The FBomb Case Study

Case Study:  The FBomb
By: Hayley Posner

When: 2009
Where: Pepper Pike, Ohio
Practitioners: Julie Zeilinger
Further Insight: Jezebel and Feministing

The Story:
The mid 2000’s saw a rebirth in the feminist voice, from the blossoming of outlets such as Jezebel and Feministing, to the documentary series Killing Us Softly. Feminist media was beginning to slowly gain momentum around 2007 marking what would eventually be called the “third wave” of feminism. Despite this increase in feminist blogs and content outlets online there were however key voices that were missing from this harmony- the voices of teen feminists and young activists. Enter, Julie Zeilinger a 16 year old from the midwest who after reading the works of other feminist bloggers realized that she too wanted her voice to be heard as well as the voices of other teen and young adult feminists.
This lightbulb moment of activism became what is now the F Bomb, which is an online blogging and crowded sourced content outlet for young feminist writers. Julie says that she was really inspired by the “snarky” and uniquely feminist voice of other blogs that she read which is what really motivated her, almost like a “fan girl” to create her own platform. “This is what made me want to create a space that could let teenage women feel represented, feminism at that time didn’t really include younger women and thats what I wanted to bring.” The F Bomb, according to Julie was created to be a community space rather than simply her personal blog and grew into a submission based content site for young activists. With the success of her website the F Bomb Julie went on to write a book which sought to educate young women on feminist ideologies and unpack the issues surround the  often controversial word “feminist”.

Why It Worked:
What really worked with Julie’s projects is the idea of creating safe places for dialogue and commentary on life as a young feminist. In the mid 2000’s it was not nearly as accepted as it is today in 2017. To be a feminist in 2009 still had the connotation of being a “bra burning”, man hater. There were also far fewer outlets for young women to take the stage and share their stories and their unique voices and by creating this site Julie supported the growth of young women who will be the next feminist leaders. the submission aspect also created a wide network and spread across the world instead of an individual blog which is much harder to promote and spread to larger audience. This platform and book also allowed for the young feminist perspective to become more widely recognized and incorporated into mainstream media. An example of this is the increasing feminist voice of outlets such as Seventeen Magazine which began to take shape in the 2010’s.

Key Principles Used:
Seek Common Ground
“Rather than directly attack a creationist’s whole belief system, for instance, a “narrative insurgent” looks to foment home-grown insurgency against the most problematic beliefs by identifying ally beliefs and seeking to reinforce them.”
By finding what other activists are feeling and finding similar goals among others a movement is really able to grow. Julie sought out other young feminists and found commonality between the issues that the community felt were important. Finding commonalities, even if you have radically different ideas about other aspects of life is one of the key ways that relationships are built and projects are able to expand such as with the case of the FBomb. Not every contributor or young feminist has the same values, feelings and experiences, which can often make it hard to come together, however the FBomb allows contributors to learn from one another and find issues that unite them rather than arguing about other things,
Make New Folk Welcome
“Bringing in new participants is essential to any activist group that wants to grow in size and capacity — but recruiting is only the first step. Integrating people into an established group can be a much bigger challenge, and it helps to be intentional about it.”
A key part of how to grow a movement is by inviting and adding new voices and players to the mix. By allowing for younger women to get involved in the online feminist blogging sphere they are made welcome into a much larger network of feminists who speak their truths and experiences. The FBomb is also submission based so no one person speaks louder than anyone else which thus encourages and allows for new members to get involved and integrated through learning and participation.

Enable, Don’t Command
“The value of the “supportive, enabling leader” approach is that it unlocks the creativity, ingenuity, and innovation of everyone involved in the project or cause. Participants are inspired to engage because of the positive vision, and then encouraged to learn new skills, take on new challenges, and become supportive, enabling leaders in their own right.”
One of the biggest parts of Julie’s work is her focus on educating and enabling rather than preaching and commanding. Building a strong network is all about respect and communication. The creation of the FBomb enabled younger women to get involved in the feminist movement and feel like their voices were being heard and validated.

New Principle At Play: Educate, Don’t Hate

Leading and working from a place of education and empathy is the new principle which Julie’s work illustrates. The internet can be a very brutal place to share your inner thoughts, feelings and personal ideologies, internet trolls and haters can lurk at any corner and certainly the F Bomb and Julie Zeilinger were not excepts to that. Especially given the nature of backlash that the feminist movement has received throughout history it is not surprising that the Internet is a place of harassment for vocal feminist activists. When asked about how she dealt with this Julie explain, “The one thing I have always tried to do no matter what, lead from empathy and education. Online harassment is definitely still an issue, and the space overall is very combative and women are still very much so targeted for their viewpoints. A lot of feminist writers can become combative when faced with evil and ugly comments online, however I personally have never found it useful to get into an argument with someone who is acting from a place from systemic ideologies.” Julie does not try to argue her way into convincing haters or trolls into accepting feminism, but rather she seeks to educate people on modern feminist ideas through her work and writings. Not everyone has been privileged enough to have heard feminist perspectives or ideas or to have heard non hegemonic ideas, which is why being empathetic is so key and not being patronizing. Working to educate and enable new activists is all about intersectionality going forward, that is force to be reckoned with according to Julie and is one of the main issues activists will need to keep in mind in the future.

Conclusion:
In a time where internet trolls are everywhere and polarization is prevailing over all aspects of socio political and economic life it is easy to loose hope in the power of activist media. Despite this Julie is hopeful of how her work is impacting a new generation of vocal young feminists and is helping to make feminism less of a polarizing term.