Making the #Personal #Political: Twitter as a Rhetorical Tool for Activist Campaigning

This thesis analyzes a compilation of tweets from a specific digital social movement, #YesAllWomen. This campaign was an instance of hashtag activism and digital feminism that appeared on Twitter following the misogyny-fueled Isla Vista shootings as a means of illuminating the persistent issues of harassment and violence against women. The campaign focused largely on personal experience, and a cluster analysis of a published collection of tweets reveals how the use of the #YesAllWomen hashtag and the communication of personal narrative transformed participants into political rhetors. Thus, I ultimately argue the significance of Twitter as a rhetorical tool for activist communication.


Twitter as a Social Platform
Social media platforms are a means for online socialization, as well as the ease of communication, particularly between individuals who are physically apart. In bridging potential physical gaps, these digital spaces allow individuals to come together virtually to share information and discuss ideas. The primary requirement for participation in these spaces is Internet access via a computer or smartphone. The specific function and content of a conversation may vary -from a discussion of common interests or the expression of random thoughts to engagement in debate and, even, individual attempts to spark social change that, together, can resemble a social movement.
This thesis focuses attention on a specific instance of activist campaigning that took place on social media in order to present an understanding of how individual communicators, known thus forth as rhetors, can use the rhetoric of personal experience to politicize a conversation. These platforms generally have a broad reach, and thus allow individuals from various backgrounds to meet in a common virtual space. Without the exclusion of physical rhetoric that occurs in face-to-face conversations, like facial expressions and gestures that can allow a person to better understand another's message, discussions on social media platforms must rely largely on the written word and often involve users contributing personal narrative to clarify and justify a position within a larger conversation.
Twitter is a micro-blogging social media platform that allows users to express small blurbs of information to their followers; it is a broad social media platform that allows participants to share messages within an online community. At the time of my research, the site saw nearly 330 million active accounts publishing an average of 500 million tweets a day (Aslam, 2017). This form of social media is accessible to users through its website, www.Twitter.com, or smartphone app; its primary function is to allow users to express thoughts and ideas within an online community through a limited statement, known as a 'tweet.' Anyone may participate in this community of digital sharing as long as they open an account with Twitter using a legitimate email address and establish a selected username and password of the individual's choice.
Tweets may be accompanied by photos or video, and they were initially limited to 140 characters in length. Twitter raised the limit to 280 characters in November of 2017, however this thesis focuses solely on tweets published in 2014 when the limit was restricted to 140 (Tsukayama, 2017). The use of limited characters per tweet often caused Twitter users to practice concision when delivering messages; they were forced to craft messages in the clearest and most efficient phrasing in order to get their meaning across.
Tweets are also often characterized by what is known as a 'hashtag.' This is a key word or phrase that allows a particular tweet to be part of a larger conversation on the platform and easily accessed by users, while also influencing its content. In order to use a hashtag, a user must tweet a certain word or phrase un-spaced and precede this with a number symbol ("#"). Individuals may use hashtags to join a conversation or to simply emphasize a message. Hashtags are helpful in categorizing large amounts of information on Twitter, so it is important to recognize that "public tweets from individual users containing a hashtagged phrase can be easily aggregated and retweeted, circulating messages to people outside of the original tweeter's personal network and allowing for virality" (Boyd, et al., 2010). In other words, tweets within a hashtag will now be linked to one-another, regardless of the user who originally tweeted them, so tweeting within a hashtag allows users to easily access related information expressed by other people. Additionally, the use of a hashtag allows participation from theoretically all members of a social media community within a single, larger conversation. Hashtag use thus creates the potential for users to develop an online community of likeminded individuals.
Communication practices on Twitter involve different conventions than other types of interactions. For instance, users have limited use of characters, forcing them to be succinct with their messages. Additionally, due to its micro-blogging nature, Twitter users typically share all sorts of information -ranging from daily observations to news items to random thoughts to political commentary. Thus, it is common for interactions to occur between individuals who do not know each other in the physical world. Such instances often involve one user responding to a specific tweet communicated by another, often entering a conversation with a reply that solely relates to the content of the conversation instead of giving any type of introduction prior to inserting oneself into an interaction. As Twitter is a broad platform, users are able to seamlessly join a conversation, particularly when tweets are being classified with a hashtag.
Users typically engage in communication that stands apart from normal everyday conversation and does not follow the conventions for standard interactions. Although users have the opportunity to participate in conversations with other users on the platform, and they often do so, the features of such interactions differ from communication that takes place through other channels. More standard interactions, such as face-to-face discussions or telephone conversations, typically follow various conversational rules. For instance, when encountering an old friend on the street, a person will usually communicate some sort of greeting, such as "hi" or "hello," often followed by some iteration of "how are you?" Although such an exchange is common in the physical world, interactions on Twitter rarely occur in a similar manner with users often inserting commentary into a stranger's conversation with little or no introduction.
Hashtag activism, or the use of a hashtag for some form of activism, has become increasingly common on social media platforms. The use of a hashtag to raise awareness of and combat various social issues has been particularly prevalent on  (Williams, 2012.
• #BringBackOurGirls -a 2014 effort to raise awareness of nearly 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. This hashtag saw participation from a number of notable figures, including First Lady Michelle Obama. It ultimately did not lead to the girls' return to their homes, but it did raise public awareness of the issue .
• #BlackLivesMatter -a widespread and continuing civil rights movement initiated in 2012 in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a young black man, by an armed civilian. This movement aims to shed light on the many injustices faced by the black community, often focused on the issue of police brutality. The online movement has been accompanied by physical activism in the form of protests and marches (Bates, 2012).
Such digital campaigns are typically centered on a specific hashtag that is indicative of a particular social issue and communicates the campaign's primary message. Users who may have experience with the issue are able to easily join the conversation simply by characterizing their own tweets with the hashtag.
It is difficult to quantify the impact of these digital campaigns, especially those targeting an international issue, like #Kony2012 and #BringBackOurGirls, as it is nearly impossible to ensure real action will accompany the simple use of a hashtag.
However, the analysis of homegrown movements targeting social issues within American society is not quite as complex. There have been many instances of activism taking place on social media, but for the purposes of this thesis, I will focus my attention to a published collection of tweets classified within a digital activism campaign on Twitter, #YesAllWomen, in order to establish how the platform can transform users into become political rhetors when engaging in a larger conversation about a social issue.

