How do TikTok videos under specific hashtags depict the role of women in the Palestine-Israel war, particularly in relation to their sexuality?

Fatima Ali, Rebecca Tippett, Anastasia Moro

Summary of Key Findings

This research investigated the sexualisation of female Israeli soldiers on TikTok under the hashtags #israeliarmy, #IDFgirls, #israelarmy and #israelsoldiers. This research found that the majority of these videos under these hashtags contained sexualising content, accompanied by sexualising co-hashtags. Some prominent co-hashtags used were #jewishgirlsarepretty, #jewishgirls, #israelidfgirls, #gungirl, #bikinimodel, #israelgirldance and #beautifulgirls, these hashtags were found in the dense middle of the co-hashtags network.

TikTok is a social media platform, known for its viral trends and dances. The content analysis revealed a similarity with this background. A closer inspection into the accounts revealed the original creators were closely linked, apart from following TikTok trends and dances, creators engaged in making daily routine content. Under #israelarmy, the videos depicted dances, and compilations of photos and videos of female IDF soldiers. The top comments under these TikToks praised the military, their unity, but mostly praised the physical appearance of the female soldiers. #israelsoldier showcased mostly IDF women, grossing a total of 2.4 million likes on TikTok. Additionally, a common dance which was observed was a ‘this or that’ dance challenge with Israel and Palestine flags as options. Majority of content found under these hashtags depict sexualisation of Israeli soldiers, from those who reposted videos, but it was also seen by original creators who had partaken in self-sexualisation. Some original creators of these videos - including Israeli models Orin Julie and Natalia Fadeev - were part of Alpha Gun Angels, an Israeli gun-modeling and social media-marketing agency, that consists of active and veteran IDF soldiers who have now become Instagram celebrities and online influencers. Some of these creators seem to have had a link with the Israeli government. For example, Julie was invited to a programme by former Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Robb to develop as an 'ambassador of the country' on social media.

Introduction

It has come to light that the Israel-Palestine conflict is a protracted and intricate disagreement with political, social, and historical roots. Notably, the latest round of hostilities has once again flared up in October 2023, following a number of attacks against Israel carried out by Hamas, the Palestinian paramilitary group in charge of the Gaza Strip. The complex and divisive character of the Israel-Palestine issue has attracted attention from the international media on a regular basis. This is especially evident with TikTok, a famous social media platform for sharing short videos. One of the biggest changes in the modern period is the utilization of TikTok as a platform for content sharing. Knowing that new media technologies have completely changed how people interact, communicate, and comprehend events globally, we decided to analyze Tiktok in order to uncover the role that women play in this conflict. Michael Keane et al., (2016) noted that these kinds of tools enable people to experience and view events like conflict in whole new ways, even while they are located on different continents. This shift allows conflict-related events to become a vital component of our life and how we see the world, going beyond just being able to travel to far-off countries. TikTok users from a variety of geographic areas contribute their opinions, personal stories, and thoughts about the conflict, so enhancing its global reach and significance. On platforms such as TikTok, users around the world actively contribute by sharing opinions, telling personal stories and sharing thoughts related to the conflict, thus increasing their impact and significance worldwide. However, we noticed that during our specific investigation that some videos linked to specific hashtags related to the Palestine-Israel conflict have a tendency to focus mainly on women. In particular, these videos seem to highlight women's actions in this context of war and their visual representation, often highlighting women's bodies and beauty. Such visual emphasis seems to focus on the aesthetics and sensuality of women, leading to broader reflections on gender dynamics. It also shows the active involvement of women in the conflict. The ambitious goal of our project is to analyse this complex dynamic in depth by closely examining a wide range of TikTok videos that are linked to certain hashtags.

Research Question

In this article, we will try to uncover the intricate relationships between women's participation in conflicts and the representation of their diverse sexual identities. A central research question guides this in-depth investigation: How do TikTok videos under specific hashtags depict the role of women in the Palestine-Israel war, particularly in relation to their sexuality? The answer to this question will be explored in depth as it will allow us to better understand the nuances and broader consequences that emerge from this type of media expression in the context of a complex conflict. However, before being able to pose this question, we started by exploring the contents of TikTok through the use of #israel. Through this hashtag, we were able to specifically see what type of content was being published on the platform, which in this case was mostly army women who were posting sexualized content. From here, we were able to create a research question that we felt questioned the way in which female sexuality is represented in the videos shared on the platform. This research report will uncover the various ways and tactics in which women on TikTok, specifically Israeli women soldiers, post sexualized videos in order to gain more traction and positive engagement with the Israeli army.

