Museum documentation and acts of display have long been used to create divisions between a ‘civilised’ us and an ‘uncivilised’ other, evidencing how cultural heritage can perpetuate and uphold social divisions and racism. However, in public discourse, and particularly in the context of social and digital media, heritage (such as institutional collections and intangible forms of heritage) can also be (re)used by individuals and groups to justify certain political and social sentiment, similarly building and sustaining socio-political groups and identities.

Recently, heritage has been used as part of a movement on social media that advocates for women to return to the role of a traditional wife, associated with far-right political sentiments that hint at a reduction in the rights and opportunities of women. As part of this movement, some influencers have been using archival images of housewives and women from the 1950s. It is this type of (re)use of heritage and its impact on the public and their socio-political positioning that requires further investigation. Understanding this (re)use of heritage and its impact, is central to identify the mechanisms by which individual and groups form, justify, and convince others of a socio-political positioning that may be radically restrictive. This can inform governmental policy in monitoring heritage related behaviour and potential actions heritage institutions can take to contextualise such reuse of digital heritage.