Social media and the politics of gender, race and identity: the case of Serena Williams

Abstract

This study investigates issues of gender, race and identity, as enacted through social media, focusing on the abuse experienced by tennis player Serena Williams during the 2015 Wimbledon Championships. A netnographic analysis of discriminatory or abusive comments relating to Williams were collected from 24 sites on two social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter. These platforms are popular sites commonly used for fan/athlete interaction. Williams identifies as female and African American, therefore intersectionality is adopted to examine the representation of Williams in social media spaces. Several pertinent themes were uncovered relating to Williams including 'Gender questioning', 'Accusations of performance enhancing drugs use' and 'Racism'. Such themes showed a simultaneous overlapping of multiple forms of oppression encountered by Williams, reinforcing the notion of the black female athlete as 'other' in virtual spaces. Such oppression is perpetuated by the online environment.

Sporting Women and Social Media: Sexualization, Misogyny, and Gender-Based Violence in Online Spaces

“…As such, this culture is a significant concern for the safety and wellbeing of people engaging in these spaces. Litchfield et al (2018) further highlight:…”

“…More specifically, elite performers use social media for purpose of self-promotion, branding and to provide fans or followers an intimate insight into their professional or personal lives (Litchfield et al, 2016, p. 38; also see Hambrick, Simmons, Greenhalgh & Greenwell, 2010) While social media technologies have had a significant impact on sport and on fan-athlete interaction (Lebel & Danylchuk, 2014), it is also becoming increasingly apparent that this environment can also play host to a number of darker behaviours and provide an outlet for a variety of types of abuse and discrimination to occur (Kavanagh, Jones & Sheppard-Marks, 2016). A number of research studies have pointed to the widespread nature of abuse on social media platforms and an increasing trend of fans attacking athletes via social media platforms (see Browning & Sanderson, 2012;Kavanagh & Jones, 2014;Litchfield et al, 2018Litchfield et al, , 2016Sanderson, 2013;and Sanderson & Truax, 2014). Kavanagh et al (2016, p. 788) define violent interactions, enabled by virtual spaces, more broadly as "direct or non-direct online communication that is stated in an aggressive, exploitative, manipulative, threatening or lewd manner and is designed to elicit fear, emotional or psychological upset, distress, alarm or feelings of inferiority".…”

“…The experience of GBV online can cause embodied harm to the recipient and overwhelmingly women in the media, or those with public profiles are the primary victims of such behaviour. Understanding of the abuse women athletes' face in these environments has lacked attention within current literature (see Litchfield et al, 2018; as some of the few examples of studies). However, sport is not immune to the poor moral behaviour of fans, commentators and consumers in online spaces.…”

“…This shows the progressive nature of these spaces. That said, at the same time, persistent and traditional themes relating to the infantilisaton and sexualisation of women in media spaces remain ever present (Litchfield & Kavanagh, 2018). More broadly, the virtual environment has been recognised as a space which poses a significant threat to women, with the presence of misogyny and violence against women in online spaces increasingly highlighted in scholarly and lay publications (see Molony & Love, 2018).…”

Virtual technologies as tools of maltreatment

“…The Internet provides a virtual treasure trove of information (Bhuller, Havnes, Leuven & Mogstad, 2013), a parallel universe, where virtual reality allows entirely new forms of social action and interaction (Matijasevic, 2014). Our 'real' lives have become intimately entangled with new media and 'virtual' environments, so much so that digital technologies are no longer an additional feature but an integral feature in everyday communication and activity (Litchfield, Kavanagh, Osborne & Jones, 2018). As Ringrose and Harvey (2017) note, mobile smartphones, rather than being separate to our bodies, are entwined with them, creating post-human cyborg bodies that are ever more reliant on a constant stream of digital information and data.…”