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1. The Cases of Riley and Rooney: Intersections of Misogyny with Antisemitism and Counter Speech in British Online Discourse

Chapter of: Antisemitism in Online Communication: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Hate Speech in the Twenty-First Century(pp. 19–46)

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Title1. The Cases of Riley and Rooney
SubtitleIntersections of Misogyny with Antisemitism and Counter Speech in British Online Discourse
ContributorKarolina Placzynta(author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0406.01
Landing pagehttps://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0406/chapters/10.11647/obp.0406.01
Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CopyrightKarolina Placzynta
PublisherOpen Book Publishers
Published on2024-06-21
Long abstractDespite the benefits of the intersectional approach to antisemitism studies, it seems to have been given little attention so far. This chapter compares the online reactions to two UK news stories, both centred around the common theme of cultural boycott of Israel in support of the BDS movement, both with a well-known female figure at the centre of media coverage, only one of which identifies as Jewish. In the case of British television presenter Rachel Riley, a person is attacked for being female as well as Jewish, with misogyny compounding the antisemitic commentary. In the case of the Irish writer Sally Rooney, misogynistic discourse is used to strengthen the message countering antisemitism. The contrastive analysis of the two datasets, with references to similar analyses of media stories centred around well-known men, illuminates the relationships between the two forms of hate, revealing that—even where the antisemitic attitudes overlap— misogynistic insults and disempowering or undermining language are being weaponised on both sides of the debate, with additional characterisation of Riley as a “grifter” and Rooney as “naive”. More research comparing discourses around Jewish and non-Jewish women is needed to ascertain whether this pattern is consistent; meanwhile, the many analogies in the abuse suffered by both groups can perhaps serve a useful purpose: shared struggles can foster understanding needed to then notice the particularised prejudice. By including more than one hate ideology in the research design, intersectionality offers exciting new approaches to studies of antisemitism and, more broadly, of hate speech or discrimination.
Page rangepp. 19–46
Print length46 pages
LanguageEnglish (Original)
Contributors

Karolina Placzynta

(author)
Expert on educational strategies, UK team of Decoding Antisemitism, Researcher at ZfA at Technical University of Berlin
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0323-2627

Karolina Placzynta is a linguist and political scientist with a background in pragmatics, sociolinguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. Her research is centred on the mainstreaming and marginalisation of discourses in the media, normalisation of bias, and intersections of discriminatory discourses. Before joining the UK team of the Decoding Antisemitism project, she researched the patterns of discursive representations of immigration in the British press, examining in the process online media debates within the political mainstream. As an experienced educator, she is interested in translating research findings into successful strategies for teaching and training. She is a member of the DiscourseNet association.

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