“Are you me?”: understanding the political potential of feminist identity spaces on Reddit during the COVID-19 pandemic Corrina Laughlin 1 *, Meng Li 1 1 Communication Studies Department, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, USA *Corresponding author: Corrina Laughlin. Email: Corrina.Laughlin@LMU.edu Abstract In this study we performed a critical discourse analysis of the r/workingmoms subreddit during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic (March–May 2020). Using this data we argue that Reddit’s platform can facilitate what we schematize as feminist “identity spaces.” We use the heuristic of “spaces” rather than “networks” or “online communities” and connect this theorization to our understanding of the discursive work on the subreddit which facilitates in-group communication and situated structural critique. However, we also interrogate the political possibilities of identity spaces and understand them as a symptom of what Angela McRobbie has called “the cultural politics of disarticulation.” Ultimately, we argue that the same platform affordances that allow for identity spaces to thrive also limit their political potency and we frame this within Lauren Berlant’s theorization of “cruel optimism.” Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, feminism, identity, motherhood, online communities Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated gender inequalities around the world, including in Western countries such as the US (Collins et al., 2021; Dunatchik et al., 2021), the UK (Blundell et al., 2020), and Germany (Hipp & Bu¨ nning, 2021). Working disproportionately in the hardest-hit sectors, such as hospitality and retail, women in these countries were more likely than men to lose or quit their jobs, be furloughed during the pandemic, or be prevented from reentering the la- bor market (Blundell et al., 2020; Bruhn, 2022). Women with children also reported more frequently that they were primar- ily responsible for their children’s care and homeschooling when schools and daycare centers were under lockdown (Alon et al, 2020; Dunatchik et al., 2021). They took on more housework (Carlson et al., 2020) and reduced work hours in order to meet their family’s care needs (Collins et al., 2021). Facing increased frustration, alienation, and discontent due to these factors, many women resorted to online communities for support and companionship. This study explores one such online community of Western women on Reddit. We focus on how this platform afforded a collective space for the recalibra- tion and deep examination of the identities of “working mothers,” as the posters on the r/workingmoms subreddit we analyzed defined themselves, during the pandemic. The women whose discourse we examine in this study were pri- marily American, Canadian, and Western European (several identified themselves as hailing from England, the Netherlands, and Germany). They participated in both skilled and unskilled labor, were primarily (though not exclusively) engaged in cis-heterosexual marriages and partnerships, and typically saw themselves as the primary caregivers of their children. The racial identities and immigration statuses of these women were not revealed or discussed on the site. We schematize the r/workingmoms subreddit as an “identity space” facilitated by Reddit’s platform affordances. And, we argue that the feminism on display in this subreddit is distinctive in its critique of dominant neoliberal and post- feminist modes because Reddit’s affordances facilitate a space in which women can air grievances, share stories, and receive support from other women without the chilling effect of gen- dertrolling (Mantilla, 2015) or the branding imperatives (Banet-Weiser, 2012, 2018) of other platforms. However, we problematize the solidarity expressed in this identity space as a way to understand the limits of such spaces. We argue that the affordances of identity spaces in the digital sphere—in this case their semi-siloed nature, their anonymity, and their focus on limited identity categories—hinder their social and politi- cal potential. Ultimately, we see this as an example of the af- fective structure of “cruel optimism” (Berlant, 2011). And, we use Berlant’s formulation to question the assumed central- ity of online networking to feminist activism. Literature review Mothers online This study uses the crises set in motion by the initial COVID- 19 lockdowns in the US, Canada, and Europe to analyze how women in these places communicated in and through the r/ workingmoms subreddit. Although much research on digital feminism has been concerned with how women are able to create and sustain potent discourses and critiques using digital media, our results problematize this notion by interrogating the kind of political solitary that digital media spaces afford to users. We make two moves in service of these assertions. First, we argue that this subreddit and other online spaces that share its characteristics can be conceptualized as “identity spaces,” which we see as distinct from other types of Received: 12 January 2022. Revised: 22 February 2023. Accepted: 4 March 2023 VC The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com Communication, Culture and Critique, 2023, 00, 1–8 https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcad006 Original Article Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ccc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ccc/tcad006/7111252 by Loyola Marymount University user on 08 April 2023