Gendered negotiation and pragmatism: Evaluating internal rhetorical mobilization in Hong Kong’s anti-ELAB movement

In 2019–2020, Hong Kong citizens took to the streets to demand the protection of their democratic rights, culminating into the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (anti-ELAB) protests. Just years prior in 2017, the #MeToo movement emerged in Hong Kong, drawing attention to systemic forms of sexual violence against women. These events came together in the form of calls for awareness against police violence against women anti-ELAB protestors. At the convergence of gender and democratic activism, this article investigates if and how gender was considered in the internal organization and strategy of the anti-ELAB movement, focusing on the prevalence and use of gendered rhetoric and its impact to social movement practices. It assesses 14 Telegram channels used by protestors, finding that gender and feminist discourse was limited in internal anti-ELAB mobilization efforts. When gendered discourse did appear, it reflected a negotiated and conflictual deliberation and a pragmatic framing of gender as a mobilization strategy in support of the anti-ELAB cause.