Thai-fusion popular feminism: the beginning of #DontTellMeHowToDress on Instagram

Abstract

The campaign #DontTellMeHowToDress opposed the assumption that dressing provocatively invokes sexual violence. Feminism has re-emerged in digital culture, yet, to date, this landscape has been found primarily in Anglo-American and European contexts. This article investigates how feminism enacted itself in the Thai context through the expressions of #DontTellMeHowToDress by female influencers and celebrities. I conducted a discourse analysis of over 100 Instagram posts shared by influencers and celebrities around the start of the campaign. The results foreground the importance of digital technologies for offering relatively young Thais, who generally hold more progressive views about society, a platform for voicing their concerns and leading to a societal change. However, the feminism presented by this campaign advocated clothing-related propriety, a Thai conservative component re-entrenching patriarchy. The posts also illustrated an array of exclusionary characteristics in Thailand, having reproduced Thai hegemonic beauty ideals that are associated with not only overall slender and sexy styles, but also Anglo-European and East Asian standards. Additionally, this campaign monetised feminism via both self- and brand/service promotions. In short, #DontTellMeHowToDress represented “Thai-fusion popular feminism” that constituted an amalgam of Thai and Anglo-American and European discourses.