Legitimising a Feminist Agenda: The #metoo petitions in Sweden 2017–2018

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>During 2017 and 2018, the #metoo hashtag united a global movement against sexual abuse and harassment. In Sweden, a large portion of the attention was given to the voices of working women, who organised and wrote petitions that were published in news media. Previous research has found that media reports of sexual abuse often focus on singular stories, rather than describing the underlying structural problems, and that the problem is often framed as an individual rather than structural problem. This article accounts for a qualitative content analysis of the first 28 published #metoo petitions in Sweden, with the goal of understanding how these framed the issue. In contrast to previous research, this study shows how the petitions established a coherent feminist explanatory framework that placed the problems on a structural level by focusing on work environments and framing demands in terms of general and perfectly reasonable human rights.</jats:p>

Me too! A case study of gendered victimization and feminist development in a Swedish peer support organization for people with experiences of criminalization and substance abuse

“…Taken together, the framing of the problem with sexism and sexual harassment in KRIS that these narratives present has several similarities with the different framings of the problem that were constructed in Swedish #MeToo petitions [see ( 41 )]. Firstly, the problem in KRIS is understood as connected to male-dominance and macho culture, where certain bullying behaviors and sexist jargon are seen as inherent.…”

“…The study shows that there are several parallels between how the issue of sexual harassment was framed by KRIS and the way this issue was framed by the #MeToo petitions that emanated from other Swedish workplaces and industries. For example, the outline of the problem as a democratic issue rather than a women’s issue and a question of providing a safe place for all members (i.e., a work environment issue), is aligned with the problem definition of the broader #MeToo-movement in Sweden ( 41 , 56 ). The interviews also indicate a raising of awareness among women in KRIS that came from sharing experiences of sexual harassment and realizing they were not alone.…”

“…The number of hashtags was, relative to the size of Sweden’s population, highest in the world ( 45 ). Between 2017 and 2018, 76 petitions were published in Swedish media ( 41 ). Most of the petitions came from different lines of businesses and industries, but several were initiated by groups of (mainly) women not connected to a specific industry sector.…”

Caracterización del #MeToo en España. Una aproximación a través del análisis de la prensa y su impacto en la ciudadanía

“…De esta forma, pueden favorecer las demandas del movimiento feminista si adquieren una posición de responsabilidad (Møller & Askanius, 2019). Partimos de investigaciones previas que constatan que, en la cobertura del #MeToo, los medios de comunicación han sido proclives a enmarcar la violencia sexual como un problema ocasional, no social y político (Hansson et al, 2020). Hay autores que apuntan una tendencia a poner el foco en las celebridades y las industrias culturales (De Benedictis, Orgad y Rottenberg, 2019).…”

Activist-journalism and the Norm of Objectivity: Role Performance in the Reporting of the #MeToo Movement in Denmark and Sweden

“…In Sweden, the campaign became a rallying cry against sexism and sexual harassment, with petition campaigns and calls to action organised within a wide range of professions. The media industry was no exception, and in November 2017, thousands of female and non-binary journalists signed an open letter and organised around the hashtag #deadline, demanding an end to sexism in the Swedish news industry (for a detailed analysis of all petitions in Sweden, see Hansson et al 2020;Pollack 2019). In Denmark, at least in the first months following the initial breach of the hashtag, media coverage was less intense and tended to de-legitimise #MeToo by framing the movement as a witch-hunt and an illegitimate kangaroo-court (see Askanius and Møller Hartley 2019).…”