Empowered Women & Social Media: Analyzing #YourBeautyRules in Cyberfeminism Perspective

Abstract

This research aims to explain about cyberfeminism. It is a part of the new media discourse, discussing mainly the context of the development and empowerment of women. The main approach of this research was a qualitative approach, which included research methods of literature and documentative studies. This method mostly analyzed content through the perspective of cyberfeminism and how the Female Daily Network built campaigns through #YourBeautyRules content. This research showed that the campaign was built with narratives based on the experiences of FDN employees and some vloggers in Indonesia. This campaign has the potential to educate, motivate, and develop women so that they can prioritize character and self-development.

Full text

Jurnal ASPIKOM, Vol. 5, No. 2, July 2020, pp. 280-293
P-ISSN: 2087-0442, E-ISSN: 2548-8309
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24329/aspikom.v5i2.664 n 280
Article(History:(Received January 18, 2020; Revised April 10, 2020; Accepted June 21, 2020
Empowered Women & Social Media: Analyzing #YourBeautyRules in
Cyberfeminism Perspective
Perempuan Berdaya & Media Sosial: Telaah #YourBeautyRules
dalam Perspektif Cyberfeminisme
Nicky Lestari1, Andi Nur Fadilah2, Eka Wenats Wuryanta3
1,2,3Universitas Paramadina, Jl. Gatot Subroto, Kav. 97, Mampang,
Jakarta Selatan 12790
*Corresponding author, e-mail: nicky.lestari@paramadina.ac.id
Abstract
This research aims to explain about cyberfeminism. It is a part of the new media
discourse, discussing mainly the context of the development and empowerment of women. The
main approach of this research was a qualitative approach, which included research methods of
literature and documentative studies. This method mostly analyzed content through the
perspective of cyberfeminism and how the Female Daily Network built campaigns through
#YourBeautyRules content. This research showed that the campaign was built with narratives
based on the experiences of FDN employees and some vloggers in Indonesia. This campaign
has the potential to educate, motivate, and develop women so that they can prioritize character
and self-development.
Keywords: Cyberfeminism; campaign; female daily network
Abstrak
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memaparkan dan menjelaskan tentang cyberfeminisme
yang masuk dalam diskursus media baru membahas tentang terutama yang berkaitan dengan
konteks pengembangan dan pemberdayaan perempuan. Pendekatan utama penelitian ini
menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan menyertakan metode penelitian kajian literatur dan
dokumentatif. Metode ini lebih banyak dilakukan dengan analisa konten melalui perspektif
cyberfeminisme dan menganalisis bagaimana Female Daily Network membangun kampanye
melalui konten Your Beauty Rules. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kampanye dibangun
dengan narasi berdasarkan pengalaman karyawan FDN dan beberapa vloger di Indonesia.
Kampanye ini memiliki potensi untuk mengedukasi, memotivasi dan mengembangkan
perempuan agar dapat mengutamakan karakter dan pengembangan diri.
Kata Kunci: Cyberfeminisme; female daily network; kampanye