Introducing #YesAllWomen
The #YesAllWomen campaign is an online feminist movement that arose These women addressed various male attitudes and behaviors toward women that are often, be it consciously or not, fueled by a disdain towards women or a general feeling of male superiority. The women within the movement used the hashtag to argue not only the validity of their experiences and the existence of misogyny, but to prove the omnipresent existence of a resulting rape culture. This term refers to an environment that normalizes and/or excuses rape and sexual assault; it is "perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women's bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women's rights and safety" (Marshall University). Rodger's attitudes and actions, although an isolated and extreme case, were largely influenced by the omnipresence of rape culture. This toxic atmosphere fostered in Rodger a sense of entitlement towards and superiority to women. When his actual, lived experiences with women around him did not reflect what he believed himself entitled to, he reacted irrationally and violently.
The simple inclusion of the #YesAllWomen hashtag within these tweets turned the overall discussion political. The conversation, although limited to certain Twitter users who had personal experience with the issues at hand, was wide-reaching. The hashtag saw participation from over a million Twitter users during its height in May of 2014, indicating the prevalence and significance of the issue for women throughout the country and thus the potential implications for this study (Barker-Plummer, 2017).
Through a cluster analysis of certain tweets categorized within the movement and later This chapter is divided into sections, beginning with an analysis of Rodger's written manifesto and online presence. The manifesto was written by Rodger himself and sent to various sources prior to his crimes, indicating that he viewed this piece of writing as significant and that it may provide clarification on his motives. I analyze it to better characterize his crimes as an extreme case of misogyny-fueled violence by looking at the specific language he uses in his role as rhetor to describe not only himself but also those around him. Next, I turn to published literature on hashtag activism, using this section to define and contextualize this term. The last section is reserved for a discussion on the larger #YesAllWomen movement. Here, I reference scholarship that specifically analyzes the campaign in order to better understand the movement as whole.

Elliot Roger's Manifesto
Prior to the Isla Vista Killings, Elliot Rodger wrote a 137-page 'manifesto' titled "My Twisted World: The Story of Elliot Rodger." The text details a plan to kill members of a specific sorority house, as well as the events of his life that he believed led him to the decision to commit murder. Before setting out to commit his crimes, he published the manifesto online (Withnall, 2014). The writings are primarily autobiographical in content. He begins by painstakingly relaying specific details of his life in which he characterizes himself as the victim of other's actions (Rodger, 2014).
Rodger relies largely on misogynistic rhetoric when describing those he views to have wronged him. He is particularly vengeful towards women. He consistently uses negative and hateful language to describe them, lamenting for failing to give him appropriate attention. He often refers to himself as an "incel," or involuntary celibate, indicating his membership in a specific online community of men lamenting their inability to gain female attention (Rodger, 2014).
The term "incel" was originated in the mid-1990s by a female college student but has since seen greater usage on the popular social discussion site Reddit, often appearing on a forum on the site known as "ForeverAlone" (Baker, 2016). Forums dedicated to specific topics on Reddit are referred to as "subreddits" (OxfordDictionaries.com). The members of the incel subreddit engage in misogynistic rhetoric, much like Rodger in his manifesto. These "Redditors" are hateful towards women and often glorify violence against them, even going so far as to be advocates of rape. Even years after his death, Rodger played a significant role in conversations between self-described incels. He was hailed as a hero on the subreddit for his violent actions, with users often referencing him as "Saint Elliot," until November of 2017 when the incel subreddit was formally banned from Reddit for inciting violence against women (Hauser, 2017). By constantly self-identifying as an incel in his manifesto, Rodger subtly, but consistently references women as the prime reason for his virginal status . He places the blame for this selfidentification solely on women, categorically naming them as the perpetrators of his victimization for failing to rid him of this status. Rodger cites his identity as a virgin as his primary motivation for his horrific plan to viciously attack female members of a UC Santa Barbara sorority near his home in Isla Vista, CA.
Rodger's women-hating writings and rantings, along with his subsequent violent actions, suggest that he was largely influenced by a deep-seated hatred of women, or misogyny. This is further evidenced by his participation in online chatrooms and forums prior to the killings, like Reddit along with the site PUAHate, "an online forum where participants ranted against "pickup artists" who had more success with women" (Nagourney, et al., 2014). In these digital spaces, Rodger engaged in conversations with likeminded individuals using misogynistic rhetoric.
Rodger's manifesto is rife with evidence of his women-hating ways. For instance, at one point he describes his life to be filled with "darkness and misery because of girls;" he also describes the "horror and misery" exacted upon him by the female gender (Rodger, 2014, p. 5). Rodger's manifesto is rife with negative and derogatory language, particularly when discussing women. He later describes his life after puberty as entirely miserable due to his lack of female attention: life [became] a bitter and unfair struggle for self-worth -all because girls will choose some boys over others. The boys who girls find attractive will lead pleasure-filled lives while they dominate the boys who girls deem unworthy. (Rodger, 2014, p. 11) Rodger's writings make it evident that he judged his self-worth primarily on how much attention he received from women. When he did not receive female attention, he reacted irrationally.
Through his online communications and manifesto, Rodger displayed a clear obsession with gaining female attention and often expressed anger over his lack of it.
He became so enraged that he urged others in the online community PUAHate to fight back. He wrote here that "one day incels will realize their strength in numbers, and will overthrow this oppressive feminist system." Rodger ultimately rallied users to "start envisioning a world where WOMEN FEAR [THEM]" (Nagourney, et al., 2014).
Throughout his writings, Rodger consistently directed his rage towards women for ignoring him in favor of other men, effectively condemning them for their failure to engage with him both socially and sexually.
Rodger's writings and actions, albeit in a very extreme way, reveal underlying societal attitudes towards women. As #YesAllWomen attempts to argue, not all men will hold such extreme and violence opinions as he did, nor will they hold any evident anti-women sentiments at all. However, many men will be impacted by the same influences as Rodger, and all women will at some point in their lives experience the consequences. The #YesAllWomen movement seemingly began as a means for raising awareness of this harmful underlying, yet influential, problem. In sharing their stories, women attempt to make their personal experiences a political issue.

