by Sophie Leubner, public science communication, medialepfade, Germany.
In recent years, anti-feminist narratives have become increasingly visible across social media platforms – especially on TikTok. Framed as humour, lifestyle or “common sense,” these messages often mask deeply exclusionary worldviews that undermine democratic values and gender equality. For young users, the line between meme and misogyny is not always easy to spot.
In our project Unlearning Anti-Feminism on TikTok – abbreviated as UlAT by the project team – we set out to better understand how anti-feminist content circulates on the platform – and how media education can respond. Funded by the VolkswagenStiftung, the project brings together mediale pfade e.V., the Association for Media Education, and researchers from the University of Cologne. Over twelve months, we combined empirical research with method development to co-create strategies that help young people critically engage with online narratives anti-feminism.
Research-informed method development
UlAT was launched as part of a funding programme by the VolkswagenStiftung focusing on democratic transformation in times of multiple crises. For twelve months, a joint task force of researchers and practitioners worked together to explore the impact of strategically spread anti-feminist narratives by anti-democratic actors – and to develop effective responses within the field of political media education.
The aim was twofold: to design practical, action-oriented educational formats that empower young people to resist online radicalisation, and to develop concrete recommendations for educators on how to address anti-feminism in youth-oriented settings. To this end, we used a design-based research (DBR) approach that allowed for a dynamic interplay between empirical research and pedagogical method development. Interviews with young people aged 15 to 22, analyses of TikTok content, and literature reviews provided the foundation for a set of open educational resources.
These insights directly informed our workshop formats, which were tested, refined, and expanded in several cycles. This process ensured that the materials are both theoretically grounded and practically relevant – tailored to the realities of young people’s digital lives and the challenges educators face today.
About the method set
TheUnlearning Anti-Feminism on TikTok method set provides a research-based educational framework for critically engaging with anti-feminist narratives on TikTok and similar platforms. It is designed to help young people identify such content, understand how it spreads, and develop their own strategies for action in digital environments.
The set contains 13 modular activities, which can be used independently or in sequence. Each method explores specific aspects – from analysing multimodal TikTok posts to understanding algorithmic distribution and developing empowering counter-content. All methods include preparation guides, timing suggestions, target group information, and adaptations for different learning settings. The set follows an intersectional approach, combining media literacy with political education. The aim is to foster both critical reflection and democratic agency by sensitising participants to subtle and emotionally charged anti-feminist messaging – and offering tools to resist and counteract it creatively and confidently.
The full set is available as an open educational resource (OER) under a Creative Commons license. Users are encouraged to adapt and build upon the materials. A structured online overview leads to individual method descriptions and downloadable resources, including worksheets, visual aids, and presentation materials. For copyright reasons, some visual examples used in the workshops (such as TikTok screenshots) are excluded from the open license and are marked accordingly.
- Explore the OER set here: www.antiantifeminism.org/oer
From recognition to action
Our core goal was to enable young people to recognise anti-feminist strategies, question the ideologies behind them, and develop their own voice in digital spaces. Since TikTok content is often fast, emotional and visually engaging, problematic messages are not always immediately recognisable. That’s why many of our methods focus on slowing down: videos are paused and analysed step by step to reveal how meaning is constructed through the interplay of visuals, text, emojis, hashtags and comments. Interactive formats such as TikTok Puzzle, Make Your Meme Come True, or Counter-Speech on TikTok: Yes or No? invite participants to decode, question and creatively respond to these narratives – using the same language and tools that shape their digital lives.
We also provide training for teachers and youth workers to support them in facilitating these workshops and engaging confidently with difficult topics like feminism, hate speech and digital culture. In a time where far-right talking points increasingly enter classrooms, we believe it is crucial to provide educators with pedagogical strategies that are both reflective and empowering.
Looking ahead
As online platforms evolve and generative AI becomes more widely used to spread disinformation, the need for fact-based, media-savvy education becomes even more urgent. With additional support from the VolkswagenStiftung, we will continue to transfer the results of UlAT into educational practice and civil society. This includes multimedia science communication – from infographics to short-form video – as well as further partnerships between research and education.
For us, Unlearning Anti-Feminism on TikTok is more than a project. It is a call to action: to take the perspectives of young people seriously, to face the challenges of digital hate, and to co-create democratic digital culture through political media education.
- Find the full set of methods and resources here: www.antiantifeminism.org
- More about mediale pfade: www.medialepfade.org
Sophie Leubner, public science communication, medialepfade, Germany
