Gendered icons and the war in Ukraine: The visual politics of Ukraine’s social media communication

Abstract

Beginning in 2014, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been marked by the extensive use of social media, where governments and individuals circulate images, videos, and texts. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, through its X/Twitter account with over 2 million followers, strategically uses the platform to communicate. This article argues that the visual construction of gender plays a central role in how Ukraine’s government has engaged with international audiences, including Western ones, during the first year of the full-scale war. Drawing on the theory of war as a gendered phenomenon the article examines how discourses of femininity as agentic and victimized are mobilized in Ukraine’s strategic war communication. Analyzing a dataset of 3386 visuals from the first year of the full-scale war, it contributes with unique empirical knowledge on the role of gender in the war in Ukraine. To develop a fine-grained understanding of how representations of femininity are strategically mobilized, the article identifies and analyzes four gendered generic visual icons; Suffering Old Lady, Marriage, Female Ukrainian Soldier, and Saint Javelin. Each icon provides a distinct perspective on the visual construction of gender and its strategic deployment.

Keywords

Ukraine war visual politics gender social media strategic war communication

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