Hashtag Activism
In recent years, Twitter has seen increased use for political activism. One of the first and most notable instances of what is referred to as "hashtag activism," or the Konnelly (2015) attempts to categorize hashtags be identifying a means of classification that she terms the "Cause Hashtag." This particular kind of hashtag is "used or created with a specific goal in mind -to advance a cause, raise awareness, or rally support for a particular social issue (p. 2). I argue that #YesAllWomen is an example of a Cause Hashtag for it exists primarily to raise awareness of a social issue -the omnipresence of misogyny and gender-based discrimination and violence. The Cause Hashtag needs only to include individuals who discuss a particular issue and needs not necessarily be accompanied by any action beyond that.

Contextualizing #YesAllWomen
For the purposes of this research, I will be relying on Andrea Waling's definition of feminism: "a concept, ideology, and social movement… that encompasses a range of disciplines (history, politics, philosophy, social sciences, among others) focusing on the dismantling of gender inequality (Waling, 2016, p. 34).
The tweets contained within my artifact of study, a selection from the larger #YesAllWomen movement, aim to highlight various commonplace male attitudes and behaviors that have a harmful effect on the everyday female experience and indicate a societal imbalance of power between genders. I argue these tweets fall under the larger umbrella of feminism and more specifically the category of digital feminism, which I define as feminist activism taking place in online spaces.
These tweets rely heavily on the use of personal narrative. Users often reference personal experiences to support the idea that the effects of misogyny are widespread. However, "while the act of sharing one's story may indeed [have been] therapeutic, the goal of the hashtags [was] not to find personal solutions, but rather to raise collective awareness about systems of oppression" (Vickery, 2016, p. 3). These tweets vary in their specific content as they are generally expressions of personal experience. However, each tweet serves to support the same underlying message: that misogyny is ingrained into our society and gender-based discrimination and violence are persistent dangers that every woman is faced with on a daily basis.

