A Feminist Reading of Algerian Women YouTubers' Social Media Presence

This research aims to identify and explore feminist languages and vocabularies curated and used by Algerian women YouTubers in order to popularise and disseminate new ideas and understandings around the position of women in Algeria and related themes. To answer this enquiry, I use a blend of research methods: qualitative semi-structured interviews with three Algerian women YouTubers, visual content analysis of their online social media posts and videos, as well as my autoethnography as part of this cohort, as a way to mitigate the lack of literature around Algerian women’s presence on social media, and to paint a rich picture around the context from which Algerian women YouTubers’ intrinsically feminist online productions emerge.
Few research studies have looked at the potential new information technologies, such as the internet and social media, are offering in advancing women’s position within countries in the MENA region from the perspectives of feminist activists (Skalli, 2014). This research contributes to the literature by exploring the different ways in which Algerian women YouTubers’ social media productions, which are not officially labelled as feminist, disseminate intrinsically feminist views and understandings that interrogate traditional narratives on women’s position in society, gender relations and identities.
Analysis of Algerian women YouTubers’ social media videos and posts shows that these women are, strategically and creatively, addressing themes and issues that are related to women’s lived experiences within patriarchal Algerian society. These themes which I explore in this thesis are: Algerian women’s position in the family, infantilisation and control; sexual harassment and beauty standards; Algerian women’s visibility, freedom of movement, and occupation of public spaces. Additionally, this research argues that Algerian women YouTubers adopt different strategies in order to navigate both a patriarchal society that is often hostile to any endeavours aiming to promote women’s emancipation, and a market-driven social media environment.