Virtual Masculinities. A Comparative Study of Gay Body through Grindr and Tinder
Abstract
The study of online dating is a growing area of research. Both the internet and social networks have revolutionized the way in which romantic and / or sexual relationships are started. The image is the key in these mobile apps in which immediacy is one of its basic characteristics. In order to know and classify the types of gay virtual representations, Grindr and Tinder apps have been selected, which are currently the gay online dating apps with the highest number of users. This article is presented as an interdisciplinary research based on a conceptual theoretical framework that includes Queer Theory, Communication and Sociology studies. This study is methodologically approached from a double perspective; a qualitative analysis of the visual representation of bodies, placing special emphasis on the way in which sex and gender are represented in these networks, and not on their actual staging; and on the other hand, a quantitative analysis of 50 profiles from both apps, through which the bodies have been categorized based on the image represented. The results confirm the absence of minority masculinity or alternatives ones to hegemonic masculinity. According to this reality, we consider that social networks, and especially, the two investigated mobile dating apps have lost the opportunity to become useful and revolutionary platforms in terms of the representation and visualization of new gender identities.
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