Figure 1: An example of a tweet classified within #YesAllWomen (Ceron, 2014)
The preceding image is an example of a tweet classified within the #YesAllWomen movement hashtag and published within #YesAllWomen: A Collection. The tweet shows user @jamieveron providing a simple, yet impactful message that mirrors that of the overall movement: all women have experienced violence or harassment due to their gender identity. This statement is brief, yet significant.
The tweets involved in #YesAllWomen appear to be expressed primarily by women, but the collection also indicates support from male voices as well. As the overall movement largely involves women, a male perspective has the opportunity to provide new insights. "Are Gender Roles Really to Blame for Our Nation's Violence?" is an essay written by Patrick Ryan initially published on the self- Men and women are pushed into their respective gender roles from an early age and are reinforced by outside influences, even as subtly as giving children specific toys -for example, the action figures and toy guns we give to boys and the Barbie Dolls and Easy-Bake Ovens we market to girls. Ryan looks to football, a traditional American pastime, as an allegory for these gender stereotypes in American society: Purposefully beefed-up men recklessly throw their bodies at each other on the field, while dainty, scantily-clad, females stand to the side and cheer them on. We are raising our males to say, "Look at me I'm tough," and our females to say, "Look at me I'm pretty." And God forbid they don't live up to those ideals." (p. 171) Upon birth, an individual's gender is often prescribed to him or her by others people, and with that given identity comes certain expectations for that person's behavior and attitude. These roles are reinforced throughout an individual's life both by other people and by society as a whole. This can be as seemingly innocuous as dressing a boy in blue and a girl in pink or as harmful as telling a man that crying shows weakness or a woman that if she dresses in a revealing outfit then she is "asking" to be assaulted. It is these same societal expectations that drive the notion that men are entitled to female attention.
Ryan argues against following these "arbitrary identities" that society Regardless of a user's personal intent, the inclusion of a hashtag means the tweet automatically functions to dismantle societal structures. When tweeting within #YesAllWomen, users are ostensibly protesting the systems that have traditionally influenced and perpetuated their harassment, assault, or discrimination. Furthermore, these scholars analyze frames apparent within the discourse of #YesAllWomen: (1) an attempt to reprioritize the public's focus from narratives that downplay the prevalence of men committing violence to narratives acknowledging the frequency of women's experiences with violence (2) a discussion of the connection between violence and everyday sexism (3) a legitimation of the concept of rape culture. (Jackson and Banaszczyk, 2016, p. 397) The #YesAllWomen tweets place focus primarily on women's personal narratives to raise awareness of the persistence of misogyny, along with its influence on gender-based discrimination and violence. These stories illuminate a clear connection between the violence women often face and the influence of common expressions of sexism, while also proving the existence of rape culture.
In "Feminist Online Identity: Analyzing the Presence of Hashtag Feminism," Dixon (2014) approaches the tweets as a means for women to redefine the broader, historical feminist movement. She also references the significance of personal experience within feminist activism, noting that feminism has traditionally been characterized by the incorporation of personal narrative and that this phenomenon is not lost when feminists occupy digital spaces (Dixon, 2014). Within #YesAllWomen, participants are seemingly encouraged to discuss their own personal experiences of discrimination and sexism in order to shed light on the prevalence of these issues and the influence of misogyny.
Rodino-Colocino (2014) articulates the larger #YesAllWomen movement as a call to action for both feminists and scholars in her article "#YesAllWomen: Intersectional Mobilization Against Sexual Assault is Radical (Again)." She argues that the hashtag and its resulting tweets spotlight an underlying societal problem, sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination, that was made apparent by Rodger's actions. Alternatively, Rodino-Colocino pinpoints the simultaneous lack of diversity and need for inclusivity within the movement, characterizing its participation as "feminist solidarity in white, middle-class, US-centric, heteronormative privilege" Twitter, the use of a hashtag allows women to individually participate in a collective story, allowing them to seamlessly join a conversation with likeminded individuals.
As the limits of physical barriers are thus eliminated, there is greater opportunity for participation in general, as well as for the diversity of participants. These are both factors that are important to consider within any expressions of activism to ensure the inclusion and consideration of multiple perspectives and a wide variety of experiences.
A hashtag provides the context necessary for women to share personal experiences, yet simultaneously allows these instances to become part of a collective story. Women tweeting within #YesAllWomen, regardless of their initial intent, are automatically drawing connections between the private and public -the stories they share are inherently personal, yet these experiences reveal issues within the broader society. Vickery draws this connection through the focus on the female body, the regulation of which is a topic that is "always political, yet simultaneously inherently personal. Likewise, women's rejection and negotiation of these regulations is also always personal, yet collectively also political" (p. 2).
Campaigns that target women's issues, like #YesAllWomen, do not aim to merely present women as victims of persecution or larger social structures, nor do they simply pinpoint individual experiences related to a target issue. They allow women to use their individual stories to highlight, and potentially confront, societal systems in place that neglect and harm women. Feminist hashtags, like #YesAllWomen give women a clear space to collectively "speak out and speak back to the public discourses and institutions that shape and regulate their bodies and their intimate subjectivities" These authors echo claims presented in previous literature: that Twitter provides a sense of collectivity in allowing individuals from all over the platform to communicate in a larger conversation. Additionally, they argue that the resulting media coverage of #YesAllWomen allowed the hashtag to function much like an inperson protest. They present a two-part argument: that the hashtag served as a place for "collective identity/collective consciousness" and "functioned, through its links to and recirculation by other platforms and media, as a public protest or agenda-building event that impacted public discourse beyond Twitter" (p. 92-93). #YesAllWomen was a digital-only occurrence as it was not accompanied by any physical protest events and took place solely online. However, #YesAllWomen emerged as an important part of the resurgence of feminism, particularly the advent of a new facet of this movement: digital feminism. In consideration with other feminist hashtag events (such as the previously mentioned #BringBackOurGirls), this indicates the movement as a "source of significant feminist discursive activism" (p. 114).
The literature discussed in this section refer to the broader movement as a whole, while this thesis focuses on a specific selection of tweets. This section is meant to provide a foundation for understanding the specific tweets that serve as my artifact of study.

METHODOLOGY
I analyzed my artifact of study using cluster criticism, a rhetorical theory that examines structural relations and associative meanings within a text. This theory was developed by Kenneth Burke, a noted American scholar and literary critic. Cluster criticism, or cluster analysis, requires the critic to discover an underlying system of connections within a text. This form of textual analysis functions on the idea that a rhetor both intentionally and unintentionally chooses language. Associations between words appear in clusters throughout a text. Together, these form a sort of system which provides clues for the critic as to the underlying ideology presented in a text.
The theory assumes that a rhetor chooses certain, specific language to communicate ideas and guide an audience through a text. He or she must be clear in selecting language that is appropriate for the given audience. However, according to cluster criticism, there are always unseen influences found within a text. Regardless of intention, a rhetor may have unconsciously affected a text. Cluster criticism allows a critic to determine connections within a text regardless of the rhetor's intent or influence. Analyzing the associations of various key terms and the language found clustered them reveals the primary argument or main idea presented by a given text and offers insight into a rhetor's motivations.
Various scholars have published articles breaking down the theory. Carol A.

