Identities and Intimacies on Social Media: Transnational Perspectives

Description

This edited collection illuminates the scope with which identities and intimacies interact on a wide range of social media platforms. A varied range of international scholars examine the contexts of very different social media spaces, with topics ranging from whitewashing and memes, parental discourses in online activities, Spotify as an intimate social media platform, neoliberalisation of feminist discourses, digital sex work, social media wars in trans debates and ‘BimboTok’. The focus is on their acceleration and impact due to the specificities of social media in relation to identities, intimacies within the broad ‘political’ sphere. The geographic range of case study material reflects the global impact of social media, and includes data from Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the USA. This enlightening and rigorous collection will be of key interest to scholars in media studies and gender studies, and to scholars and professionals of social media.   The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: Social Media and Society Digital Media, Gender and Sexuality References Part I Old Matter in New Spaces 1 Whitewashing and the Meme-Ability of Scarlett Johansson: Online Controversy Surrounding the Ghost in the Shell Remake Introduction Fandom and Online Fan-Activists Whitewashing and Yellowface Techno-Orientalism and Racialised Animation Conclusion References 2 “My Parents Check My Profile”: How Italian Girls Negotiate Parental Discourses in Online Activities Introduction The Italian Context Framing Girls and SNSs Method Parents’ Normative Gender Discourses Girls’ Navigation Strategies Conclusion Funding Statement References 3 Counselling Marriage and Love Through Live-Streaming in China: Douyin, Relationship Counsellor and the Affective Public Introduction Mass Media, Mediated Personal Lives and Intimate Publics Social Media, Relationship Influencers and Affective Publics Methodology Relationship Counselling Through Live-Streaming Cashing In On the Affective Public Conclusion References 4 “Music Makes the People Come Together”: Spotify as an Intimate Social Media Platform Introduction Spotify as a Social Media Platform Music, Sexuality and Gender, and New Media: Spotify as Queer/Feminist Utopia? Agency and Identity in Algorithmic Environments The (Re)Creation of Canons Spotify as an Intimate Place for Negotiating and Constructing Identities Spotify as a Social Place for Self-Presentation Conclusion References Part II Contextualising Identities and Social Media 5 Sexual Reputation, Intersectional Intimacies and Visual Social Media: Exploring Young People’s Mores On ‘Good’ Versus ‘… Introduction Mediated Sexuality: Youth, Sexual Intimacy and Morality Digital Reputation Management Reputation and Intersectionality Conclusion References 6 “You Live and You Learn”: Sex and Relationship Vlogging and the Production of Knowledge Introduction Social Media and Sexual Health Sex and Relationship Vlogging New Materialism and Body Knowledge Reading Networked Images Horizontally #TheHormoneDiaries Skin Knowledge The Assembled Body The Sociality of Pain Concluding Remarks References 7 Webisodes as Different Subversive Forms of Representation of Gender and Sexuality Introduction Social Media, Gender, and Sexuality in Global Contexts Identities and Social Media Subversion and Gender Identity The Study and Its Method Findings Swedish Youth Series Eagles On Youth and Sexuality American and Canadian LGBTQ+ and Queer Webisodes Gender-bending Fan-Edits Gender and Sexuality in Islamic Culture From a French Perspective Summarising Comments Conclusions On Subversion References 8 No Country for Men: Negotiating Men’s Rights Activism in Digital Spaces Introduction The Nice Guy Discourse The Liberationist Rhetoric The Softening of Masculinity Conclusions References Part III Negotiating Politics and Identities 9 “Hello My Lovelies!”: Conflicted Feminisms and the Neoliberalisation of Portuguese Activist Influencer Practices Introduction Methodology @taniiagraca and Popular Feminism Online Instagram Self-Representation and Embodied Feminism Instagram Platform Politics: Limiting Sexual Self-Expression Feminised Empowerment-Speak Influencer Culture, Commercial Logics, and Activist Influencer Practices Conclusion References 10 Digital Sex Work?: Creating and Selling Explicit Content in OnlyFans Introduction Platformed Labour Sexuality and Sex Work OnlyFans – at the Intersection of Sexuality and Aesthetics Methodology Articulating the Professional Self Producing and Marketing Practices and Customer Relations Deplatforming Sex, the Ethical Framing of the Sexual Body and the Demonetisation of Digital Sex Work Conclusions References 11 Trans-Exclusionary Discourses On Social Media in Spain Introduction TERF and Radfem On Spanish Social Media: What Are the Issues? Methodology Silencing of ‘True Feminism’ ‘Erasing Women’ and Gender Abolition Not a Law (Just Yet) Hate Speech Discussion and Conclusions References 12 The Rise of Bimbo TikTok: Digital Sociality, Postfeminism and Disidentificatory Subjects Introduction TikTok and the Resurgence of the Bimbo BimboTok, Explained (Post-?)Postfeminism and the New Age Bimbo Ironic Gender, Digital Psychopolitics, and Bimbo Performance Conclusion References Index