Girls' Sexualized and Gendered Experiences of Bullying and Cyberbullying

Background and purpose: While information and communication technologies (ICTs) can function as emancipatory tools for children and youth, offering unprecedented opportunities for communication and learning, they also pose several risks, including cyberbullying. Although evidence suggests cyberbullying has a uniquely detrimental impact on wellbeing, there is no clear understanding of how gender shapes cyberbullying. Emerging research, however, suggests that girls’ experiences of cyberbullying are frequently sexualized and linked to pervasive societal gender norms that undermine the fundamental human rights of girls and women.

The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of sexualized and gendered bullying and cyberbullying behaviours among children and youth. Analyzing qualitative interviews that were conducted as part of a larger mixed-methods study, the purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the different forms of bullying and cyberbullying involvement and the connections between victimization experiences and larger socio-cultural contexts.

Methods: Qualitative data were drawn from a three-year longitudinal, mixed-methods study on cyberbullying among students in grades 4, 7, and 10 in a large urban school board in Canada. The larger study employed stratified random sampling to select participants across socio-economic divisions. Qualitative data were collected during years one and three. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with purposively selected students during years one (n=60) and three (n=30) were analyzed. Six team members coded the data through a cyclical, ongoing process of open, axial, and selective coding. Inter-coder reliability was tested through regular team meetings.

Findings: An overarching theme and four subthemes emerged. Overall, participants overwhelmingly described bullying and cyberbullying experiences in gendered ways. There was significant uniformity in the gendered stereotypes participants used to describe perpetration and responses to victimization. This gendered language and stereotyping used by participants appeared to be largely invisible to them, and the societal gender norms influencing their perceptions were largely unrecognized.

Students’ accounts of girls’ cyberbullying experiences were often appearance-based and sexualized. Cyberbullying behaviours included rumor spreading of sexual experience(s), sexualized name-calling (e.g., “slut”), and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. These practices often intersected with other types of discrimination (e.g., racism, fatphobia). Some girls blamed themselves for their cyberbullying experiences, and both girls and boys frequently monitored and/or punished girls for their victimization. Participants typically minimized the impact of these experiences.

Conclusions and Implications: Addressing sexualized cyberbullying must begin from an analysis of the societal context within which these experiences occur. In order for victim-blaming and experience-minimization to decrease, it is critical to shift the narrative surrounding cyberbullying and other forms of aggression towards girls. Research is crucial to understanding how cyber aggression impedes equity for women and girls. Given the adult and media alarm over practices such as teenage sexting, there is a need for social work practitioners to recognize how girls’ and boys’ online experiences are deeply imbedded in structural inequalities. Research must address the multilevel dimensions of cyber aggression towards girls, rather than focusing exclusively on the micro dimensions. This is particularly important given that micro interventions appear to disproportionately focus on changing or regulating girls’ online behavior.