TY - JOUR
T1 - Internet dating sites as heterotopias of gender performance
T2 - A case study of Taiwanese heterosexual male daters
AU - Wang, Yow Juin
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is supported by the National Science Council, ROC (No. NSC 97-2410-H-006 -031).
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - This article explores the performance of heterosexual masculinity in the Yahoo! Taiwan dating site via a discourse analysis of daters' self-introductions. Seeing the collective representations of masculinities as 'masculine fronts', the research finds that tender, domestic, emotional, passive and victimized fronts dominate the site; in comparison, tough and virile fronts, which reflect hegemonic Taiwanese masculinities, are much less performed. The dating site is argued to act as a heterotopia: it reflects the social imaginaries of appropriate masculinities in women's perspectives; being quasi-anonymous and female-gaze-only, it compensates for the imperfect daily social spaces by allowing the public performance of marginalized masculinities; moreover, it manifests the illusory aspect of hegemonic masculinities, which are presumed to be 'natural', rather than acted out in accordance with the situated social relations and spectatorships.
AB - This article explores the performance of heterosexual masculinity in the Yahoo! Taiwan dating site via a discourse analysis of daters' self-introductions. Seeing the collective representations of masculinities as 'masculine fronts', the research finds that tender, domestic, emotional, passive and victimized fronts dominate the site; in comparison, tough and virile fronts, which reflect hegemonic Taiwanese masculinities, are much less performed. The dating site is argued to act as a heterotopia: it reflects the social imaginaries of appropriate masculinities in women's perspectives; being quasi-anonymous and female-gaze-only, it compensates for the imperfect daily social spaces by allowing the public performance of marginalized masculinities; moreover, it manifests the illusory aspect of hegemonic masculinities, which are presumed to be 'natural', rather than acted out in accordance with the situated social relations and spectatorships.
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U2 - 10.1177/1367877911422855
DO - 10.1177/1367877911422855
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84864755476
SN - 1367-8779
VL - 15
SP - 485
EP - 500
JO - International Journal of Cultural Studies
JF - International Journal of Cultural Studies
IS - 5
ER -