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Introduction
Female Daily Network (FDN) is a female community forum that often discusses
beauty, health, parenting, works, and education. FDN aims to empower and educate
women to be smart consumers. The majority of the FDN editorial activities theme, for
example, beauty in general, beauty product discussion, and tips on women's health and
parenting. FDN is the biggest virtual community forum for women in Indonesia. In
2018, FDN held a campaign theming #YourBeautyRules. The theme of the campaign
was picked to promote Jakarta X Beauty. The theme of the event was added with a
hashtag #YourBeautyRules to make the campaign spread vastly through social media.
The campaign initiated by FDN also is educationally potential for women. It urged that
women as an individual should not be confined in constructions of beauty.
Along with the campaign, FDN also released the same theme on its YouTube
channel. The speakers in the video, composed of FDN's employees and vloggers,
promotes the idea that women should be proud of themselves with their discrete
advantages and disadvantages and be confident of their appearance. FDN released two
videos in its YouTube channel that is in the category of #YourBeautyRules campaign,
namely: "Be Proud of #YourbeautyRules | Jakarta X Beauty 2018 by Female Daily" and
"Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa Hawadi, Body-Shaming Experience Sharing
#YourBeautyRules." The rationale of the campaign is the ubiquity of patriarchal
constructions of women that at that time seemingly see women as a merely physical
object, ranging from faces, body shapes, to appearance. It is suspected that this
construction is responsible for bullying and cyberbullying that are experienced by
women. #YourBeautyRules campaign by FDN, therefore, can be categorized as a form
of cyberfeminism. This is because, in the campaign, the speakers encouraged anyone,
especially women, to be confident of themselves and presenting it to the broader
society. FDN hopes that Indonesian women that have the same condition as the speakers
can be confident of their physique, appearance, and characters.
Cyberfeminism supports women empowerment through technology and helps
them self-sustain amid the diversity of male-dominated discourse that controls
technology use. Cyberfeminism creates an electronic online space that is capable of
holding back the construction of dominant gender and empowering women throughout
the world (Alatas & Sutanto, 2019). Cyberferminsm encourages women that they
should express themselves independently so that they can deliberate themselves from
social construction stigmatized to women, and open room for women to be creative on
digital media. Cyberfeminism emphasizes how women use digital media in their lives to
improve themselves, express their opinion, and establish a virtual community. Kanai
and Dobson (2016) mentioned that digital media could benefit women empowerment.
Firstly, women can be more creative and publish work. In 1970, the media
represented women with a narrow definition. Women were described as housewive,
mothers, sexual objects, and consumers of media and not producers. However, with the
advent of the internet and digital media technology, women can produce and distribute
media and create their discrete contents. Secondly, women can promote a feeling of
respect for victims of women's exploitation and digital media culture. Previous activities
in media digital are responsible for categorizing women in unequal categories, such as
class, sexuality, and geographical location. With a high rate of activity and participation
in digital media, the diversity mentioned can be revealed, retold, and shared. Also, it can
be interpreted collectively to establish a feeling of respecting the same media users.
Thirdly, women can have their space to express and love themselves. By exploiting

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digital media, women can represent the image they wish suitable for their opinion.
Digital media is deemed by cyberfeminism essential to open internet potential as space
for women to express themselves creatively. According to Wilding, online
communication space used by cyberfeminists is capable of addressing gender inequality
of social transformation caused by information and communication (Mulyaningrum,
2015). Internet development and digital media have opened access to information and
space for expressing their opinion for women. Women empowerment movements
aiming to end gender inequality has proliferated, been creative, and various, and they
have started to attract the attention of many women from different fields to consume
information.
Current information technology is marked by the new media that can spread
information digitally by using online service. This new media enables the users to not
only consume information from media but also use it to represent themselves, interact
with other users, create content, and share the information. Virtual social networks are
also created virtually due to the advent of the new media. YouTube is a social media
that meet the criteria of new media. YouTube has a characteristic of media sharing,
whether in terms of video or audio (Setiadi, 2016). In Indonesia, YouTube as social
media is potential and efficacious in transmitting any information, including
information regarding women, such as campaign by Female Daily Network with a
theme #YourBeautyRules. According to data presented by (Websindo, 2019), YouTube
Indonesia users account for 88% as opposed to other social media. The development of
online media become a capital for any woman to invite, educate, and disseminate
creative ideas for other women to develop themselves, conduct dialog, and share
experience in resolving other problems experienced by other women. In light of that,
FDN YouTube channel can be called as a form of cyberfeminism.
According to Women's Empowerment: Concept and Beyond (Rahman M. A.,
2013), women empowerment is a process of positive transformation that elevates
women's position and capability in balancing position in patriarchal structure and
identify transformative paths that would be used. Women empowerment can be seen
through three dimensions, namely personal, rationale, and collective. The personal
aspect includes character and capability development. The rational aspect of the
development is based on negotiation development in the decision-making process. The
collective aspect is the capability of involving oneself in collective movement.
Empowered women are women that are capable of developing themselves and have a
stance in spreading their influence and guide their group to collaborate. On social
media, women are increasingly creative in using digital media. In that medium, they
express their opinion, be expressive, and transmit creative ideas and useful information
for women and general audiences.
In a virtual community like Female Daily Network, each woman sees progress in
sharing information through digital media regarding life and daily needs. Based on the
official website of femaledaily.com, 99% of members of FDN are women, its page has
seen 7,5 million views per month, and 18,000 canals are available in the forum of the
Female Daily Network. As for social media account, FDN has 756.000 subscribers on
YouTube, 41.500 followers on Twitter, and 153.556 followers on Facebook. The
members and followers that are successfully attracted by FDN show that the forum has
the strong potential to influence its member and general audiences. It is justified by the
previous research that demonstrated that articles, reviews, and YouTube contents of
FDN are capable of influencing its member and viewers in their decision-making

