“PICK ME” AND INTERNALIZED MYSOGYNY: A CRITICAL APPROACH

Abstract

In the landscape of digital feminist discourse, the term “pick me” has emerged as a label frequently used by women on social media platform X to criticize perceived internalized misogyny among other women. Originally employed to describe behaviors that seek male approval at the expense of female solidarity, the term has evolved into a linguistic mechanism of exclusion and ideological policing. This study investigates how the term “pick me” reflects internalized misogyny and functions as a form of social labeling. Drawing on Kate Manne’s theory of misogyny and Howard Becker’s labeling theory, this research critically analyzes the dual function of the term, as both feminist critique and a tool of discursive control. Using a qualitative method with critical discourse analysis, this study examines a corpus of purposively sampled tweets from 2016 to 2024 that include the term “pick me”. The findings show that the term has undergone semantic broadening and pejoration, expanding its usage across gender and context while losing ideological clarity. Although initially rooted in feminist resistance, its overuse has transformed it into a generalized insult that enforces conformity and silences dissent within online feminist communities. This study contributes to the understanding of how feminist language can be co-opted to reinforce patriarchal logic and urges reflexivity in the use of ideological labels in digital spaces.