Berthold (1976) provides a foundation in "Kenneth Burke's Cluster-Agon Method: Its
Development and An Application" by explaining the process step-by-step. Cluster criticism offers the reader a way to objectively analyze a text to determine the author's motivations. Burke has provided critics "an objective way of determining relationships between a [rhetor's] main concerns, as well as a new perspective to rhetorical critics who desire to discover more about the motives… of [rhetors]" (p.

302). This method lets a critic gain insight into a text beyond the writer's intentions
because it reveals structures hidden within it.
The first step in completing a cluster analysis is the selection of key terms. These are words that either appear frequently or significantly throughout a text. Next, the critic must determine which of these key terms are the text's 'god' and 'devil' terms. A god term is a key word that most clearly represents the main ideas of the text, while a devil term is simply the counterpart to a determined god term. In other words, the devil term expresses opposition to the god term. Following the selection of key terms and the determination of god and devil terms, a critic may begin the actual analysis.
He or she must provide the given context for each key term -in regard to my own analysis this means the content of each individual tweet from which my terms have been selected. The critic then examines the context to determine associative words, while also acknowledging the 'weight' of each term to determine their significance. A cluster word is that which displays a clear link to a key term -such as through the use of a conjunction or evidence of a cause and effect relationship. These clusters can then provide a critic with objective insight into the rhetor's motivations. Berthold also notes that this form of analysis can also "be employed as a precise method of discovering key term relationships in the rhetoric of a social movement," (p. 309). In the context of a digital movement, I argue that this method may be used to determine the ways in which a platform can influence a campaign. Following the selection of key terms and the determination of god and devil terms, a critic may begin the actual analysis. He or she must provide the appropriate context for each key term -in regard to my own analysis this means the content of each individual tweet from which my terms have been selected. The critic then examines the context to determine associative words, while also acknowledging the 'weight' of each term to determine their significance. A cluster word is that which is somehow linked to a key termsuch as through the use of a conjunction or evidence of a cause and effect relationship.
These clusters can then provide a critic with objective insight into the rhetor's motivations. Berthold also notes that this form of analysis can also "be employed as a precise method of discovering key term relationships in the rhetoric of a social movement," (p. 309). In the context of a digital movement, I argue that this method may be used to determine the ways in which a platform can influence a campaign.
Burke emphasizes how texts inherently reveal a symbolic structure that is identified by mapping out clusters. He writes "By charting clusters, we get our cues as to the important ingredients subsumed in 'symbolic mergers.' We reveal, beneath an author's 'official front,' the level at which a lie is possible" (Burke, 1987, p. 233).
Applying cluster criticism to a text thus allows the critic to determine what is significant about a text but may not be initially apparent to a reader. In other words, a rhetor may express ideas that are only revealed when the critic goes beyond a simple reading of the text. Cluster criticism focuses directly on language choices; it is a method that allows the reader to gain further insight into a text, and therefore the author's views, because it lets the reader interpret beyond what the author has intended (Burke, 1987).
Although Burke did not provide step-by-step instructions, he did explicate cluster criticism for his reader by putting it into practice in his own essays. In "The Rhetoric of Hitler's 'Battle' (1974) Burke displays his theory for the reader. He analyzes Hitler's rise to power by focusing on Hitler's own writings, Mein Kampf: [Hitler] ends his diatribes against contemporary economic ills by a shift into an insistence that we must get to the "true" cause, which is centered in "race." The "Aryan" is "constructive"; the Jew is "destructive"; and the "Aryan to continue his construction must destroy key terms: women, girls, media, and we. As the primary goal of the movement is to address the general treatment of women in society, women is maintained as a key term throughout the tweets. I determined girls to be equated with "women" and thus equally as significant, while media is a prominent force in society and therefore important to consider within the movement. Lastly, I argue we is a key word because in the context of the tweet it is collectively referencing women and their experiences.
Women was associated with emotional and passionate, indicating a stereotype about women that is present within society. The implication of this cluster is that women are far too consumed by emotion and thus lack reason. This particular cluster is indicating that generally women are not viewed to have sound judgment. This key term was also connected to dehumanization. The pairing of these two words reveals an alarming claim: that societal views towards women do not just stereotype them a certain way as the previous cluster revealed, but they also serve to debase women as well.
Women are not viewed as equally human as men but are dehumanized instead. They are, simply put, viewed as beings that are less than men. Lastly, women was clustered with assaulted. This reflects the prevalence of assault against women. Similarly, girls was clustered with raped, further reinforcing the claim that all women must be constantly wary of the danger of assault and broadening this claim to include younger women as well. Additionally, media is associated with blames, arguing that media sets the tone for how society interprets situations. If the media places the blame on a woman for a situation in which she has experienced some expression of misogyny, then society as a whole will likely blame her too. This cluster confronts a larger issue: that people often fail to look at situations specifically or to view those involved as individuals, and instead jump to broad conclusions. The associations within this tweet are referencing a societal tendency towards victim blaming in instances of sexual assault. Lastly, we is paired with human [beings]. The association made here is not subtle; the user is arguing against the dehumanization of women and in favor of treating women as equal to men instead of as lesser beings.

