Authenticity, uniqueness and talent: Gay male beauty influencers in post-queer, postfeminist Instagram beauty culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 136754942198896
Author(s):  
Shirley Xue Chen ◽  
Akane Kanai
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
Beauty Culture ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Queer Culture

The emblematic rise of the female Instagram influencer has been understood as exemplifying shifts in postfeminist and neoliberal frameworks of femininity. Yet, the central place of gay men in postfeminist beauty culture and its intersection with ‘post-queer’ culture have so far escaped considered attention. In this article, we examine the performance of femininity by four of the top gay male influencers in Instagram beauty culture, Jeffree Star, James Charles, Bretman Rock and Patrick Starrr, whose followings make them as or even more popular than their most high-profile female counterparts. These influencers are notable for their visibility, fame and authority in beauty culture on Instagram, a space populated primarily by girls and women, with its focus on the application of makeup. We explore how the production of femininity by these gay male beauty influencers demonstrates a key, yet relatively unexplored relationship between postfeminist conditions of visibility and the mainstreaming of queer male identities, suggesting that this cultural space of shifting power relations positions a privileged subset of gay men as equal, if not more compelling, in fulfilling contradictory postfeminist demands of authenticity, individuality and femininity.

The voice of others: Identity, alterity and gender normativity among gay men in Israel

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erez Levon
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Male Sexuality ◽  
Gay Identity ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Voice

AbstractThis article presents an analysis of a slang variety, called oxtšit, as it is described and used by a cohort of gay men in Israel. Unlike many previous analyses of gay slang, I argue that the men described do not use the variety to help construct and affirm an alternative gay identity, but rather that they use it as a form of in-group mockery through which normative and nonnormative articulations of Israeli gay male sexuality are delineated. It is suggested that this discussion has implications for sociolinguistic understandings of “groupness” more broadly, and particularly the relationship between macro-level social categories (like “gay”) and individual lived experience. (Gay slang, Israel, vari-directional voicing, identity/alterity)*

scholarly journals Gay men in the performing arts: Performing sexualities within ‘gay-friendly’ work contexts

Organization ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Rumens ◽  
John Broomfield
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Male Sexuality ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Male Sexualities ◽  
Work Contexts

Building on emerging research on ‘gay-friendly’ organizations, this article examines if and how work contexts understood and experienced as ‘gay-friendly’ can be characterized as exhibiting a serious breakdown in heteronormativity. Taking the performing arts as a research setting, one that is often stereotyped as ‘gay-friendly’, and drawing on in-depth interview data with 20 gay male performers in the UK, this article examines how everyday activities and encounters involving drama school educators, casters and peers are shaped by heteronormative standards of gay male sexuality. Adopting a queer theory perspective and connecting with an emergent queer theory literature in organization studies, one concern articulated in this article is that heteronormative constructions of gay male sexualities constrain participants’ access to work; suggesting limits to the abilities and roles gay men possess and are able to play. Another concern is that when gay male sexualities become normalized in performing work contexts, they reinforce organizational heteronormativity and the heterosexual/homosexual binary upon which it relies. This study contributes towards theorizing the heteronormative dynamics of ‘gay-friendly’ places of work, arguing that gay male sexualities are performatively instituted according to localized heteronormativities which reinforce contextually contingent, restrictive heteronormative standards of gay male sexuality which performers are encouraged to embody and perform both professionally and personally.

Back Seat Girls: Where Do Dykes Sit with Queer theory?

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Harris
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Road Trip ◽  
Lesbian Relationships ◽  
The Road ◽  
Back Seat ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Fitting In

Drawing on the narrative frames of the "road trip" and "lesbian drama," genres which, it could be argued, normatively construct Otherness with all that is Queer, in respect to not fitting in or belonging, this article attempts to draw on queer theory to out gay male and lesbian relationships. Relationships between gay men and lesbians, constructed in and around identity practices, have been troubled by the emergence of queer folk, productively focusing attention on the differences between and within gay male and lesbian identities and communities. Using the metaphor of "road trip" to Queer gay male and lesbian relationships, I reconsider the question of lesbian presences in queer theory and in doing so seek to productively trouble the normalising practices of identity with gay male and lesbian relationships.

LGBQ Themes and Responses

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Perriam ◽  
Darren Waldron
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Shared Experience ◽  
Community History ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Modes Of Engagement

The chapter probes responses to representations relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer identities and desires. Three dominant themes emerge: (1) ageing among lesbians, gay men and bisexuals; (2) gay male, and, to a lesser extent, lesbian and bisexual desires and identities; and (3) a sense of shared experience, as a stake in community history or as a personalised mark of identity. The chapter reveals that investment, care, surprise, empathy, (self-) recognition and identification are recurring modes of engagement, and shows how viewers claim varying degrees of closeness to the subjects, characters and people on screen.

