How #NiUnaMenos Used Discourse and Digital Media to Reach the Masses in Argentina

Abstract

In March 2015, a group of feminist writers and academics in Argentina organized a marathon reading event to protest femicide, using the slogan Ni Una Menos. Less than three months later, more than 250,000 Argentines participated in the first #NiUnaMenos demonstration in Buenos Aires. Since then, #NiUnaMenos has transformed into a transnational feminist movement and has shifted the conversation about gender violence in digital and physical spaces. Drawing from critical discourse analysis and feminist theory, this article examines the discursive strategies employed by #NiUnaMenos. It analyzes key texts from the months leading up to the first demonstration and argues that these texts were strategically constructed as sites of struggle in order to reach diverse groups. The analysis reveals four discursive dichotomies in which the movement's discourse oscillates between seemingly opposing ideas and channels. This discursive oscillation allowed #NiUnaMenos to reach the masses and, in turn, spark a cultural shift toward gender equality.