Table 2. Juxtaposition of Male and Female Experiences
User Tweet @feliciaday when a woman makes a video, most comments are about tearing apart her looks. Or if they'd "do" her. With a man, almost none. #YesAllWomen @WhileNatSleeps Because women are scared of walking alone at night more than men are scared of the consequences of rape #YesAllWomen @heathersomervil #YesAllWomen Because when I defend myself, I'm temperamental. But when a man defends me, it's an act of chivalry. @Manda_like_wine Because the man that got my grandmother pregnant and left her was considered a catch, but she was considered a whore. #YesAllWomen @KrisKing Why do I have to alter the way I dress, when you can alter the way you behave? #YesAllWomen @yesallwomen a "cool story babe, now make me a sandwich" shirt doesn't break the school dress code. A girl's bra strap does. #yesallwomen @maseko_sian #YesAllWomen because I still get 'managed' when I get too passionate about violations [to] women's rights. If it was a man he'd be charismatic! @wheresaddie Because men don't text eachother that they got home safe. #YesAllWomen @ElsBells_85 Because society tells girls to cover up, instead of telling men to control themselves. #YesAllWomen @yesallwomen because "I have a boyfriend" is more likely to get a guy to back off than "no," because they respect other men more than women.  Table 2 lists tweets that discuss a general contrast between the lived experiences of men and women. These tweets typically explain how men and women are expected or allowed to act differently in a given situation. I identified the key terms women or woman, I and you, men and man, society, and respect based on their thematic significance within the text. Through a cluster analysis, I determined various key terms from this category to serve as the "god" and "devil" terms, respectively, for the overall movement. I equated women and woman as a single key term, since both are functioning the same way within the tweets. All of the tweets classified within the hashtag discuss male attitudes and behaviors and the resulting negative consequence for women. Women are consistently characterized as the victims, with men as the perpetrators.
Women was linked to scared and alone, referencing the fear many women feel when walking by themselves at night due to the possibility of an attack and their potential inability to defend themselves. Additionally, the words pregnant and whore were associated with women. These clusters reveal a historical mischaracterization of women and a discrepancy in the interpretation of female behavior in comparison to male behavior. Attributing this specific combination of words to women reveals a societal view that women who behave promiscuously are seen in a negative light. This stands in stark contrast to ways in which men are viewed for behaving this same way, as later evidenced by the clusters associated with man and men.
The words managed and passionate were also associated with the key word woman. Women have traditionally been stereotyped as more emotional than men. Thus, the supposedly more grounded and reasonable men must often "manage" women when they become overly passionate and irrational.
I functions as a key word that refers to the female experience, since the rhetor of this specific tweet is positioning herself to identify as a woman; this was associated with dress. This cluster references the way women's appearances are policed in society. A common societal view is that when woman dresses in a manner deemed provocative or revealing, she leaves herself vulnerable and open to attack. Following an assault, a woman's manner of dress is often the first aspect of the crime to be scrutinized. A woman who dresses in revealing clothing and is then assaulted is often perceived to be "asking for it" due to her form of dress. Alternatively, the key word you refers directly to men and is associated with behave. Despite the fact that the perpetrator of sexual assault against a woman can likely be directly attributed to male behavior and actions, more often than not, it is the woman who takes the majority of the blame.
Man and men were treated as a single key word as the tweets that included either word reference the general male experience regardless of tense. The clusters that appear here are catch, behave, and safe. Each of these clustered words imply that men experience the world much differently than the typical woman. Referring to a previously examined cluster that appeared within the same tweet, the key term woman along with pregnant and whore, there is a clear contrast between the male and female experiences.
Society often interprets male and female behavior much differently within a given situation. A woman who engages in what is deemed by others as promiscuous behavior is more likely to be viewed negatively than a man who acts in a similar manner.
Additionally, the clustered word behave further reinforces the idea that it is male behavior that must change in order to break the cycle of misogyny and harassment against women. The association of safe with man references a fundamental truth about male identity: as members of the typically stronger sex, men are less likely to face attacks and have a greater ability to protect themselves. Thus, the female experience inherently contains a greater opportunity for danger and a greater likelihood of being harassed or attacked.
This group of tweets also revealed the key word society along with girls, cover up, men, and control. These clusters reveal a societal expectation of women that is not aligned with that of men. In order to prevent an assault from occurring, girls are urged to "cover up" their bodies. This association implies that it is a woman's sole responsibility for avoiding an attack against them. The additional cluster acknowledges that society rarely holds men accountable for controlling their behavior.
The last key word, respect, is clustered with men and women. This association implies that there is a discrepancy in the ways in which men and women are treated. Men typically receive greater respect from those around them than women, which affects not only how they are viewed but how they are treated by those around them. Because women serving in the military shouldn't fear getting raped by their colleagues more than they fear the enemy #YesAllWomen @_niallsgravity Because girls shouldn't be scared to walk alone at night without their heart beating fast when they walk past a man #YesAllWomen @Greytdog #YesAllWomen because women shouldn't have to take self-defense courses just to walk safely to their car at night @LauraLikesWine Because I now wear shorts under dresses in crowded bars after being groped and even penetrated by unseen hands. #YesAllWomen @ljmBAMAfan #YesAllWomen because we're taught to fear if we don't do everything "right" we asked for it if we got raped." @nitabelegu #yesallwomen because apparently the clothes I wear is a more valid form of consent than the words I say." @GrandesFirework #YesAllWomen because we can't wear shorts in 90 degree weather at school because we'll "distract the boys and male teachers @anissegross #YesAllWomen because of nights where friends confess to having been raped as if it's just a part of life they expected. @smegolego #YesAllWomen because I was taught to scream 'fire' instead of 'rape' because it increases the chances of someone helping me.

