"Completely incapable of logical thought" Delegitimating the MeToo Movement in YouTube comment sections

Abstract

While the MeToo Movement has generally been accepted as a legitimate response to what was considered endemic sexual harassment and discrimination in Hollywood, its goals and values have nonetheless been questioned and undermined. This study examines the comment sections of two YouTube videos produced by major broadcasting corporations in which the MeToo Movement in Europe is discussed. The comment sections are analysed in terms of expressions of attitude and evaluation, using the Appraisal framework. Through this analysis it is revealed that attitudes expressed in the comments legitimate and normalise anti-feminist ideologies through discursive construction of social norms. Conversely, feminism, as well as immigration, are delegitimated. Commenters delegitimate the MeToo Movement by construing its goals and values as misdirected or insincere. These attitudes are furthermore expressed through dialogically contractive comments, thus constructing them as accepted and matter-offact, rather than ideological.