Women and Women’s Rights Narratives on Polish Twitter in Light of the Abortion Issue

Abstract

In this paper, I highlight the main frames appearing in the discussion of the abortion issue on Polish Twitter. Drawing on previous studies of the public discourse in Poland, I suggest that it is important to discuss it in its historical context. Detailed analysis of the data shows that the public sphere in Poland is consistently polarized and highly politicized. Discussing these findings, I argue that it is crucial to not only further analyze the frames prevailing in the discourse, as they can lead to measurable changes in public opinion, but also to better understand the platforms used for this purpose and see them as discursive places with specific platform vernaculars. The presented research focuses on the discussion that took place on Twitter from October 20 till November 15, 2020.

Keywords

• women
• women’s rights
• abortion
• frame analysis
• poland
• social media discourse