All in the Lacy Detail. Undressing the Victim and Stripping Back the Meaning: A Critical Discourse and Semiotic Analysis of the Use of the Underwear as Evidence in Rape Trials.

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Waters, Jessica

• This paper employs both a Semiotic perspective and Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the use of underwear in the Cork, Ireland rape case, exploring how meaning is constructed through gendered symbols when employed in legal and online settings. Research examines data samples extracted from Twitter threads utilizing the hashtag #ThisIsNotConsent, which gained prominence in connection with the case under scrutiny. The primary objective is to explore public engagement with the semiotics of underwear as a symbolic element to discern the extent to which social media platforms can either inadvertently perpetuate victim-blaming tendencies or be used to mobilize against them, with a particular focus on the Twitter platform. The results of this study show the multifaceted role of social media, particularly Twitter, in facilitating feminist digital activism against rape myths, victim blaming, and the promotion of victim support. The analysis of tweets related to the #ThisIsNotConsent movement reveals how social media technology and resulting networked individualism allows individuals to actively engage in conversations, publicly respond, and contribute to a global network of activists. Fusing Semiotics and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, the study unravels the interplay between medium, genre, gender, and cultural influences that shape the public’s perception of victim blame.

• Date created

  2023-08-23

• Subjects / Keywords

  • semiotic theory
  • critical discourse analysis
  • social media

• Type of Item

  Research Material

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-pxjs-3q56

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International