Virtual Speed Dating: Stratification and Harm Reduction in a 2SLGBTQ+ Sexual Field

• In Event: 50661 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4: Social Contexts, Socio-Sexual Stories

Abstract

Social media has supported the emergence of vibrant online subcultures and processes of virtual networking. This research examines the role of the popular social media platform Tiktok in becoming home to de facto dating sites–not organized around the sole purpose of, but effectively facilitating, online matchmaking. Drawing from more than 90 hours of participant observation and content analysis performed on 45+ episodes of a recurring, late-night, speed-dating livestream catering to a 2SLGBTQ+ audience, this study analyzes a sexual subculture composed primarily of queer women of color. Employing Green’s (2014) theory of collective sexual organization, I present this mobile, virtual dating service as a Sexual Field operating within TikTok’s online environment. Understanding this virtual space as a sexual field helps us understand the role of queer of color desires in shaping sexual worlds. Observed within the field is a collective logic that influences participants’ desires and selection processes (Green 2014). Collective sentiments within the population designate the virtual arena as somewhat of a “battlefield,” marked by socially stratified appraisals of status (Green 2014). Sexual desirability is structured according to collective “cultural schemas” unique to the audience that dictate desirability based upon appraisals of sexual capital influenced by gender, race, class, physical attractiveness, popularity, and other characteristics. However, desire and selection are further impacted by a more holistic feature in the field, where participants are evaluated under special considerations of intimate conflict and harm. Here, aggregated notions of not only what is desirable but particularly what is undesirable within interpersonal relationships, illicit an enhanced sense of caution among field actors, who share collective sentiments regarding negative experiences of intimate relationships in the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Therefore, this analysis finds the sexual field to be characterized not only by social stratification but also notions of collective trauma and a shared logic of harm reduction.

Author

• Mikaela Clarke, University of Toronto