My Hair is “Layed” like Cyberqueer: Video Blogging, Computer Cross-Dressing, and the Curious Case of Funky Dineva

• In Event: Technologies of Becoming in the Gendered Spaces of Consumerism

Abstract

Social media can be seen as a form of digital body for queers, where individuals can establish and even alter gendered identities. One prominent example of such popularized, queer expression on social media is computer cross-dressing. It has been largely imagined as an “attempt by male subject to produce a fantastic female identity” that is “aimed at convincing the onlooker that they are seeing a ‘real’ woman” (Ferreday & Lock, 2007, p. 164). Computer cross-dressers have found a forum for dialogue and acceptance through the self-publishing possibilities of social media, establishing populous followership and connections with major media outlets.

Indicative of the powerful coupling of social media and computer cross-dressing is Funky Dineva, a video blogger who is known for her My Hair is Layed YouTube Series. In this series, Quentin Latham, an openly gay, Black male, performs the identity of Funky Dineva, an Black female known for her “divalicious coverage of the hottest and latest media news” (Funky Dineva, 2014, January 30). The current research, using critical discourse analysis, investigated Quintin Latham’s use of social media to conceptualize the identity of Funky Dineva in cyberspace and investigate the performance of Funky Dineva in the contexts of historic Black male cross-dressing performances and the queer virtual world. The research discusses the commodification process and political economy that undergird racialized, queer, identity performance on social media. Ultimately, the analysis revealed that commodification was at the heart of My Hair is Layed, as it evolved from a simple confessional call and outlet to ultimately becoming a production that increased Black queer representation in popular culture and social media.

Authors

• Melvin L. Williams, Howard U

• Tia Tyree, Howard U

• Markeil Lewis, Howard U