelly Martin and Dominique A. Montiel Valle
23 Algorithms and gender in digital media 300
Benita Dederichs and Micky Lee
24 Gender in the machine: Examining gender dynamics in sex robots,
chatbots, and AI assistants 314
Gabriela Arriagada-Bruneau and Nicole Larrondo
PART IV. RESISTANCE, ACTIVISM, SPACES FOR COMMUNITY DIGITAL
OPPORTUNITIES
25 Uncovering butchness: how the butch lesbian subreddit on Reddit helped
me understand myself 328
Gina M. Masullo
26 Entrepreneurial opportunities: understanding the emergence of genderfocused news sites in Latin America 340
Summer Harlow
27 The use of information and communication technologies to promote
human rights among forced migrant women: an afghan activist experience 350
Jaclyn Kirsch, Roshan Mashal, Dustin Harp and Hanna Haran
28 Intersectional trans athlete media narratives: the role of digital media in
(re)defining the stories of trans athletes 363
Andrew C. Billings, Jaymes Van Gyn and Leigh Moscowitz
29 Patriarchy, traditionalism, the new gender "backlash", and feminist digital
activism in the Balkans 376
Natasha Dimitrovska
30 Digital spaces, women's untold stories and how marginality become tools
of resistance: the case of Zimbabwe 391
Sibongile Mpofu
31 Celebrities and influencers facing crisis: navigating the intersections of
social media, brand management, and crisis communication 405
Mildred "Mimi" Perreault
1 Introduction: navigating gender, media and power in a digitally connected
world 1
Dustin Harp, Ingrid Bachmann and Jaime Loke
PART I GENDER, POWER, AND PARTICIPATION IN DIGITAL MEDIA SPACES
2 Gender and politics go digital: interrogating politicians' social media
behaviour across four election campaigns 11
Karen Ross, Susan Fountaine and Margie Comrie
3 Thank you for sharing: gendered digital consumption of digital news 25
Natalia Aruguete, Ernesto Calvo and Carolina Verena Franco
4 Technological innovation in journalism: a reading against the grain 40
Sara De Vuyst
5 YouTube couple influencers: the reimagination of coupledom in
contemporary South Africa 53
Priscilla Boshoff and Jeanne Prinsloo
6 I choose you: reading and transcending women's condition in games of
women, by women, for women 70
Abby Youran Qin
7 Health literacy and health equity: community and digital opportunities for
improved LGBTQ+ health 84
Teresa Wagner
8 Christian lifestyle creators and their influence on single women,
newlyweds, and new mothers 99
K. Macy Burkett
9 Amplifying queerness and queer coming out experiences in fan
communities through TikTok 113
Janey Umback and Amy Shields Dobson
PART II THEORIES, METHODS, AND INTERVENTIONS FOR
TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE
10 Online silencing: women and the political economy of digital
communication 127
Carolyn M. Byerly
11 How do you feel about it? An exploration of the importance of emotions
and feelings in the study of gendered digital media 141
Sofie Van Bauwel
12 Masc affect: affective masculinity in video games research 153
Joshua Foust
13 Gendered affordances in political participation on social media 167
Karen Gheza
14 Gender and digital publics: utilizing the three-level model of the public
sphere in social movement research 178
Ricarda Drueeke and Elisabeth Klaus
15 "It is nice, you learn to be supportive": digital technologies, community
organizing and the ethics of care among women leaders of disadvantaged
communities 195
Teresa Correa, Isabel Pavez and Catalina Farias
16 Proposing a code of ethics for the metaverse 206
Don Heider and Dustin Harp
17 Reaching women of color through digital media for health research:
opportunity, challenges, and lessons learned 218
Hannah A. Affleck, Grace Ellen Brannon, Arian Goudar, Kyrah K.
Brown and Yue Liao
PART III DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, ONLINE THREATS, MISOGYNY AND
SURVEILLANCE
18 Digital media and emerging tactics of gendered harassment 234
Ingrid Bachmann, Dustin Harp and Jaime Loke
19 Abused and silenced: how free speech and online platforms fail women 245
Kyla Garrett Wagner and Caitlin Ring Carlson
20 "I wanna push you around. And I will, and I will." Mainstreaming
misogyny in the manosphere 259
Penelope Ingram
21 Invisible boundaries: how masculine spaces enable the misuse of women's
intimacy 273
Jaime Loke, Dustin Harp and Ingrid Bachmann
22 Reclaiming the personal: feminist politics of digital privacy beyond
encryption 286
Zelly Martin and Dominique A. Montiel Valle
23 Algorithms and gender in digital media 300
Benita Dederichs and Micky Lee
24 Gender in the machine: Examining gender dynamics in sex robots,
chatbots, and AI assistants 314
Gabriela Arriagada-Bruneau and Nicole Larrondo
PART IV. RESISTANCE, ACTIVISM, SPACES FOR COMMUNITY DIGITAL
OPPORTUNITIES
25 Uncovering butchness: how the butch lesbian subreddit on Reddit helped
me understand myself 328
Gina M. Masullo
26 Entrepreneurial opportunities: understanding the emergence of genderfocused news sites in Latin America 340
Summer Harlow
27 The use of information and communication technologies to promote
human rights among forced migrant women: an afghan activist experience 350
Jaclyn Kirsch, Roshan Mashal, Dustin Harp and Hanna Haran
28 Intersectional trans athlete media narratives: the role of digital media in
(re)defining the stories of trans athletes 363
Andrew C. Billings, Jaymes Van Gyn and Leigh Moscowitz
29 Patriarchy, traditionalism, the new gender "backlash", and feminist digital
activism in the Balkans 376
Natasha Dimitrovska
30 Digital spaces, women's untold stories and how marginality become tools
of resistance: the case of Zimbabwe 391
Sibongile Mpofu
31 Celebrities and influencers facing crisis: navigating the intersections of
social media, brand management, and crisis communication 405
Mildred "Mimi" Perreault