A further post (Figure 15) in which a women candidate gathered young people on an open campaign
stage framed the presence of women as controversial and inappropriate, shifting attention from
political activity to the women's bodies and morality.38 The accompanying narrative frames the video
as “surprising,” not because of the campaign idea itself, but because young women are visible in the
scene. The comments section escalated into explicit gendered hate speech, with commenters
sexualizing, dehumanising, and insulting the women involved, framing their participation as immoral,
dishonourable, or sexually inappropriate.
Figure 15: shows women’s campaign participation framed as “shocking,” sparking sexualized, honour-based harassment.
Misogynistic abuse: Appearance ranking and objectification
Several posts reduced women candidates to their physical appearance through ranking and
comparison. A post (Figure 16) titled “The truth speakers of Yaketi with filters “mocked women
candidates by presenting side-by-side images comparing their appearance with and without photo
filters, framing the use of social media filters as evidence of deception and dishonesty, thereby
equating aesthetic choices with moral or political untruthfulness. 39
Figure 16: shows women candidates mocked for filtered photos to question their credibility
38
زانست و زانیاری. (2025, October 22). Main tactics and trends [Facebook post]. Facebook.
https://perma.cc/3KYK-HQUF
39 زانست و زانیاری. (2025, November 8). Main tactics and trends [Facebook post]. Facebook. https://perma.cc/2GQX-Q52T
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