Originally posted at Gender Focus by Jarrah Hodge. Cross-posted with permission.
For the two years I’ve been on Twitter, I’ve found it to be a really great place for keeping track of news about gender issues and networking with other feminists.
But for new users, it can be difficult to use Twitter effectively. I often hear people complaining that ”all it is is people talking about what they ate for lunch”. I can also see feminists maybe getting turned off given some of the offensive hashtags that end up becoming trending topics, like #rulesforgirls and #ihatewomenwho.
Although I admit I tweet a fair bit about what I’m eating, there’s a lot more to Twitter than the mundane. I’ve tried to list the top Twitter accounts for feminists to follow in a variety of categories, in no particular order. I follow almost 300 related Twitter accounts and I found it difficult to narrow it down. I’d love to hear in the comments below which accounts you think should be added.
To follow the complete list of feminist accounts I follow, check out the list page here. And follow me and the latest from Gender Focus @jarrahpenguin.
Top Hashtags to Keep an Eye On
- #sheparty – This is a hashtag used for a weekly feminist discussion session hosted by the Women’s Media Center each Wednesday from 12-3 PM EST. It’s a great way to use Twitter to network with other feminists and chat with special guests.
- #fem2 – Probably the most popular catch-all hashtag for feminist topics.
Feminist Media/News
- @bitchmedia – The Twitter account for the Portland-based Bitch Magazine and its blogs.
- @msmagazine – Account for Ms. Magazine and the Ms. Blog.
- @changewomen – The women’s rights account for Change.org.
- @ShamelessMag – Account for Shameless, the awesome Canadian magazine for teen girls.
Margaret Atwood
Authors
- @rebeccawalker – Author of Black, White and Jewish and Baby Love, and editor of collections exploring masculinity and diverse family forms.
- @rtraister – Writer for Salon and author of Big Girls Don’t Cry: The Election that Changed Everything for American Women.
- @MargaretAtwood – Margaret Atwood. She tweets her own stuff. And it’s awesome.
- @peggyorenstein – Author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter.
- @jessicavalenti – Founder of Feministing and author of some of my favourite books for introducing people to feminism.
Canadian Organizations
- @YWCA_Canada – YWCA Canada is Canada’s oldest women’s service organization, but they’re great at adapting to new technologies. In addition to tweeting, they recently came out with the seriously cool Safety Siren iPhone app.
- @LEAFNational – The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund works to ensure women’s equality through the law. I’ll also include a special shout-out to my local @WestCoast_LEAF here in BC.
- @EndingViolence – Battered Women’s Support Services does a great job using their web presence to work to end violence against women while also urging men to take on a role in the struggle.
- @cdnwomenfdn – The Canadian Women’s Foundation is always on top of the latest feminist news on Twitter.
- @WISHWellness – The WISH Drop-in Centre in Vancouver has a great Twitter presence and does invaluable work supporting and improving the health and safety of survival sex trade workers in the City.
- @AbortionRights – The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada works on protecting women’s abortion rights and improving access for Canadian women.
Hollaback!
US Organizations
- @PPact – With Planned Parenthood by the Republicans, the Twitter feminist community has rallied around the organization and its official Twitter account.
- @womensmediacntr – In addition to organizing the weekly #sheparty, the Women’s Media Center looks at women’s representation in the media and also runs the @nameitchangeit account to end sexist media against women in politics.
- @NowYoungFems – The NOW Young Feminist Task Force on Twitter.
- @femmajority – The Feminist Majority Foundation on Twitter. You can also follow their youth wing, who organizes the amazing National Young Feminist Leadership Conference, at @FeministCampus.
- @ihollaback – Ending sexist street harassment using mobile technology.
Canadian Individuals
- @AudreyHuntley – Audrey tweets about Indigenous justice, colonialism, racism, and equality.
- @AntoniaZ – Author of the Toronto Star Broadsides column.