Literature Review

In the dynamic landscape of modern activism, social media platforms have become pivotal for expressing concerns, engaging a global audience, and mobilizing support. TikTok, with its distinctive format and user-driven approach, stands out as a significant space for activism. This review explores TikTok's role in activism, with a focus on Israeli women soldiers. Analyzing TikTok's affordances and user strategies, we uncover the intersection of social media, activism, and the representation of Israeli women soldiers. Drawing from scholarly work, this literature review unveils TikTok as a hub for playful activism, reshaping traditional political engagement.

TikTok's features, such as challenges and duets, offer users creative tools for engaging in activism. According to Cervi & Divon (2023) article, the duet feature facilitates a unique form of affective activism and provides users with the means to respond and engage in a dialogue. "From the perspective of communicative function, these videos can be paired with what Askanius (2013) defines as political mash-up videos, in which users merge pre-existing materials from multiple sources to construct a political argument" (Cervi & Divon, 2023). Focusing on the case of Israeli women soldiers, TikTok emerges as a space for nuanced political discussions. The article highlights a challenge initiated by an IDF soldier and the subsequent response from a Palestinian-Lebanese singer, Moe Zein, using a duet. The article sheds light on the broader utilization of TikTok by Israeli women soldiers as a means of participating in the discourse on the Israel-Palestine conflict. One illustrative instance involves the initiation of a challenge by an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldier, who lip-synced the song "Stand Up," recognized as an anthem for freedom. In response, Palestinian-Lebanese singer Moe Zein utilized the duet feature, amassing 24.3 million views. Zein altered the lyrics, urging Israel to vacate occupied territories and incorporating visual elements depicting Palestinian tragedies. Two variations emerged in these responses. The first involves users recording close-up duets with the IDF soldier and Zein, emphasizing theatrical expressions. The second variation incorporates political symbols and graphic images, using TikTok's platform for what the article terms "creative insurgency" (Kraidy, 2016). Here, TikTok becomes a space for users, including Israeli women soldiers, to creatively express political positions and critique dominant narratives.

While TikTok remains a space for political activism, there needs to be recognition of the multifaceted nature of social media and the array of attributes it has. Sexualisation of women is not a new phenomena, especially in the lens of cinema, television and media. Sexualisation and Objectification have been used as interchangeable or synonymous terms. This paper uses the term sexualisation instead of objectification, according to the definition by Fasoli et al. (2017), “Sexualisation can be defined as a focus on the sexual appeal of a person whose value is solely based on her/his sexiness.” (p.2) instead of objectification which reduces a person to their body, without autonomy and depicts ownership by others. As mentioned above, “Sexualised portrayals of women are a common feature of mainstream media and appear across multiple media formats” (Ward, 2016, p.563)

The portrayal of women in a sexualised manner has been viewed throughout history, from their role in television, in paintings to today in social media platforms. Ward (2016), mentions an important effect of such representation of women- self-sexualisation. The portrayal and representation of women in media, leads to a woman portraying themselves in poses, or attaining attributes which are considerably desirable. Laura Mulvey coined the term male gaze, specifically in the realm of cinema and television but “social media seems to have been created out of the very psychic desire Mulvey described as the voyeuristic, fetishistic, and possessive fantasy of the male gaze.” (Oliver, 2017, p.453) with social media sites encouraging the mimicking of posing, trends and dance challenges associated with the desires that are associated with the male gaze.

While we look at the nuanced nature of the war on TikTok, it is essential to recognise that war communication has changed over time from weapons to stories and images manipulated through the media. In the context of contemporary internal conflicts, the media's tendency to focus on what interests their domestic audience, neglecting essential issues, can lead to a lack of understanding of progress. TikTok demonstrates this parallel by showing light and entertaining content during the war in Israel, such as videos of women dancing and following trends, emphasizing their beauty. This phenomenon is a reflection of the media's tendency to focus on fun and entertaining content, ignoring the more serious and complicated issues of reality.

The manipulation of stories and images on social media creates a distorted view of reality, which influences public opinion around the world. This distortion draws attention to the complexity of contemporary media, which influence their development by acting both as representatives of reality and as actors in conflicts. In conclusion, these thoughts come together to emphasize how important the media are in communicating conflicts and creating international attention. The media's tendency to focus on popular content can distort reality, underscoring the need for a holistic approach to fully understand the media's role in managing global conflicts.

