Social Media and the Awakening of Women’s Self-Awareness: A Four-Dimensional Analytical Framework
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Keywords
social media, women's self-awareness, sexual objectification, gender inequality, online misogyny
Abstract
This paper explores the highly progressive awakening of self-awareness among contemporary women under the influence of social media and other digital developments. This includes recognizing their position within gender inequality, enhancing awareness of and elevating women’s agency, the ability to defend women's rights and positions in contemporary society while recognizing that further advancement requires collective female agency, and the capacity to identify threatening behaviors like the male gaze that perpetuate female vulnerability. It also encompasses self-redemption in the face of online harassment, cyberbullying, and other misogynistic phenomena that endanger women's physical and mental well-being. Based on a systematic review of existing literature and theoretical analysis, this study examines how digital media environments shape the process of women’s consciousness awakening. It proposes a four-dimensional analytical framework consisting of cognitive awakening, subjective awakening, collective awakening, and defensive awakening. The findings highlight the dual role of social media as both a catalyst for empowerment and a space where gender inequality and online misogyny may persist.
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