Hashtag feminism straddling the Americas. A comparison between #NiUnaMenos and #MeToo.

The #NiUnaMenos movement against feminicidio arose in Argentina in 2015 and spread to many Latin American countries. Two years later, the “#MeToo era” began in the northern hemisphere with a call against sexual harassment from the USA. Two different regions and triggers, but in both cases Twitter worked as a driving platform, with hashtags aggregating the social responses to violence against women (VAW). This chapter compares the online discussions about VAW at the inception of each mobilisation in their home countries. We rely on two pieces of research, one analysing Twitter conversations with the #NiUnaMenos hashtag produced in Argentina during the first three years’ marches, and the other analysing Twitter conversations exchanged in the USA with the #MeToo hashtag during the first six months of the mobilisation. The time frame is different because #MeToo fluctuates according to resonant media events, whereas #NiUnaMenos follows physical marches. Thematic analysis shows that each mobilisation places itself at a different point on the “continuum” of VAW, with physical violence being the most mobilising issue. #NiUnaMenos catalyses indignation over the unrelenting killing of women (the most extreme form of VAW). #MeToo unmasks the naturalisation of sexual harassment (one of the most common forms of VAW). In both cases, VAW is discussed as a problem concerning everyone. Hashtagging translates the feminist claim that “the personal is political” into a social media usage practice.