109 research outputs found
The Politics of Dating Apps
No full textAn examination of dating app culture in China, across user demographics—straight women, straight men, queer women, and queer men. In this exploration of dating app culture in China, Lik Sam Chan argues that these popular mobile apps are not merely a platform for personal relationships but also an emerging arena for gender and queer politics. Chan examines the opportunities dating apps present for women's empowerment and men's performances of masculinity, and he links experiences of queer dating app users with their vulnerable position as sexual minorities. He finds that dating apps are both portals to an exciting virtual world of relational possibilities and sites of power dynamics that reflect the heteronormativity and patriarchy of Chinese society. Drawing on in-depth interviews with urban users of such dating apps as Momo, Tantan, Blued, Aloha, Rela, and Lesdo, Chan proposes “networked sexual publics” as a unifying concept to capture the dynamics of dating app culture. Devoting a chapter to each of four publics—straight women, straight men, queer men, and queer women—Chan documents how relationships are shaped and transfigured by this emerging technology. He considers whether dating apps can be a feminist tool; explores straight men's self-presentation on the apps and their interactions with women they meet there; discusses the constant cycle of deleting and installing the same apps seen among queer men; and examines how popular lesbian dating apps may connect queer women to their communities. Finally, Chan maps possible paths for future intersectional, queer, and feminist scholarship on emerging communication technologies
Who uses dating apps? Exploring the relationships among trust, sensation-seeking, smartphone use, and the intent to use dating apps based on the Integrative Model
No full textHong Kong cinema 1982-2002 : the quest for identity during transition
No full textElectronic redacted version excludes material for which permission has not been granted by the rights holderThis thesis seeks to interpret the cinematic representations of Hong Kongers’ identity quest during a transitional state/stage related to the sovereignty transfer. The Handover transition considered is an ideological one, rather than the overnight polity change on the Handover day. This research approaches contemporary Hong Kong cinema on two fronts and the thesis is structured accordingly: Upon an initial review of the existing Hong Kong film scholarship in the Introduction, and its 1997-related allegorical readings, Part I sees new angles (previously undeveloped or underdeveloped) for researching Hong Kong films made during 1982-2002. Arguments are built along the ideas of Hong Kongers’ situational, diasporic consciousness, and transformed ‘Chineseness’ because Hong Kong has lacked a cultural/national centrality. This part of research is informed by the ideas of Jacques Derrida, Homi Bhabha and Stuart Hall, and the diasporic experiences of Ien Ang, Rey Chow and Ackbar Abbas. With these new research angles and references to the circumstances, Part II reads critically the text of eight Hong Kong films made during the Handover transition. In chronological order, they are Boat People (Hui, 1982), Song of the Exile (Hui, 1990), Days of Being Wild (Wong, 1990), Happy Together (Wong, 1997), Made in Hong Kong (Chan, 1997), Ordinary Heroes (Hui, 1999), Durian Durian (Chan, 2000), and Hollywood Hong Kong (Chan, 2002). They meet several criteria related to the undeveloped / underdeveloped areas in the existing Hong Kong film scholarship. Hamid Naficy’s ‘accented cinema’ paradigm gives the guidelines to the film analysis in Part II. This part shows that Hong Kongers’ self-transformation during transition is alterable, indeterminate, and interminable, due to the people’s situational, diasporic consciousness, and transformed ‘Chineseness’. This thesis thus contributes to Hong Kong cinema scholarship in interpreting films with new research angles, and generating new insights into this cinematic tradition and its wider context
Liberating or Disciplining? A Technofeminist Analysis of the use of Dating Apps Among Women in Urban China
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Elisabeth L. Engebretsen, William F. Schroeder & Hongwei Bao (Eds.), Queer/Tongzhi China: New Perspectives on Research, Activism and Media Cultures
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Ambivalence in networked intimacy: Observations from gay men using mobile dating apps
No full textThe increasing popularity of mobile dating apps in the past decade has transformed the ways in which gay men network with each other. Based on sociology and media studies literature, I contextualize this contemporary form of intimacy, which is known as networked intimacy, in relation to networked individualism and neoliberalism. Using a mixed-methods design with interviews ( N = 7) and a survey ( N = 245), this study explored how gay men experience intimacy on these platforms. Users reported ambivalence in establishing relationships, which is brought forth by the ambiguity of relationships, dominance of profiles, and over-abundance of connections on these apps. I conclude that these aspects of ambivalence are not at all exclusive to the private domain of gay men but are tightly intertwined with the neoliberal market and consumption practices.</jats:p
Emerging Currents in Communication/LGBTQ Studies: A Review of LGBTQ-Related Articles Published in Communication Journals from 2010 to 2015
No full textSince the late 1970s, communication scholars have been playing a significant role in LGBTQ scholarship. To understand the state-of-the-art LGBTQ studies within the communication discipline, I present a systematic review of 237 LGBTQ-related articles that were published in communication journals from 2010 to 2015. I examine the objects of study, the methodological approaches, and the themes of research of these articles. Nine themes of research are identified. Based on the review, I point out four emerging currents where communication scholarship can further contribute to larger LGBTQ studies: (1) balancing L/G/B/T/Q, (2) addressing intersectionality, (3) internationalizing LGBTQ research, and (4) embracing interdisciplinarity
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