When Shaming Is Shameful: Double Standards in Online Shame Backlashes

Abstract

Recent defenses of shaming as an effective tool for identifying bad practice and provoking social change appear compatible with feminism. I complicate this picture by examining two instances of online feminist shaming that resulted in shame backlashes. Shaming requires the assertion of social and epistemic authority on behalf of a larger community, and is dependent upon an audience that will be receptive to the shaming testimony. In cases where marginally situated knowers attempt to “shame up,” it presents challenges for feminist uses.

Freedom of expression

“…Jacquet (2015) has likewise pointed to the productive potential of shame, as a means of militating for institutional reform directed at those with power and status, such as high‐profile tax avoiders or individuals holding prestigious positions with sexist views. However, there can be backlash effects against shamers who, like whistleblowers, can make themselves more vulnerable (Adkins, 2019).…”

Divided we tweet: The social media poetics of public online shaming

“…Those who write about shaming in digital culture note many possible uses and consequences including justice-seeking (Mielczarek, 2018; Wood et al, 2019), which often involves exposing alleged perpetrators of discrimination or violence or “trying” individuals for their alleged actions in the digital court of public opinion. While there is no shortage of examples in which online shaming has resulted norm enforcement or behavioral change in everything from restaurant reviews to home repairs to professor ratings, other times exposures may have unintended consequences such as backlashes against the shamers (Adkins, 2019) and, somewhat counterproductively, an even more intense commitment of “the shamed” to their “deemed-shameful” behavior (e.g. Bowles, 2017).…”

“…#GymJordan). Of course, power, in this case sex-based power, may be at the heart of the disparity (see Adkins, 2019).…”

The Moral Risks of Online Shaming

“…More recently, Norlock (2017), Billingham and Parr (2019), and Adkins (2019) have tack led online shaming directly. Norlock situates online shaming in the context of imaginal re lationships (2017: 188).…”