The Drift of #MyBodyMyChoice Discourse on Twitter

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how the usage and meaning of the hashtag #MyBodyMyChoice on Twitter shifted from advocating women's rights to opposing Covid-19 containment measures, reflecting a semantic and focus change during the pandemic.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of discourse evolution on Twitter, showing semantic drift and a shift from authoritative to individual sources in hashtag usage during Covid-19.

Findings

Semantic shift of #MyBodyMyChoice towards Covid-19 discussions

Increased focus on individual voices post-pandemic

Change from expert to personal content sharing

Abstract

#MyBodyMyChoice is a well-known hashtag originally created to advocate for women's rights, often used in discourse about abortion and bodily autonomy. The Covid-19 outbreak prompted governments to take containment measures such as vaccination campaigns and mask mandates. Population groups opposed to such measures started to use the slogan "My Body My Choice" to claim their bodily autonomy. In this paper, we investigate whether the discourse around the hashtag #MyBodyMyChoice on Twitter changed its usage after the Covid-19 outbreak. We observe that the conversation around the hashtag changed in two ways. First, semantically, the hashtag #MyBodyMyChoice drifted towards conversations around Covid-19, especially in messages opposed to containment measures. Second, while before the pandemic users used to share content produced by experts and authorities, after Covid-19 the users' attention has shifted towards individuals.