Performativity and representativeness of trans Brazilian people on YouTube: gender affirmation as a spectacle

• Published in: Feminist media studies 2023-10, Vol.23 (7), p.3207-3221
• Main Authors: Bonocore Morais, Hellena, Gonçalves Nascimento, Caroline, da Silva, Letícia Pessoa, Neves Strey, Marlene, Costa, Angelo Brandelli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affirmation; Brazil; gender affirmation; Gender aspects; Gender identity; Health services; Idealization; Impressions; netnography; Performativity; Psychological processes; Qualitative research; Queer theory; Representativeness; trans; Transgender persons; Video; Viewers; Visibility; YouTube
• ISSN: 1468-0777; 1471-5902
• DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2022.2102054

From the analysis of videos, we sought to understand the specificities of the gender affirmation of trans people born and/or residing in Brazil who create and produce content on YouTube with the objective of sharing snapshots of their lives, mainly related to their gender identity(ies). This is qualitative research in which twenty-nine videos by eight different people were collected and analyzed through the method of netnography and later discussed in light of post-structuralist studies such as Queer Theory, feminist, and transfeminist studies. The existence of specific content patterns was perceived in the videos that contained trans themes, creating a transnormative on YouTube, with its own segments, in addition to the idealization and performativity of the bodies of cis and trans people. Also, the research gave a unique view of the impressions that those YouTubers had about Brazilian health services on gender affirmation technologies and the medical and psychological processes they have experienced or understand to be necessary. YouTube is also an environment where subjective expressions and knowledge are shared, creating a new space of visibility and trans representation, in addition to enabling the construction of a community between those who create the content and the viewers.