Dating your significant other: Hegemonic, Alternative and Marginalised Masculinities

By analysing two hundred Tinder profiles of Spanish heterosexual men and two hundred Grindr profiles of Spanish queer men, this article examines these men’s online gendered and sexualised self-representation strategies. In this light, this study builds upon Schipper’s (2007), Blair and Hoskin’s (2015) and Hoskin’s (2019) rethinking of the possibilities for masculinity and femininity, and their role in gender hegemony. This study develops their argument further by (a) giving closer attention to the interplay of femininities and masculinities; (b) informing how heterosexual and queer men think about themselves in relation to their sexual identities as they construct and navigate their on-line social identity; (c) showing discourse evidence of how heterosexual and queer men move through and produce masculinity and femininity by engaging in masculine/feminine practices. In so doing, this study contributes to the existing literature giving evidence of the ways these men discursively position themselves in relation to occupying the feminine/masculine position. All in all, the paper attempts to cast light on the (d-)evaluating discursive strategies these Spanish heterosexual and queer men deploy when creating their profiles. Importantly, the analysis gives evidence of how occupying the masculine or the feminine position goes hand in hand with the devaluation and policing of femininity. Furthermore, the analysis calls attention to the contradictory gender ideas present in their personal profiles and this, in turn, sheds further light on the ways they construct multiple masculine identities to negotiate their sexual gendered identities.

https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/lavlang/2021/friday/19