“Use #YouKnowMe and share your truth”: Rhetoric of Digital Abortion Storytelling
Abstract
Feminist movements have utilized consciousness-raising by empowering women to share their personal experiences to support the efforts of the larger movement further. The #YouKnowMe movement brings consciousness-raising into the digital sphere. This paper looks at how the #YouKnowMe movement encouraged Twitter users to share their personal stories, experiences, and emotions associated with their abortion. I analyzed 39 of the most popular tweets that contain #YouKnowMe and were tweeted on May 15-16, 2019. These tweets were either personal stories or feminist critiques. The personal stories included the situations surrounding the decision to get an abortion as well as any emotions or thoughts that went into making the decision. The feminist critiques came from Twitter users using the hashtag to talk about the larger societal structures while simultaneously supporting the users that chose to share their personal stories. The #YouKnowMe movement is a perfect example of how the rhetoric of digital storytelling can help support the modern-day feminist movement as well as normalize talking about one’s abortion.
Author Biography
Megan Kelley received her undergraduate degree from Miami University in 2020, where she majored in Public Health and minored in Political Science and Women’s Gender Studies. She is currently getting her Master’s degree in Gerontology from Miami University. She is passionate about reproductive rights and political activism and was delighted to get the opportunity to write this piece.
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