(De/Re)Constructing Women’s Identities: The Weaponization of Gender in the Disinformation during the Duterte Administration

Abstract

The use of disinformation as part of digital political campaigning has been studied in new waves of information scholarship. Information-related activities like information pollution are propagated in shared networks that are context-dependent. In addition, the anonymous setting of online activity in social media platforms has streamlined the networked activities of digital disinformation. Most of those affected and targeted are women where disinformation campaigns seek to trivialize their role and identity. Analysis in the 2016 Philippine National Elections observed the use of the digital landscape to secure political and electoral outcomes, much supporting the populist rhetoric of Duterte. In addition, scholarship has observed the similarities in political figures in different states who are notable in their hyper masculine language to address women in positions of power, and how it extends in modern society using disinformation to target women. This research collated disinformation posts from five Facebook pages posted during the Duterte administration and analyzed them through the discourse-historical approach in critical discourse analysis and was presented through detailed case studies. Thematic analysis was employed in the data collected to determine the recurring patterns in the gendered practices in disinformation. Gendered practices are consistent with the reinforcement of gender as an ideology, and are instrumental to the more complex identities of women. The research affirms that gender ideology is weaponized to create characterizations of women, to justify their exclusion and the targeted aggression.