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process to purchase a beauty product (Indrianingsih & Kurniadi, 2019; Rahman &
Fuady, 2019). Studies entitled "Relation between Female Daily Network's Youtube
Shows and Fulfillment of Netizens Informational Needs" (Putri & Fuady, 2018), and
"Visitor Satisfaction in Online Media femaledaily.com in Eliciting Information: a Study
of Student of Syiah Kuala University" showed that FDN had been a medium for
fulfilling information regarding woman world. These previous studies indicate that FDN
activity in digital media can affect internet users, especially students.
The majority of the content displayed by FDN discusses beauty products, but in
#YourBeautyRules campaign, this platform directs its audiences to define the concept of
beauty according to the users' opinion. The content does not discuss a product, but the
character development of women. Women are encouraged to be confident and fight
against bullying and cyberbullying they used to experience. Against that background,
The research focuses on FDN's content videos with a theme #YourBeautyRules, which
is deemed a form of cyberfeminism activity, and how the theme is developed in FDN's
contents. The research used Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT). This theory aims to
describe how a symbolic meaning that starts from a group, believed by its group
member, and then spread to the bigger audiences. The last research on SCT used in the
group communication research and communication in digital media was "Construction
of Symbolic Reality of Millenials through a Celebgram Fantasy Theme in Social
Media" (Mutiaz, 2019). In light of that, the researcher analyzes cyberfeminism concepts
in FDB's YouTube content, #YourBeautyRules, since a small number of studies analyze
the concept of cyberfeminism, especially in YouTube and how the campaign of
#YourBeautyRules is created in YouTube.
Method
The method used in this research was content analysis, i.e., an analysis that
interprets documentation material (Kriyantono, 2014). The data was retrieved from
FDN's channel. Questions and answers in the video were interpreted and analyzed based
on symbolic convergence theory. The research was designed to be descriptive-analytic
because it aimed to explain the cyberfeminism concept and describe its campaign on
social media. The research object was cyberfeminism and symbolic convergence
happening on social media. The research was constrained only to FDN's YouTube
content, namely "Be Proud of #YourBeautyRules - Jakarta X Beauty 2018 by Female
Daily" released on March 17, 2018, and "Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa
Hawadi, Sharing Pengalaman Body Shaming #YourBeautyRules" released on May 22,
2018. The research analyzed those two videos with cyberfeminism perspective and the
symbolic convergence theory. The researchers also reviewed literature to search for
connection with concept and theory used.
The symbolic convergence theory of Ernest Bornmann is a theory that studies
interpretations of the convergence of two or more personal symbols that eventually
establishes shared awareness and nearness among groups. Bornman stated a principle in
SCT as a fantasy that is shared or retold in a group that can create symbolic
convergence (Griffin, 2012). SCT assumed that a human is homo narrans. A human is a
social storyteller that shares fantasy to build social awareness (Suryadi, 2010). Fantasy
here is a dramatic story or message without referring to fictional stories. As stated by
Griffin (2012), "a dramatizing message is one that contains imaginative language such
as a pun or other wordplay, double entendre, figure of speech (e.g., metaphor, simile,
personification), analogy, anecdote, allegory, fable, narrative, or other creative

