The Educative Ga(y)ze: How Bodies Get “Seen” on Mobile Phone Apps for Gay Men

• In Event: Queer Relationalities: Love, Friendship, and Other Conundrums of Educational Life

Abstract

This paper explores the manifestations of power behind the politics of seeing and being seen on smartphone-based geosocial networking apps for gay men. I will explore how men navigate and constitute discourses surrounding identity, representation, and recognition during their interactions on these apps with other users. Furthermore, I will examine how users read other users’ profile pictures and text information. This analysis will be offered to consider how these interactions might be thought of as pedagogical and educative moments that teach and inform users about their own and others’ subjectivity.

Author

• Sam Stiegler, The University of British Columbia