Becoming sexual on Instagram
Topics: Feminist Geographies
, Digital Geographies
, Eurasia
Keywords: digital sexualities, emotion, digital intimate spaces, taboo, Kyrgyzstan, Eurasia, social media
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 62
Authors:
Elisabeth Militz, University of Guelph
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Abstract
Non-heteronormative sexualities – be they practices, identities, experiences, or representations – remain threatened, tabooed, and stigmatized. The stigma surrounding non-heteronormative sexualities not only renders certain sexualized bodies and practices nonsexual but also restricts access to knowledge about them. People thus create online spaces for sexual encounters and experiences, and digital intimate spaces are unfolding through the increasing production and dissemination of knowledge about non-heteronormative sexuality on social media. In this paper I turn to Instagram use in Kyrgyzstan to investigate digital intimate spaces for marginalized sexualities. Drawing on ethnographic research in Kyrgyzstan and with Russian-language Instagram communities, I follow how shame is connected to marginalized sexualities to explain its role in the production and formation of digital intimate spaces. The paper centrally asks how shame works in and for digital intimate spaces to enable and shape taboo experiences and understanding of sexuality. In contrast to the ways in which shame works to spatially exclude bodies, my analysis shows how shame can also include bodies and perspectives in digitally mediated intimate spaces. The paper contributes to the geographies of digital sexualities in Eurasia and further develops geographers’ understandings of the role emotions play in shaping digital sexual experiences and practices.
Becoming sexual on Instagram
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
Description
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