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expressions of ideas." Fantasy is interpreted as a creative and imaginative conscious
action in giving meaning to each event (Suryadi, 2010). It suggests that fantasy in this
theory is not fictional, but meaningful and dramatic message considered correct, based
on experience and knowledge possessing by the members.
SCT has two primary assumptions. Firstly, a reality is established by
communication processes and, secondly, individual meaning of symbol experiences a
convergence to grow and be a collective reality (Suryadi, 2010). In SCT, each member
of a group shares stories, experiences, and events. Stories shared in the group are
interpreted collectively. Meaning that is believed and fused in the group raise collective
awareness, nearness, and cohesiveness among group members. Symbolic convergence
theory is founded on a notion that each member of the group should share a fantasy to
create a cohesive group.
Bornmann argued that a method in using his theory could be called Fantasy
Theme Analyses (FTA) (Suryadi, 2010). Four aspects are essential in FTA research.
The first is a fantasy theme. A fantasy theme is the content of a message that reawaken
fantastical chains (Griffin, 2012). A fantastical theme is considered as the foundation to
form another fantasy. A fantastical theme reflects culture and view believed by a group.
Signs like emotion, meaning, motives, and actions can be seen in fantastical themes.
The second is a fantasy chain. A fantastical chain is formed, when the dramatic message
received opinions and responds from other individuals that caused intensity and desire
of sharing a fantasy from each indviduals (Suryadi, 2010). When intensity appears in
telling a story, each member would respond and give feedback. Feedback shared would
create empathy and a foundation to establish a collective awareness. The third is a
fantasy type. Bornman asserts that a fantasy type is a fantastical theme repeatedly
discussed in different situations, with different characters and backgrounds despite the
same plot. If the message has the same narrative frame with different settings, it can be
categorized as one fantastical type (Suryadi, 2010). The fourth is A rhetorical vision.
According to Bornmann, a rhetorical vision refers to the spread of fantasy themes and
types to broader communities (Griffin, 2012). At this stage, the fantasy has developed
and transmitted outside the original group. From that development, a fantasy spreads to
broader society and establish a form of rhetorical community.
Results and Discussion
Female Daily Network is a female community that uses the internet as a sphere to
empower and educate women. In that media, Female Daily Network produced YouTube
content and conducted activities theming #YourBeautyRules. Two essentials videos are
"Be Proud of #YourBeauty Rules | Jakarta X Beauty 2018 by Female Daily, Beauty
Rules 5 Perempuan Cantik Indonesia!" and "Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa
Hawadi, Sharing Pengalaman Body Shaming #YourBeautyRules." In that videos, the
employees and members of FDN were asked to answer some questions regarding their
conditions, which for many internet users were considered difficult, such as body shape,
skin health, skin color, and makeup preference in daily lives. Because those
assumptions mentioned were deemed as problems, through content in
#YourBeautyRules, they narrated and shared their beauty rules and methods to answer
negative responses with a hope that other women who shared the same condition can be
more confident of their physical appearances, fashion, characters. Also, FDN hoped that
the beauty rules of each individual woman could be their strength. It is the reason, from
the researchers' point of view, this movement can be categorized as cyberfeminism.