Analysis
The tweets within Table 3 refer to the broader female experience, particular regarding the threat of a male attack. Key words, including keys, consent, alone, girls, friends, and women, reference an underlying fear that many women live with. The equation of keys with weapon refers to the tendency for a woman to carry her keys in a manner that allows them to be a potential weapon; additionally, associating alone with women and I, two cluster words that seemingly function the same since the collective rhetors are primarily women, further reinforces the point that women must often fear for their safety, particularly when by themselves at night. Consent was paired with clothes and words. The juxtaposition of the cluster words references the issue of consent in sexual situations. The argument presented here is that regardless of the way a woman is dressed, she must give verbal consent before a sexual encounter. An individual who fails to receive sufficient consent preceding a sexual encounter is guilty of sexual assault.
Girls was paired with the key word scared, indicating a level of fear that members of the female sex live with. This notion is further reinforced by an additional cluster, that of women along with feared and raped. The underlying message expressed by the hashtag here is that yes, all women live in constant fear of being attacked. Lastly, friends was associated with confess and raped. The pairing of raped with this key word hints at the prevalence of sexual assault against women, while confess signifies a level of shame on the part of assault survivors. To confess means to reveal something previously hidden; the inclusion of this cluster word references the pervasiveness of a tendency towards victim-blaming that women must often deal with following an assault.

Table 4. Specific Experience
User Tweet @weepingwillow because the fact that my body matured faster than the boys around me isn't an excuse to be sexually assaulted in 6 th grade @jessismiles_ #YesAllWomen because even a taped confession admitting to raping me wasn't enough to put him in jail. Table 4a.

Key Term Clusters Body
Matured Assaulted Him Admitting Raping

Analysis
The tweets classified within Table 4 involve the user communicating a specific situation where they were exposed to societal misogyny. Body appeared alongside the cluster words matured and assaulted. Associating matured with this particular key word implies that the rhetor had physically developed earlier than her peers. The inclusion of assaulted as an associative cluster word signifies that this woman has experienced sexual assault, with others attributing the attack to her physical appearance, as opposed to blaming her attacker. However, as the movement consistently argues, an individual's appearance is not a sufficient form of consent as proper consent must be verbally given, regardless of the fact that the reason for this woman's assault was seemingly out of her control.
The remaining cluster, pairing the key word him with the admitting and raping further reinforce the movement's message: that all women experience the effects of societal misogyny, while also arguing that this contributes to the persistence of rape culture in society.  worldview through the verb forms associated with both key terms. The artifact claims that women are harassed, indicating an experience, whereas men harass, signifying an action. Thus, these women experience an action that is conducted by the men, an assertion that reinforces the overall message of the movement.
The key word feminism was linked with the word strength. The feminist movement is committed to gender equality on the basis that women are not currently treated as equal to men on many levels by society. This particular cluster further contextualizes the #YesAllWomen movement through this lens by presenting the argument that feminism is about illuminating female strength in order to achieve a balance between the genders. The implication here is that the goal is not to take any power away from men, but instead to ensure all individuals hold an equal share of it.
Within the #YesAllWomen movement, women are making the argument that has consistently been argued by feminists throughout history, but they are using new tools do so.
The underlying message of #YesAllWomen is further reinforced by the keywords #YesAllWomen, everyday, you're and we. #YesAllWomen was revealed as a key word due to its positioning as the subject in this particular tweet. The associative words included anti-hate, anti-violence, and anti-rape. It is clear that the movement is targeting men who display anti-women sentiments and behaviors. Yet, this cluster presents the notion that the movement is against hate or violence or rape of anyone, indicating that the overall campaign may not have focused solely on benefitting women, but on the wellbeing of all. Everyday further reinforces the movement's argument that all women experience the effects of misogyny and sexism. These are harmful attitudes and behaviors that all women must face the consequences of on a daily basis. Lastly, key words you're and we appeared in a tweet together, positioning women as the victims of behaviors performed by men. The rhetor uses we to collectively reference women, while you're refers to men. You're was linked to the word hearing, while we was connected to living.
These clusters position women's lived experiences in the center as the rhetor is insisting that she and other women actually experience these issues, while men only have to hear about them. This positioning of women and men further presents support for the movement's message of an underlying hegemonic misogyny.

Evaluation
A cluster analysis of this particular collection of tweets from the #YesAllWomen movement indicates a societal view of women that is dehumanizing and ultimately reveals the rhetors' worldview of a misogynistic and gender-imbalanced society. Upon analyzing the tweets, I discovered a number of key terms and resulting clusters that reveal this societal discrepancy, as well as indicate the rhetors' collective motivation to educate the audience on this issue.
In my analysis, I ultimately identified the key words woman and man as the 'god' and 'devil' terms based on their prevalence within the tweets and significance towards the overall message of the collection. I argue they may be characterized this way due to the consistent positioning of all women as the individuals who experience misogyny, harassment, and violence and that of various men as the individuals who commit these acts. Throughout the text, the rhetors use language that communicates an imbalance of power between the genders, further reinforcing the rhetors' worldview of a misogynistic and gender-imbalanced society. These tweets argue that men traditionally hold greater power than women within society, often with devastating consequences for women.
Within many situations, women are under the control of and at the mercy of the men.
The rhetoric of these #YesAllWomen tweets express the notion that women have little to no power to control misogyny and resulting harmful behaviors that they experience from men. This lack of control for women over their own experiences is an extension of misogyny, as men are given the authority over women's experiences time and time again, often resulting in harassment or violence against them.
Although they vary in specific content, together these tweets deliver the same message to the audience: the issue of misogyny is ingrained and persistent in society and has devastating effects on women's lived experiences. #YesAllWomen hashtag use provided a space for these women to share their stories, both as acknowledgements of one another's experiences and as support for the larger movement. The tweets analyzed here collectively argue that all women are familiar with sexual harassment, sexual assault, and/or gender discrimination, and they provide support for this argument by sharing personal experiences.

