What are you looking for? The digitization of desire and masculinity performances on Grindr app

Abstract

The article addresses the process of digitization of homosexual relations as part of the effects of contemporary technological advances and question: how do Grindr app profiles in Juiz de Fora perform masculinities? What masculinities are these? The goal is to understand how users perform their masculinity on Grindr and contribute to a debate about the social construction of gender and the representations of masculinities in the digital environment. The methodology employed is based on a literature review and a multimodal discourse analysis around the texts and photos used by four users of the relationship app. In conclusion, the app's performances can be traced back to existing performances in the socio-cultural environment through the multimodal features offered by the app. However, users present a plurality of representations of the male, being common behavior the search for partners with similar profiles, the centrality in the body and its aesthetics and also the presence of profiles concerned with keeping the homosexual orientation confidential. There are other profiles that are described and sought by men who do not respond to the stereotype of homosexual behavior and who correspond a hegemonic masculinity centered on virility and heteronormativity. In addition, there was the analysis of a profile that in its text contradicts these perceptions brought by others.