- @jessyee – Jess Yee calls herself “a multiracial Two Spirit Indigenous hip hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter”, uncomfortable with the term “feminist” on its own, due to its tendency to adhere to privileged academic narratives. She’s just edited a new book on the subject, Feminism, FOR REAL.
- @judyrebick – Probably the most recognized Canadian feminist on Twitter given her history in the 2nd wave feminist movement in Canada.
American Individuals
- @ShelbyKnox – Shelby burst onto the feminist scene when she was featured in the 2005 documentary The Education of Shelby Knox. Since then she’s been a busy activist in the American feminist movement.
- @anitasarkeesian – Anita is the activist who comes up with all the great @femfreq videos to promote feminist media literacy.
- @sadydoyle – Sady’s the voice behind Tiger Beatdown, who showed herself to be an amazing Twitter activist when she started the #mooreandme hashtag campaign that forced Michael Moore to apologize for offensive comments related to Julian Assange’s rape allegations.
- @jaclynf – A frequent feminist media commentator and co-author of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape.
- @jennpozner – Media critic and author of Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV.
Gender Across Borders
Global Feminist Focused
- @safeworld4women – Never miss an update on issues around violence against women worldwide.
- @awid – The Association for Women’s Rights in Development.
- @gabblog – Gender Across Borders is an international group of feminists who look at gender issues.
- @PixelProject – The Pixel Project uses online tools to raise awareness of and money for ending violence against women worldwide.
Feminist Blogs
- @Shakestweetz – The account for Shakesville founder Melissa McEwan.
- @feministing – The account for the popular feminist blog featuring news and pop culture deconstruction from up-and-coming young feminist bloggers.
- @FairandFeminist – Fair and Feminist has been extremely successful using Twitter to organize other bloggers for Blog Carnivals on topics like “This is What A Young Feminist Looks Like” and “I Stand with Planned Parenthood.”
- @feministfatale – The always entertaining account for Melanie Klein and her blog Feminist Fatale.
- @TheDailyFemme – One of my favourite feminist blogs for regularly covering original and creative topics.
- @the_fbomb – For those who think there are no young feminists, The F Bomb proves you wrong with its insightful posts by teenage feminists.
Melissa Harris-Perry
Antiracist
- @racialicious – The account for the blog that’s “the intersection of race and pop culture”.
- @MHarrisPerry – Anyone who’s seen her as a contributor on MSNBC knows how incredibly smart and insightful Melissa Harris-Perry is talking about politics, race, and gender.
- @TheRoot247 – Twitter account for the thought-provoking digital magazine The Root.
- @JessieNYC – CUNY Professor Jessie Daniels tweets and blogs about race.
- @colorlines – Up-to-the-minute tweets on racial justice issues and news.
LGBTQ2S
- @JoeMyGod – The Twitter Account for the thorough and entertaining blog Joe.My.God.
- @GLSEN – The US-based Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network and it’s Vancouver-based counterpart @outinschools.
- @xtra_canada – LGBT news, based in Canada.
- @ItGetsBetter – Official account for Dan Savage’s It Gets Better Project.
Empowering Girls
- @pigtailpals – Melissa Wardy’s company and blog try to redefine girly to promote self-esteem and break down gender barriers for girls.
- @_GirlsAction – Group working on programs for girls across Canada.
- @girls_inc – Non-profit dedicated to empowering girls.
- @thelinecampaign – The Line Campaign does a great job raising awareness of rape culture and encouraging sexual empowerment.
Feminist Hulk
Making Activism Fun
- @andreagrimes – Andrea is a great feminist blogger but I put her in this section because her tweets are some of the most hilarious I’ve seen. She makes you laugh and think at the same time.
- @GuerrillaGsOT – Account for the feminist performance artists the Guerrilla Girls.
- @feministhulk – “HULK SAYS F*** PATRIARCHY. HULK HERE TO SMASH GENDER BINARY.”
- @feministbieber – “Letting go of my silky bowl cut was a big step, but a necessary one for me to wear the banner of the movement to end sexist oppression.”
Who else is a feminist must-follow on Twitter?
-Jarrah
