Doing Gender Online: Memetic Performances and the Digital Construction of Femininity

Abstract

This study explores how femininity and the female body are socially and culturally constructed within digital contexts, focusing on memes as sites of gendered meaning-making. Grounded in West and Zimmerman’s (Gend Soc 1(2):125–151, 1987. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243287001002002) doing gender framework and informed by feminist theories of performativity (Butler in Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity, Routledge, 1990) and digital embodiment, the research examines how women negotiate, reproduce, and resist normative ideals of beauty and bodily worth. Using a socio-narratological and visual methodology, twenty-one women enrolled in a Master’s program in Feminist Studies created or selected memes to represent their experiences with body image, media influence, and social expectations. The narrative and visual analyses revealed four interconnected themes: (1) the persistent pressure to be and to feel thin; (2) the regulatory role of mass media and social networks; (3) the transformative potential of self-acceptance and feminist consciousness; and (4) the impact of gendered social differences on bodily perception. Findings show that women continually do and undo gender through digital practices that reflect both subjection to and resistance against patriarchal norms. Memes functioned as ironic and critical spaces for re-signifying femininity, demonstrating the potential of digital humor to foster feminist awareness and collective empowerment. The study contributes to contemporary debates on gender performativity, self-objectification, and digital feminist culture by situating doing gender within the visual logic of online communication.