Founding New Sodom

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Rivers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Sexual Politics ◽  
New Age ◽  
The United States ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Back To The Land

This essay looks at the worldview of gay male communalists across the United States in the mid-1970s as seen in the rural gay magazine Rural Free Delivery (RFD) in the critical years from 1973 to 1976 as well as in other extant archival sources related to gay communalism. As a clearinghouse for gay men involved in radical, back-to-the-land ventures, RFD provides a complex view of the creation of a largely white, gay male counterculture spirituality that fused the sexual politics of early gay liberationists with ecofeminist, animist, New Age understandings of sexuality, the natural world, and spirit. Gay men who were or who wanted to live in communal spaces nationwide sent letters and stories into RFD, which was published in a variety of gay male communal spaces during these years.

scholarly journals The intersection of professionalism gay men, bodies and power

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 491-501
Author(s):  
Simon Peter Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Gay Identities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build upon the paucity of UK research on gay men and how they manage their identities, bodies and selves in the workplace. Particular focus is placed on gay male professionals working in positions of authority and how they make sense of themselves against the dominant expectations of professionalism. Design/methodology/approach The study draws upon in-depth interview data with eight gay male professionals working in positions of authority. Findings Overall, the research reveals that although the majority of participants had disclosed their sexuality in the workplace, they actively sought to integrate and normalise their gay identities. Gendered organisational norms significantly impacted upon the ways they presented their identities, bodies and selves. This was brought into focus where participants had to exercise authority. There were limited opportunities to present non-normative forms of masculinity. Originality/value This paper adds to a dearth of studies on gay men, professionalism and managing their bodies, selves and identities in the workplace. The paper builds upon and contributes to our understanding of how gay men use and construct their bodies and their self-identities as professionals. An area that has had little empirical investigation. Furthermore, the paper contributes to our understanding of organisational heteronormativity and professionalism in the workplace. The paper draws attention to issues of diversity and inclusion challenging heteronormative discourses of professionalism which are draped in masculinity. This paper highlights how professionalism serves as a normalising process that pressurises gay men to perform a specific type of masculinity. The paper argues for a more inclusive reappraisal of the meanings attached to the term professionalism.

A Series of Staggering Heartbreaks

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-197
Author(s):  
Matthew Nicosia
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Power Structure ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Focus Attention ◽  
Male Victims ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Self Worth

Typically, the narrative surrounding intimate partner violence (IPV) involves men as perpetrators not victims. This is in part due to both low reporting from men and heteronormative expectations of masculinity. Furthermore, gay male victims are even less frequently discussed. In this autoethnographic article, I reflect on the power structure within violent same-sex relationships and the resulting loss of agency, self-worth, and personal identity victims experience. Because the conversation regarding IPV is often focused on the perpetrator rather than the victim, I intentionally leave the perpetrators anonymous and these experiences vague to instead focus attention on the trauma experienced by gay men. It is my hope this approach will render more intelligible the negotiations of agency, silence, and the performance of queer masculinity that victims experience. This article is neither about the act nor the perpetrator; rather it is about the response by and to the victim.

Willed ambiguity: An exploratory study of sexual misconduct affecting sexual minority male university students in Canada

Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136346072094730
Author(s):  
Viviane Namaste ◽  
Mark Gaspar ◽  
Sylvain Lavoie ◽  
Alexander McClelland ◽  
Emily Sims ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Sexual Misconduct ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
The University ◽  
University Settings ◽  
Male University Students

We offer exploratory reflections on the matter of sexual misconduct affecting sexuality minority male students by males in positions of authority in the university, based on interviews with eight sexual violence service providers and five men across Canada with lived experience, as well as information gathered through our recruitment work. Data were interpreted using thematic analysis. Our results indicate that there is a need to think through the specificity of sexual misconduct involving men in university settings. Several dynamics operate to perpetuate a willed ambiguity on this issue that allow abuses of power to go unchecked. These include difficulties in having a conversation on this topic, the sexualization of gay male culture, gender dynamics among gay men, ‘queer’ justifications, risks of social isolation, and financial precarity.

Hearts, groins and the intricacies of gay male open relationships: Sexual desire and liberation revisited

Sexualities ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 653-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Coelho
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Intimate Connection ◽  
Gay Male ◽  
Multiple Partners ◽  
Open Relationships ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Perception

An extensive look at the narratives of 14 gay men in open relationships living in Amsterdam presents a world of gay male sexual desire that continues to leave the heterosexual counterpart dumbfounded. This article focuses on the five main points deducted from the informants' erotic retellings: the variety and unpredictability of arrangements between each couple; the preference for a more intimate connection with outside encounters instead of an impersonal or anonymous encounter; the decline of sex as a non-factor for choosing to open up sexual barriers as informants confess to non-monogamy in the beginnings of their relationships; the common perception that there exists a natural male drive to sexually explore with multiple partners; and finally, the complexities that come with open arrangements, forcing a re-examination of the open gay couple as the embodiment of ‘liberation’.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document