Top Feminist Hashtags of 2013 (Explained) #F

This post originally appeared on December 29, 2013 written by founder, Tara L. Conley.

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In case you need a quick reference guide about what some of your favorite feminist hasthags of 2013 mean and how they evolved over time, here ya go!

#TwitterFeminism – First appeared three years ago but it’s meaning has since evolved into an umbrella term that, depending on who you ask encompasses all that is right, or all that is wrong with feminist discourse on Twitter.

The #twitterfeminism backlash isn’t really about social media vs. “real feminism.” It’s a few white cis ladypundits fearful it’s working.

— Melissa Gira Grant (@melissagira) December 19, 2013

#NotYourAsianSidekick – First appeared on December 14, 2013 and was created by @suey_park as a way to engage in a critical conversation about Asian American feminism. To date,#NotYourAsianSidekick is one of the fastest growing feminist hashtags to spread globally.

I will never apologize for being angry about your racism. #NotYourAsianSidekick

— Alyssa Wong (@crashwong) December 16, 2013

#fem2 – First appeared on December 15, 2008 when @blogdiva responded to a tweet about what to call feminism on Twitter. Ever since, the hashtag has grown and continues to be the longest running, widely used, and consistently referenced feminist hashtag on Twitter.

Justice Sotomayor will trigger ball drop on #NYE! Love that an amazing woman will help ring in 2014. #Fem2 #NYE2014 http://t.co/ho0HGucdza

— Jaclyn Munson (@OnwardnFword) December 30, 2013

#femfuture – First appeared on December 18, 2009 when @shelbyknox tweeted a request for a hashtag that describes the work of young feminist activists. The hashtag is now widely associated with Femfuture.com.

Launch of something like femfuture once again reminds me how centered most of feminism is in a single location, even when talking online.

— Jessica W. Luther (@scATX) April 8, 2013

#BeyonceThinkPieces – First appeared on December 18, 2013 and was created by @adriananova_in response to the flood of articles, blog posts, and analyses published about Beyonce and her latest album. The hashtag is perhaps one of the most humorous and witty feminist-leaning hashtags to come out of 2013.

I Woke Up Like This: How Beyonce Is Erasing The Voice Of Women Who Wrap Their Hair At Night #beyoncethinkpieces

— Brokey McPoverty (@brokeymcpoverty) December 18, 2013

#MyFeminismLooksLike – First appeared on December 14, 2013 and was created by @prisonculture, again inspired by Beyonce’s record-breaking album. The hashtag celebrates the various ways feminism looks according self-identified feminists.

This evening, #myfeminismlookslike (I don't do photos so…) pic.twitter.com/dSsAwJDi9b

— Prison Culture (@prisonculture) December 15, 2013

#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen – First appeared on August 12, 2013 and was created by @Karnythiain response to status quo feminism and Hugo Swytzher. The hashtag continues to evolve.

.@anidifranco holding a retreat on a plantation exemplifies #solidarityisforwhitewomen in the worst way possible.

— mj (@munachao) December 28, 2013

#FastTailedGirls – First appeared in 2010 but it’s meaning has since transformed from a commonly used pejorative to demean Black girls, to now cited as one of the fastest growing hashtags that explores the lifestories of Black women’s sexuality, thanks in large part to its primary purveyor @Karnythia.

At it's core, #FastTailedGirls is blaming children for the actions of grown men. Don't wear this, don 't move like this…just don't exist.

— Reagan Gomez (@ReaganGomez) November 30, 2013

Ever Wonder How Your Favorite Feminist Hashtags Started? We Compiled a List #F #TwitterFeminism

This post originally appeared on December 21, 2013 written by founder, Tara L. Conley.

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The Internet is all-knowing. While this may be an unfortunate reality for folks like Justine Sacco, a.k.a the inspiration behind the #HasJustineLandedYet hashtag, fortunately for us, Internet tools like Topsy allow us to track the moment when your favorite feminist hashtag was born. Check back later this week for more Top Feminist Hashtags of 2013. We’ve got infographics!

Here’s a rundown of our top five most prolific and most talked about feminist hashtags to date.

1. #Fem2 – One of the original hashtags to appear on Twitter that archives topics related to feminism. Niambi Jarvis (@hiyaahpower) is perhaps the most commonly cited purveyor of the hashtag, but did you know the hashtag finds its roots dating back 5 years ago when Liza Sabater, better known to the Twitterverse at @blogdiva, tweeted a response to @vpynchon (an account that no longer exists)? Sabater’s #fem2.0 was then clarified by web anthropologist Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd) who reminded us that “dots don’t work well as hashtags”. And there you have it. the celestial birth of #fem2, according to Topsy.

@vpynchon so what would you call it? #fem2.0

— Liza Sabater (@blogdiva) December 15, 2008

@blogdiva PS dots don’t work well in #hashtags so use #fem2 — Stowe Boyd (@stoweboyd) December 15, 2008

2. #Femfuture – The official hashtag of Femfuture.com, founded by feminist bloggers Courtney Martin (@courtwrites) and Vanessa Valenti (@VanessaValenti). Though this hashtag is often associated with the brand #femfuture, did you know that feminist activist Shelby Knox (@shelbyknox) actually tweeted out the hashtag 4 years ago while requesting ideas for a hashtag that would describe the work of young activist?

Needed: a hashtag to highlight the work/words of young activists as we’re often disappeared. #youngactivists #gennow #femfuture Ideas, plz!

— Shelby Knox (@ShelbyKnox) December 18, 2009 

3. #Solidarityisforwhitewomen – One of the most talked about hashtags of 2013 created by writer Mikki Kendall (@Karynthia). With #Solidarityisforwhitewomen, it’s fair to say Kendall birthed a new genre of hashtags that function as a way to talk back to what some believe to be as status quo feminism online. The hashtag started 4 months ago when Hugo Schwyzer was the topic of conversation around various feminist circles both online and offline. I also had a chance to talk with Mikki Kendall on Huff Post Live this past summer about the controversy. Here’s the tweet that started it all.

Convo between @Blackamazon & @JillFilipovic = “your abuser got traction from me until I felt unsafe, so what?” #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen

— Mikki Kendall (@Karnythia) August 12, 2013

4. #NotYourAsianSideKick – To date, #NotYourAsianSideKick hashtag, created by writer and organizer, Suey Park (@suey_park) has garnered the most tweets globally than any recent feminist hashtags to emerge within the last four months. It’s been incredible to watch this hashtag spark generative conversations about racial and gendered stereotypes both inside and outside of the Twitterverse. It all started on December 14, 2013 (only 8 days ago!), when Park warned us about having an honest conversation about Asian American Feminism, and she most certainly delivered.

Be warned. Tomorrow morning we will be have a convo about Asian American Feminism with hashtag #NotYourAsianSidekick. Spread the word!!!!!!!

— Suey Park (@suey_park) December 15, 2013 

5. #TwitterFeminism – Finally, the hashtag that inspired www.hashtagfeminism.com,#TwitterFeminism has been one of the most talked about feminist hashtag within the last week. Similarly with Niambi Jarvis (@hiyaahpower) and #fem2, writer and radio host Meghan Murphy (@MeghanMurphy) brought #TwitterFeminism back to life after publishing her much debated article, The Trouble With Twitter Feminism. But did you know that the first person to tweet the hashtag in 2010 was sociology student Indira Stammes (@IndiraStammes)? Yeah!

Yeah! #TwitterFeminism @MJ_in_my_Heart

— Indira Stammes (@IndiraStammes) July 6, 2010

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