New Article: War, social media and gender: an analysis of the use of TikTok by Ukrainian soldiers

This article examines the intersection of war and gender through a visual analysis of TikTok videos depicting Ukrainian soldiers. Framed as the first TikTok war, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been intensively followed on social media. Videos of Ukrainian soldiers sharing their daily lived experience of the conflict on TikTok circulated widely to a global audience. By staging their lived reality, often in a playful manner, the soldiers not only perform their identity as defenders of the Ukrainian nation-state, but they also perform their gender identity. By asking how these popular self-representations are gendered, this research contributes to feminist approaches in critical military studies, as well as to the literature on the popular cultural constitution of world politics. The results of an audiovisual analysis of TikTok videos indicate that war is being redefined as an integral part of everyday life and that this reconfiguration is playing a decisive role in mobilizing support for Ukraine. At first sight, a shift away from militarized masculinity that could reshape the gender order can be envisioned. However, I nuance this view by showing how masculinity is subtly adapting to new visual regimes, limiting TikTok’s potential to disrupt gender subordination.