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The process of delivering the information will be seen through symbolic
convergence, in which the story regarding the condition of employees and members of
FDN, which initially was internal stories in the group, becomes a public consumption.
The result of FTA's method as the key to this theory is as follows:
Fantasy Theme
The fantasy themes of the YouTube content of female daily can be seen when
they narrated their experience regarding their conditions. It can be found in the video
"Be Proud of #YourBeautyRules | Jakarta X Beauty 2018 by Female Daily" and "Rachel
Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa Hawadi, Sharing Pengalaman Body Shaming
#YourBeautyRules."
Video 1 (Be Proud of #YourBeautyRules)
Ochel, who was an editor at Daily Female, said that because she had a relatively
bigger body, people around her recommended that she should decrease her weight.
Construction appeared in the statement was that an overweight woman deserved to be
an object of body-shaming. The statement can be seen from 00:33 to 00:41
00:33-00:41 "The most disturbing one is that a person used to tell me to make my
body slimmer because he saw me hard to move."
Another story came from Asya, a Client Service at Female Daily. Her statement
can be a fantasy theme when she answered a question regarding the unique experience
of her skin problem. Construction formed in the video is that women with pimples were
a problem so that it can be an object of body shaming. The statement can be seen from
02:10 to 02:14.
02:10 -02:14 "Pimples are called pox. Pox is the pox."
Carol, an event manager at Female Daily, struggled with almost the same issue.
She had dark skin, and it imposed her to accept a comment that was not shooting from
her surroundings. Her friends often used the name "black" to call her when she was in
school. Construction formed was that skin with dark color tendency was material for
body shaming. The statement of Carol can be found between 01:43 and 01:49.
01:43-01:49 Carol (CL) "I am often called black, especially when I was in school.
It was undoubted."
Video 2 (Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa Hawadi, Sharing Pengalaman
Body Shaming #YourBeautyRules)
In this case, a fantasy theme came from Soraya Hylmi's statement, an MC,
comedian, and singer. She told her story when she posted her old pictures and got
negative responses from the netizens. Construction formed was that overweight was not
pretty and deserved to be an object of body shaming. This statement can be seen in the
video between 00:41 and 01:13.
00:41-01:13 they are more into appearances, and not how I dress. The way I
represent myself or appear in public with my confidences and my body shape,
some people seem not to accept it. What is more interesting is that, when we
posted throwback pictures of our old self, the netizens wrongly focus. They saw
me at the time when I posted that. They said: "your old self is prettier when you

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were still thinner, as opposed to now." Many people negatively assume that way.
Conversely, the aim of sharing about the past is for being grateful for the process
we have experienced.
Minyo, a beauty influencer, got bullying comments due to her dark skin color.
Construction formed was that skin with darker color deserved to be bullying material or
body-shaming. This statement can be seen in 01:42-01:58.
01:42-01:58: I have been different since I was a child. My skin is darker than
average, than other people. Since I was a kid, I had got bullying. In Bandung, I
was called similar to the hideung before my face and was shouted before other
people.
From those videos above, it can be said that fantasy themes formed by social
construction to women were women with overweight, pimples, and dark skin. The
construction made women got ridicule and their disadvantages used as bullying or body-
shamming materials. This is because women with imperfection in terms of physique
were not considered a beautiful girl.
Fantasy Chain
A fantasy chain was formed when the speakers were asked to respond to
people's comments on the speakers' condition. It can be seen from the answers of the
speakers of the comments.
Video 1 (Be Proud of #YourBeautyRules)
In the video, Ochel said that after people around her talked about her, she became
to be more intense in conducting working out, although Ochel's focus was not to make
her body slimmer but healthy. The statement was found from 00:48 to 01:04 in the
video.
00:48-01:04 Now, I have started to reduce my food and start to work out.
However, it is not about I want to be skinny. I just want to keep fit so that I am not
quickly getting sick and fatigue. The result so far almost two months; many
people said I am skinner.
Asya responded to people's statements by saying that although women may have
disadvantages and problems with pimples, they should still be confident. That was
Asya's beauty rules. This statement can be seen from 08:00 to 08:06 in the video.
08:00-08:06 "You do not be not confident because of pimples. With pimples, we
can still do many things."
Video 2 (Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa Hawadi, Sharing Pengalaman
Body Shaming #YourBeautyRules)
Soraya Hylmi answered questions from people who gave negative comments to
her. She said that some people naturally have inappropriate manners so that it is easy for
them to comment on someone's condition. Ignoring people who love to bully is the
wisest action. Hylmi said it in 03:03-03:33:
03:03-03:33 "For me, they should not be given a stage. That is the right thing to
do. Do not tell me that "they envy you." Big no! No one envies me. It is just their