DISCUSSION
The rhetoric of #YesAllWomen began as a rhetorical response to a specific These tweets are an example of "hashtag activism," or using a social platform to target a specific issue. The use of an open platform with a broad reach, such as Twitter, and the inclusion of a simple, yet attention-grabbing, hashtag allowed these women to collectively target a specific issue: Although sparked by the misogyny-fueled killings at Isla Vista, #YesAllWomen quickly came to reference more than its originary event.
The hashtag gained significance in its own right as a memetic disruption of dominant discourses denying the prevalence of misogynist violence in their assertions that shootings like Isla Vista and the so-called "Montreal Massacre" of 1989 are the rare and aberrant acts of mentally ill individuals. The hashtag #YesAllWomen asserts a counter-narrative to exceptionalist discourses by insisting that these spectacular tragedies are logical manifestations of a system of gender oppression which condones and facilitates male domination by normalizing gender violence and sexual entitlement. (Thrift, 2014(Thrift, , p. 1091 Analyzing the collection of tweets reveals how participation in the movement allowed them to demystify the female experience by calling attention to real and harmful effects of commonplace male behaviors. Through their participation in the hashtag, these women were given an opportunity to "make everyday acts of misogyny and sexism eventful" (p. 1091). The movement's overall message is reinforced by the personal nature of these tweets, allowing them to collectively raise awareness of a real issue present in society.
#YesAllWomen was perhaps the most notable example of digital feminism, heralding a new era of using social media for activism and political communication.
Much like past waves of feminism have, the tweets analyzed here illuminate the widespread issues of misogyny and the resulting societal mistreatment of women, but they do so using a new platform for discussion: Twitter. Digital feminism has seen expansion in recent years, most well-known being the recent resurgence of #MeToo.
Originally founded in 2006 by activists Tarana Burke, the initial 'me too movement' is similarly a call to action. This campaign asks society to support survivors of sexual assault and help put an end to sexual violence once and for all (Me Too Movement).
Following the outing of notable Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein for sexual misconduct, harassment, and rape, the movement experienced a digital resurgence (Farrow, 2017). This not only indicates that the conversation on misogyny and sexual violence is ongoing, but further reinforces the rhetorical power of Twitter.
The 'me too movement' reemerged on Twitter in late 2017 as #MeToo. This campaign was not only an extension of the original movement, but also a notable example of digital feminism and hashtag activism. The trajectory of #MeToo has paralleled the #YesAllWomen movement as it addresses similar issues of misogyny and the sexual harassment, discrimination, and assault of women. #MeToo also uses Twitter as a rhetorical tool for furthering a conversation. Twitter users participating in the movement become rhetors reframing the conversation around personal experience.
Within both campaigns, the tweets collectively function as a response by women using personal experiences with sexual harassment or assault as evidence for the claims being made by the larger movement.
Through the hashtag #MeToo, women are able to articulate that they, too, have experienced some form of sexual assault and that this was influenced by various attitudes and behaviors towards women that are traditionally deemed commonplace. Both of these movements use Twitter as a platform for educating audiences on a specific issue. Simply by sharing their stories, these individual users are able to transform into political rhetors.

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION
A cluster analysis of the tweets published within #YesAllWomen: A Collection revealed that the collective rhetors were using Twitter to argue the existence of hegemonic misogyny and a resulting gender imbalance of power that often has devastating effects for women. Although the #YesAllWomen movement began as a response to a specific event, the Isla Vista shootings, the tweets analyzed here ultimately exposed various everyday male behaviors as expressions of misogyny.
Women across the country used a platform that was available to them, Twitter, as a means of raising awareness of an issue they consistently face.
Though this particular form of activism has not yet led to widespread societal change, it has successfully raised awareness of a very real issue and revealed the potential for Twitter to be used as a vehicle for social change. At the very least, these tweets have exposed how personal experience was integral to the campaign. The incorporation of personal narrative was eased by the conventions of Twitter. This indicates how the platform can be a means for meaningful political discourse aimed at real change. Twitter is a forum that is widely accessible to others, as well as a media that can be viewed by people who are not necessarily Twitter users. There is the potential to reach a wide audience, particularly when engaging in political rhetoric through the use of a specific hashtag. Thus, participation in an activist hashtag, like #YesAllWomen, allows participants to use Twitter as a rhetorical tool to reach an audience. It transforms an individual from simply a Twitter user to a political rhetor.
The #YesAllWomen movement was successful in inspiring women to share their stories, giving them a chance to respond to, and even fight back against, everyday misogyny by allowing them a platform for open discussion of personal experience.
Despite this accomplishment, and the revelation that Twitter can be used as a rhetorical tool in activist communication, it is also important to acknowledge the movement's shortcomings, notably the absence of queer voices in the campaign. The text revealed much about the cisgendered female experience but left little room for trans and queer women to in turn share their experiences with harassment and violence, despite the fact that these are issues these women are also forced to deal with. The movement may have been instrumental in illuminating a very real social issue, but it will remain inadequate in sparking any sort of social change until it addresses the experiences of all kinds of women.
Furthermore, as the researcher, I must acknowledge my own role as a rhetor. I have personally reviewed the literature and completed the analysis presented here.
Therefore, it is imperative that I also recognize for the reader my own potential for