Diagram/Infographic
10 août 2022

How period activism on social media changes gender norms

Author: Ipsita Divedi
Published by: ALIGN

This ALIGN illustration series tells the story of how online activists use social media to shift gender norms. Focusing on the experiences of activists working to break taboos on period shame and menstruation, this comic strip narrates the perspective of our main character Mira who uses digital content and art to inspire social change. The story reflects that of other youth activists like her who use social media to build movements to advance sexual and reproductive rights in their communities. 

A short story on how online activism shifts gender norms…

Mira was sick of feeling shame about her period and wanted to do something about it. She used 4 main social media strategies to make the personal political...

Mira started by mobilising a digital  campaign to challenge norms  in her community.

By posting facts about menstruation, Mira dared to break taboos. But, by posting witty memes she reframed perceptions.

Spreading the message about problems of stigma, she shared inspiring content from other online activists.

Hashtags helped her connect with like-minded people and strengthen their collective power.

Although sexist accounts try to silence her with attacks that reinforce gender norms, Mira continues to fight off this hate.

She knows online feminist activism is powerful. It has built pressure for global change, with campaigns to achieve specific goals.

And while change takes time, Mira knows how much the work of people like her can generate real-world transformation.

Find out more about the power of online feminist activism in our ALIGN report Hashtags, memes and selfies.

 

The comic strip was illustrated by the feminist artivist Ipsita Divedi who is based in India and draws on findings from case studies on social media activism found in the ALIGN Report Hashtags, memes and selfies, including the #HappyToBleed campaign.