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attitude. So, some people were born evil. There is always someone that has that
attitude; they are not jealous of me or envious of me. It is their character that is
cruel, that is rotten. So, do not worry about the people and never lurk behind
defensive phrases, such as "they envy you." That is wrong. No one envy. They are
just evil."
Minyo said that initially, bullying made her not confident. Up to a point, she
started to beautify her looks and mindset of complexion she possessed. Eventually,
Minyo accepted her complexion. This can be seen in the video in 04:25-04:47
04:25-04:47 "To be honest, when I was in elementary school, I was bullied, and
the bully made me hate myself. Nevertheless, when I was in high school and
college, I tried to improve myself in terms of appearance and mindset of my skin.
Now, I love my complexion so much.
Against the fantasy chains that were formed, the researchers conclude that the
speakers were not concerned too much with the construction given by society, nor
making them less confident. By contrast, the comments were transformed to motivate
them to accept and respect themselves. This is the rationale of #YourBeautyRules. The
format of the video contents, question and answer, aimed to facilitate the audiences to
understand more comfprtable experience with social constructions of women, solutions
to reply negative comments, and messages for Indonesian women. A more profound
question and answer format created ambient that is supportive of sharing one's
experience. As a result, the opinions that emerged would be more meaningful and put
forward theme #YourBeautyRules as a new beauty concept for Indonesia women that
emphasized the character development of Indonesian women.
Fantasy Type
A fantasy type here figured in reviewing narrative expressed repeatedly and
professional background of the speakers in the two videos FDN analyzed. The
profession of the speaker consisted of FDN employees from various divisions, namely:
Ochel (Female-Editor), Putri (Female-Video Editor), Carol (Female-Event Manager),
Sela (Female -Senior UI/UX Designer), Dori (Female -Account Executive), Tia (Female
-Senior Graphic Designer), Asya (Female -Client Service), Dende (Female -Client
Service), Dara (Female-Editor), Gilang (Male-Make-up artist), Imani (Female-Business
Development associate), Anetta (Female-Senior Editor), Gyanda (Female-Video
Editor). On the other hand, in the second video (Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi,
Allyssa Hawadi, Sharing Pengalaman Body Shaming Your Beauty Rules), the speakers,
Rachel Goddard, Soraya Hylmi, Allyssa Hawadi, Cheryl Raisa, Lizzy Parra, Minyo,
Clarissa Atmaja, worked as vlogger. Although the speakers have a different professional
background, each speaker has the same experience regarding the construction of beauty
amid society.
Based on the narrative structure, the videos are similar. #YourBeautyRules as a
theme is also expressed repeatedly in FDN's second video. The second video is
partitioned to four parts, namely: (1) each speaker answered the question "Do you think
beauty standard is not applicable for beauty influencer?", (2) "How do you deal with
it?" (3) "Your message to all Indonesian women out there with some insecurities?", (4)
"Your Beauty Rules is, the new concept of beauty." Each speaker started by sharing her
personal experience, resolution of the problems, messages to Indonesian women, and
definition of #YourBeautyRules. A narrative established in the second video of FDN

