#BoycottBollywood: Camouflaging misogyny and Islamophobia in a movement.

Abstract

Social media, particularly Twitter, have emerged as a powerful tool to organize online campaigns. As an online protest gains momentum and amasses fringe communities, it often loses its initial intent. This case can be made for the #BoycottBollywood movement, which was set up with the motive of criticizing Bollywood on its output quality and the prevalence of nepotism, but has evolved over time to be shrouded in misogyny and Islamophobia. This paper analyzes how discourse around #BoycottBollywood has developed over time and focuses on the use of #BoycottPathaan to highlight the overwhelmingly anti-Muslim and misogynistic themes that run within the movement.