Race, Gender, and Digital Media Midterm

Race

a social construct used to categorize people based on physical traits like skin color and facial features

Race pt 2

can also refer to shared cultural or ancestral backgrounds

Racism

a person’s behavior is determined by stable inherited characteristics deriving from separate stocks

Scientific racism

the pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into biologically distinct “races’

Racialization

creates and justifies hierarchies of difference based on notions of superiority and inferiority

Gender

a social and cultural concept that describes a person’s identity in relation to society’s ideas of what it means to be a man, woman, or another gender

Cisgender

a person whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth

Transgender

an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth

Intersex

a term for people born with sex characteristics that don’t fit neatly into the male or female categories

Nonbinary

a term for people who don’t identify as exclusively male or female

Hashtag

tags categorizing digital content

Vernacular Creativity

everyday people creating and spreading content using hashtags

Networked Power

the decentralized but powerful nature of digital movements

Fragmentation

the risk of movements losing focus due to rapid media cycles

Misogyny

a cultural system that devalues and marginalizes women and femininity

Identity Performance

the deliberate presentation of oneself to others, often shaped by the audience

Intersectionality

a framework for understanding how overlapping systems of oppression (racism, sexism, and classism) affect individuals and communities

Hashtag Activism

the use of hashtags on social media to raise awareness, foster solidarity, and mobilize actions around social justice issues

Misogynoir

a term referring to the combined force of anti-Black racism and misogyny directed towards black women

Queer Theory

the perspective that questions the perception that cisgender and heterosexual identities are in any sense “standard.”

Shadowbanning

a covert algorithmic suppression that hides users’ content without informing them

Hashtag Activism

the use of hashtags as a form of political activism to spread awareness, organize movements, and shape public opinion

Gentrification

Process of urban displacement, often pushing out Black, Brown, and queer communities

Digital Queer Gestures

online performances, symbols, and interactions that create and sustain queer identity and resistance

Intersectional Harrassment

the overlapping of multiple forms of oppression in online spaces