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began by collecting the almost similar experience experienced by the speakers. The
experience was around body-shaming. Each narrative narrated her experience on beauty
standards that cannot be realized out of physical disadvantageous. The beauty standard
that was defined there is beauty construction adhered to in Asia, such as white skin, a
slim body, and free from pimples face. Consequently, the speakers who do not meet the
criteria attracted people to shame their bodies, personally or through social media.
Instead of countering them, the speakers responded to the comment politely. They
believed that through social media, they could promote an understanding that body-
shaming is wrong and can have undesirable effects on women.
After that, the narrative was followed by the way they deal with body-shaming.
The solution of the speaker in coping with body-shaming was that neglecting the actors
of body-shaming and developing character, such as self-acceptance, being humble,
being confident, and being competent. Every speaker emphasized the importance of
self-acceptance and believed that there is no beauty standard. What is essential is that
women should improve their skills and potentials and represent themselves as
confidently according to their strengths and weakness. Appearance should not be
problems because character and competence are vital. With the videos, FDN hoped that
the audiences could internalize values and meaning conveyed by the speakers since the
values conveyed were self-development principles. They hoped that the message could
be heard by Indonesian women who have almost the same problem with the speakers,
especially for Indonesian women. It was expected that Indonesia women could cope and
dispense with body-shaming problems and enhance their capability. The question,
which starts with "your beauty rules is" was expected to be defined as a new beauty
definition of Indonesian women. Beauty, for FDN, should not always follow the
existing construction. Conversely, beauty should be determined by women in proportion
to their character, personality, and capability.
The same experience regarding body shaming and motivation to revive women
from the negative comment they used to witness makes #YourBeautyRules vital to
develop the character of Indonesian women. #YourBeautyRules aims to create a new
concept of beauty for Indonesian women. Negative experiences experienced by the
speakers showed that construction made by society as for beauty is still clung in and
negatively affect daily communication in the virtual sphere. Definition regarding
#YourBeautyRules that was given by the speakers asserted that Indonesian women
should prioritize self-development than following the existing construction. For the
speakers, self-development and character are more vital since those factors can motivate
themselves to express themselves freely, both when they work or create something.
Rhetorical Visions
#YourBeautyRules video is available on YouTube's account of the Female Daily
Network (FDN). The phrase #YourBeautyRules spread and get appreciation from the
audiences. The use of the hashtag (#) for completing #YourBeautyRules makes this
theme easy to find on Youtube. The use of the hashtag (#) makes every sentence
become a link and then expedite searching of contents related to #YourBeautyRules.
With that combination, YouTube, as a communication medium, has spread fantasy
(dramatizing message), whether for FDN members or the general audiences who are not
FDN members. This is because, whether as an individual, group, or institutional, social
media users can act as transmitters or receivers of messages in virtual sphere
communication (Susanto, 2017). The receivers on social media have no fixed rule in

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expressing and responding to the message that is conveyed through social media.
The videos discussed received many responses and comments from internet users.
From #YourBeautyRules video, FDN invited its audiences to develop themselves
through self-acceptance. This video did not use model but FDN employees and
vloggers. By shooting the FDN employees in the videos, it was hoped that the audiences
could have speakers that were equal to them. Indeed, many FDN audiences were also
women workers that experience the same experience as the FDN employees. The
audiences that shared the same experience would feel connected and build empathy
between audiences and speakers. The audience that accepted the definition of
#yourBeautyRules showed their acceptance with positive comments.
Furthermore, this video put forth not only problems faced by women in terms of
physique but also how to respond and fight against bullying and negative response.
Every woman in the video asked the audience to do self-acceptance. Self-acceptance is
a form of accepting strength and weakness of oneself and believe in the potential they
possess (Pillay, 2016). By recognizing the disadvantages and advantages of oneself,
women can build their confidence and improve the capability, knowledge, and insight
they have, as well as exploring the potential or talent they have.
Cyberfeminism and Further Criticism
Based on the finding described above, it can be said that reality happens on
social media is not the real reality. As stated by Yusuf Amir Piliang (2004), cyber
identity can eventually be called a development from what occurs in the real world.
Social sphere development that moves to the cyber world can affect three levels of
human beings, namely, individuals, groups, and society.
On the individual level, boundaries of personal identity are shifted and become
chaotic. The cyber identity will affect mindset, perception, personality, and lifestyle. On
the group level, social territories have shifted. Group communication does not need
spheres and conventional territorial, pushing the occurrence of social value shifting
within it. In that situation, what is close can be far, and vice versa. It is in line with the
epistemology of symbolic convergence theory. The last stage is society, in which an
imaginary community is formed. In that position, communities do not need real place
and communication anymore. They merely call for imaginary communication through
technology (Piliang, 2004).
This cyber identity is suspected to be misused by certain parties to reach its
target. It is not easy to thoroughly find out the parties behind dialog on social media,
which in the case of this research, gender-bias. Gender bias happening on social media
is a representation of an individual or group that believes that their genders are superior
compared to other genders. Indirectly, it can be seen as communities' effort to affect the
mind of internet users to accept a superiority concept of a particular gender. Eventually,
not all internet users aware of their broad effect in influencing other users on social
media flourishing gender superiority
The virtual world as a communication medium can transform the construction of
gender inequality. Patriarchal views often weaken women's voices, when they try to
speak up their views and opinions. However, in cyberspace these strengths do not affect
the potential of women to speak, create and act based on women’s perspective
(Mulyaningrum, 2015). The virtual world, for cyberfeminism, has opened new
opportunities and hopes to emancipate women from construction that weakens the real
character and capability of them in many aspects.

