Not Just a Joke: Normalization of Digital Violence Against Women Behind The Veil of Humor on Social Media

Songül Tan

Fiscaoeconomia, 2025, issue s1

Abstract: This study examines how digital violence against women is normalized in humorous content about marriage and male-female relationships on Instagram. The research reveals that humor on social media is not “just a joke†but an ideological tool that reproduces gender inequalities. The study analyzed 30 videos and 450 user comments from three Instagram accounts with over 100,000 followers using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The findings revealed five main themes: normalization of physical violence through humor, systematic reproduction of stereotypes against women, masculinity crisis discourses, distorted representation of the institution of marriage, and legitimization of digital violence through just kidding rhetoric. Analysis results show that 70% of the videos contained physical violence content, and 67% of user comments supported violence. Women are systematically presented with stereotypes as “controlling,†“emotionally inconsistent,†and “materially motivated.†The research identified four fundamental mechanisms through which humor legitimizes violence: making problems invisible, naturalizing stereotypes, normalizing violence culture, and marginalizing critical voices. The study emphasizes the urgency of feminist struggle on digital platforms and highlights the importance of critical media literacy and counter-narrative development work. The findings demonstrate that the phrase just kidding is no longer an innocent defense, arguing that humor serves as one of the multi-layered legitimization mechanisms of digital violence against women. This underscores the need for new studies on cultural representations and humorous codes in the digital age.

Keywords: Sosyal Medya; Mizah; Dijital Åžiddet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 M31 Z10 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fis:journl:25s0123

DOI: 10.25295/fsecon.1720187

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