Instagram as a Heterotopia of the Twenty-First Century: The Representation of Women on Instagram in the Post-#MeToo Era
Instagram as a Heterotopia of the Twenty-First Century: The Representation of Women on Instagram in the Post-#MeToo Era

Summary/Abstract: Michel Foucault’s conceptualization of space has often been associated with fields which study concrete, material spaces, such as Architecture. Nevertheless, if one believes in the reciprocal nation-fiction relation, Foucault’s definition of the heterotopia as a space between the real and the unreal can prove to be valuable for various fields of representation. Nowadays, as part of a globalized consumer society, we increasingly rely on social media to create, shape and change our perception of ourselves and of others. In this context, social media websites can be considered as heterotopias and this article will highlight how Instagram can be understood as an alternative space where female users exist in the real, localizable, world while simultaneously living in an imaginary bubble that is shaped by external societal expectations, shaping the audience’s perception of women outside of it. Additionally, this article will question whether and how the popularity of the #MeToo movement on social media affected the representation of women on the social media platform. To do so, in addition to Foucault’s six principles of heterotopia, new historicism will be used to analyse the issue.

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