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Empowered Women & Social Media: Analyzing #YourBeautyRules in Cyberfeminism Perspective
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290 n
Cyberfeminism assumes that the new development of information and
communication is new media for women. Women can do many activities through digital
media by building communities, platforms, contents, and places to represent themselves
in proportional to identities they wish to create. Women also have the same equal
opportunity to build and design programs that can fulfill their needs in many aspects,
ranging from education, social, economy, politics, and self-development. Through
cyberfeminism concepts, the multifarious activities conducted by women through new
media are women's means to deliberate themselves from gender inequality and
empower other women.
Conclusion
#YourBeautyRules aims to develop women's character. With that theme, FDN
hoped that Indonesian women could inspire and motivate other Indonesian women to be
not constrained in construction that can weaken their characters. Cyberfeminism is
presented as a space of digital information that can be accessed freely and spread
quickly. This room is an information center that results from various scientific
development, and anyone can access and use the information offered provided in the
digital room. Cyberfeminism has provided this space for women to produce, spread, and
use information so that each woman is more open-minded and eventually inspires other
women to move and establish herself in a more promising direction.
#YourBeautyRules campaign initiated by Female Daily Network through
YouTube is a form of cyberfeminism of FDN to educate and enhance the character of
the audiences, as well as accepting women characteristics ranging from physical to
appearance. This campaign is also a form of persuasion to empower women through
personal dimension (Rahman M. A., 2013). It is done by developing the character and
capability of women. The experience of each speaker showed that they had a common
objective, namely deliberating women from negative construction of women's physical
disadvantages that always are put as bullying material or ridicule. Opinions and
experiences of speakers that support other women to be more confident in their physical
aspects and capability can be the inspiration of other women to grow in a more
promising direction. #YourBeautyRules campaign invited its audiences, mainly women,
to fight against construction that caged them. With that, FDN encouraged women to be
more confident in creating something and doing activities. FDN used YouTube as a
means to communicate and diffuse the meaning of #YourBeautyRules for Indonesian
women. This campaign had the potential to educate teenagers and Indonesian women in
general in addressing the threat of cyberbullying and developing women to have
superior characters. Community forums like FDN also had the potential to educate
Indonesian women. The audiovisual format displayed on YouTube was attractive, easy-
to-understand, and capable of reaching audiences from different parties.
The research is limited only on how #YourBeautyRules was established and
spread through YouTube. The efficacy of YouTube's content can be verified,
considering that Indonesian internet users were active. Currently, smartphones have
been equipped with various applications that ease the user to search for information.
Active internet users can be seen from their duration, frequency, and routine in using the
internet through smartphones (Luthfia, Triputra, & Hendriyani, 2019). FDN also
possessed application in smartphones that was actively used by the member of the
Female Daily Network community. Considering the communication channel, FDN had
the potential to broaden range in developing the character of Indonesian women. The

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research would be beneficial for FDN to develop content that can support Indonesian
women. For academicians, the research can also be developed to analyze activities
imitated through digital media to empower Indonesian women.
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