Image, body, and language in the usage of Grindr

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/e180160

Keywords:

photography, male homosexuality, sexuality, technology, dating apps

Abstract

In our study we discuss the gay dating app Grindr, considering its linguistic and semiotic aspects, emphasizing its users’ imagery and linguistic productions, conceived as performativities. Eleven users of this social network were interviewed, focusing on their photographic compositions and textual interactions with other members, subsequently analyzed under Butlerian and Barthesian perspectives on language and its relation to image. A “grammar” with particular meanings of words and images with commercial and mediatic target was found out to be used within the application. Furthermore, techniques of photography, body improvement, and associations between practices and political issues were addressed by the interviewees. Therefore, we could understand Grindr as a “meaning system”, where such dynamics are produced, negotiated and disputed in its uses.

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Published

2019-08-22

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Image, body, and language in the usage of Grindr. (2019). Psicologia USP, 30, e180160. https://doi.org/10.1590/e180160