Between the Mundane and the Political: Women’s Self-Representations on Instagram

Abstract

Women’s self-representation on Instagram is often discussed in popular media in polarizing terms, as either an empowering practice or as boring and mundane. However, the political and the mundane are inevitably interwoven. This article grounds the discussions on how “the political” can be expressed through mundane Instagram practices on the analysis of individual self-representations of “ordinary” Instagram users (i.e., not celebrities or Insta-famous users). This research is based on a qualitative textual analysis of a sample of 77 randomly selected female Instagram users, ages 18–35, analyzing their photographic self-representations and its surrounding textual context—captions, comments, and likes. It explores how Instagram can broaden the scope of who and what is considered photographable, allowing for the representation of a wider variety of women and femininities underrepresented in popular media, and how this has the potential to upend hegemonic hierarchies of visibility. Following an Instagrammable aesthetic, these self-representations often take place in mundane contexts, as the photographable becomes extended to overlooked, yet essential, aspects of everyday life. It is in the context of these everyday self-representation practices that tangentially political themes become embedded, appearing in brief and often passing mentions that express self-worth, celebrate marginalized identities, or proclaim personal agency.

The visual digital self: A discourse theoretical analysis of young people’s negotiations on gender, reputation and sexual morality online

“…By emphasizing certain photographic conventions, aesthetic values and cultural tastes, Instagram's social media logic is shaping the limits of what is considered photographable, and what can and should be made visible to others. As a result, young people choose to emphasize certain aspects of their personalities, achievements and cultural capital (Caldeira et al, 2020). In this sense, presenting the self is a performative act which involves 'practices that rely on modalities of relation to itself through which the individual constitutes itself and recognizes itself as a subject' (Foucault, 1984, p.12).…”

“…Instagram, being an important part of the everyday online presence of today's youth, provides visual narratives on how self-presentations need to be created and which stories need to be produced in order to take part in the sociability offered by the platform (Thumim, 2012). Young people interact and negotiate with these narratives, social structures and imaginaries in order to mediate and perform their own belonging within a dominant culture of visual storytelling (Caldeira et al, 2020). This discursive performance of the self enables the affective (re)presentation of one's subjectivity (Papacharissi, 2015).…”

“It’s Not Just Instagram Models”: Exploring the Gendered Political Potential of Young Women’s Instagram Use

“…These political concerns can also become intertwined with everyday social media practices, existing alongside and within self-representational content such as selfies, outfits of the day, or photos of artful lattes that are not deliberately created with political aims in mind (Caldeira et al, 2020). As Danielle stated: "Maybe people get a bit confused because one post will be a selfie, then it will be a food post, and then I'll just talk about children dying in Yemen, you know?"…”

“…By showcasing women whose appearances and interests differ from those typically represented in popular mass media, Instagram can help to broaden the scope of who and what is deemed worthy of public visibility, thus challenging hegemonic hierarchies of representation (Caldeira et al, 2020). The interviewed participants emphasized this idea, seeing Instagram as helping to enact social change regarding what they considered "exposure issues," as exemplified by Tyrah with references to issues of race, or by Alexandra regarding questions of body activism.…”

“…The selection of interviewees arose from a sample of 77 randomly selected Instagram users who participated in a prior qualitative textual analysis of self-representations on Instagram (Caldeira, De Ridder, & Van Bauwel, 2020). This initial roster of 77 users was established using a random snowballing strategy (Willem, Araüna, Crescenzi, & Tortajada, 2010) initiated from four randomly selected users from the researcher's own following list on Instagram.…”