Methodology

For the data collection process, we proceeded to adopt several tools as well as methodologies in order to conduct an in-depth analysis of the various hashtags on TikTok. Initially, we decided to search the two hashtags #palestine and #israel to be able to compare the different types of content published on the platform. However, after having observed the results, we found that in order to be able to answer the research question, it would be most beneficial if we focused on hashtags in relation to Israel as the results were much more controversial in terms of the representation of women.

From here, we collectively came up with four main hashtags that we used for the majority of the project, those being #israelsoldier, #IDFgirls, #israeliarmy, and #israelarmy. We used the Zeeschuimer plugin while browsing TikTok to perform a preliminary analysis of the hashtags. We collected around 200 video items which were then transferred to the research tool 4Cat in order to process the files to create a co-tag network. Additionally, video downloads were undertaken to facilitate a more in-depth analysis needed in being able to answer the research question. Subsequently, from each of the csv files that were downloaded from Zeeschuimer, individual photo walls were created on 4Cat in order to better visualize the thumbnails of each of the videos posted on TikTok through the four hashtags. Furthermore, the main content derived from the photo walls were then combined in order to create an image that consists of the main content present on TikTok from each of the hashtags.

The co-tag networks derived from the four distinct hashtags were then combined, providing the foundation for a co-hashtag analysis which underwent careful examination through the Gephi software. The analytical framework encompassed an examination of co-tag networks, the frequency of each hashtag within TikTok video descriptions, and a nuanced analysis of video content. Attention was directed towards specific trends in audio usage, dance performances, and the overarching thematic portrayal within the videos. A notable observation was the prevalent sexualization apparent in the actions of female creators featured in the videos.

Regarding the visualization and analysis, the Gephi software was instrumental in the visualization and analysis of the clusters that were formed through the application of the ForceAtlas2 and Label Adjust layout, employing diverse hashtags integral to the project. This approach enabled the examination of interconnections among different hashtags employed in TikTok videos. The utilization of the ForceAtlas2 filter and Label Adjust within Gephi facilitated a nuanced exploration of the relationships and linkages among the varied hashtags, providing insights into the dynamics and patterns inherent in the TikTok content associated with the selected hashtags. Furthermore, through the data laboratory we were able to see the different hashtags found in the network, but through the visualization we were able to determine the connections. In order to maintain a clean workspace, we opted to clear out certain hashtags which were used as algorithm boosters, such as #foryou #trending #fyp.

Limitations

Due to time constraints, an in-depth analysis of the comment section was omitted from the research paper. An analysis of the comment section would have given insights into the audience reaction to sexualised content and the effects it has on the public opinion. Furthermore, there were issues with 4Cat in regard to the co-hashtag analysis, there were issues with the values on frequency and weight column on Gephi due to 4Cat, which was fixed later but led to limited time for the co-hashtag analysis.

Findings

TikTok is a social media platform, known for its viral trends and dances. The content analysis revealed a similarity with this background. A closer inspection into the accounts revealed the original creators were closely linked, apart from following TikTok trends and dances, creators engaged in making daily routine content. Looking at the hashtags #israeliarmy, #IDFgirl, #israelsoldier and #israelarmy on TikTok shows an impressive display of creativity and cultural expression. This digital platform, known for its brevity and dynamism, is transformed into a virtual stage where users create vivid visual and aural performances. Body lines become a form of personal and artistic expression, brilliantly emphasized through engaging dances in a series of videos. The representation of female soldiers in this context is evident. The dance, which emphasizes women, goes beyond mere choreography and becomes a powerful medium for exploring themes of strength. The female body is emphasized in a distinctive way. The hashtags convey an atmosphere of war through amusing remarks, showing the beauty of women in uniform. Interestingly, all these hashtags show videos of women dancing or showing off their bodies whilst wearing a uniform. Some original creators of these videos - including Israeli models Orin Julie and Natalia Fadeev - were part of Alpha Gun Angels, an Israeli gun-modeling and social media-marketing agency, that consists of active and veteran IDF soldiers who have now become Instagram celebrities and online influencers. Some of these creators seem to have had a link with the Israeli government, where in this case Julie was invited to a programme by former Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Robb to develop as an 'ambassador of the country' on social media.