Psychological, Social and Imaginary Dimensions of LGB People who use Dating Apps: A Netnography Approach
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2020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 Psychological, Social and Imaginary Dimensions of
2 LGB People who use Dating Apps: A Netnography
3 Approach
4
5 The increasing use of social networks and online dating applications constitutes, especially in
6 the in recent years, a new and alternative way to traditional face-to-face knowledge channels.
7 The virtual platforms represent opportunities aimed at meeting people's need for to establish
8 emotional, sentimental ties or, in other cases, to meet for sexual purposes. Currently existing
9 social networks are diversified according to the people who use them. For the homosexual
10 population, among the best-known, we find Grindr (for gay people) and Wapa (for lesbians).
11 These apps represent meeting alternatives especially for this population, which - because of
12 the social stigma associated with one's emotional and erotic orientation - often does not enjoy
13 many opportunities to meet other people or suffers difficulties and inconveniences in freely
14 expressing their sexual orientation. The study aims to fill the partial delay of the Italian
15 research on the relationship between virtual media and "homo" sexuality, highlighting the
16 modes of communication and relational approaches through which gay and lesbian (and, in
17 minor cases, bisexual) people relate to and interface with these interactive social tools. The
18 first part - after a literature review on the relationship between new media, affectivity and
19 sexuality - will deal with the concept of “sexual identity” and its dimensions, as a paramount
20 epistemological premise to understand the various phenomenologies through which people
21 relate to their sexuality. The second part will explore the dynamics and social mechanisms
22 employed, within the app, by gay people and lesbians in relation to the relational, emotional,
23 sentimental and/or sexual approaches experienced, reporting the results of a research work
24 that involved a group of people from the Campania context in Italy. The objective is to verify
25 the existence of any differences in the relationship between gay and lesbian people, to the two
26 applications (both concerning the purposes of use and some dimensions of the imaginary) or if,
27 conversely, such apps modify sexual behaviour, thus leading to forms of relational and social
28 homologation. The research will examine the aspects considered above through a mixed
29 methods approach, which will The first step is to study the profiles of the users of the two
30 dating apps. A second step instead will concern the administration of non-directive interviews
31 (both individual and collective) with the aim of reconstructing those psychological (emotional-
32 affective), social (sexual scripts) and imaginary dimensions that underpin the interactions in
33 the online environment.
34
35 Keywords: sexual scripts, app for dating online, gay and lesbian studies, gender models.
36
37
38 Introduction
39
40 The history of the Italian LGBT community (and the related processes of
41 emancipation and self-determination of identities and non-regulatory sexual
42 orientations) has followed a different trend compared to other Western
43 countries. Over the years, Italian society and its main institutions have proved
44 conservative and paternalistic concerning sexuality and sexual practices.
45 According to a naturalistic and heteronormative vision, these had to pertain
46 exclusively to the private and intimate sphere of the individual, under strong
47 pressure from public morals and religious ethics.
48 This social and cultural framework contributed to the delay and lack of
49 emancipation of the LGBT community, even more evidently in the South of
50 the country.
12020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 However, the advent of the Internet, since the early 2000s, has allowed
2 homosexual people to elect cyberspace as a pivotal context in which to take
3 refuge, create interpersonal relationships, draw on information and
4 socialisation processes and practices, talk freely about identity aspects and
5 above all create belonging to a community and a social and collective identity
6 (Bacio, Peruzzi, 2017).
7 The spread of Social Media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, has
8 created the possibility to “stay connected” regardless of physical distance and
9 to create interpersonal relationships conveyed by immediacy and
10 gratuitousness.
11 Within the Social Media offer, several online dating applications have
12 been developed and widely distributed, both for heterosexual people (e.g.
13 Tinder and Badoo), gay men (e.g. Grindr) or lesbian women (e.g. Wapa,
14 Greta), to provide opportunities to meet new people and establish interpersonal
15 relationships beyond traditional face-to-face interactions.
16 The birth and diffusion of these “dedicated” applications, in addition to the
17 specific advantages we have already mentioned, allow LBG people a further
18 important benefit: confidentiality, thanks to which they can control and stem
19 the psychological and social aspects related to the stigmatization of sexual
20 orientation.
21 The scientific interest in the study of homosexual sexual scripts through
22 the internet and social networks represents an innovative strand within Gender
23 Studies, but with many unanswered research questions.
24 This contribution aims to integrate and compare two analyses on the use of
25 apps for online dating by gays and lesbians and how this use reverberates for
26 the psychological, social and symbolic aspects involved in the process of
27 socialization to sexuality.
28 The first part, through a literature review, will analyse the concepts of sexual
29 orientation, sexual script and sexual market, fundamental to build an
30 epistemological frame of reference in which to understand and interpret both
31 the results and the conceptual reflections expressed.
32 The second part will describe the results, related to two research works carried
33 out between 2019 and 2020 in Salerno on young gays and lesbians who make
34 regular use of online dating apps, analysing the psychological, social and
35 symbolic dynamics involved in dating along the online/offline dimension.
36
37
38 Literature Review
39
40 The development of homosexual movements and the claims of egalitarian
41 policies in the 1970s favoured the birth and spread of new sociological and
42 psychological theories that undermined the hegemonic vision of sexuality
43 derived from biology and/or psychiatry (Kinsey, 1956).
44 These new theoretical reflections, on the impetus of the processes of
45 normalization of homo-erotic desire, identity self-determination and
46 emancipation from hegemonic heteronormative masculinity, quickly spread
22020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 both in North America and Europe, giving rise to the Gay and Lesbians Studies
2 (Altman 1974; Hocquen-ghem 1973; Mieli 1977).
3 A theoretical, philosophical and sociological debate began on the social
4 representation of homosexuality, sexual identity and the concept of sexual
5 orientation.
6 Based on these studies, sexual identity is today defined as the subjective
7 and individual dimension of the awareness of being a sexual-erotic agent. This
8 complex process of constructing meanings and symbols is the result of a
9 dialectic between nature and culture within structured contexts (Berger,
10 Luckmann, 1969).
11 Sexual identity is organized through the interaction of three constitutive
12 dimensions: a) biological sex: consisting of the biological and genetic evidence
13 that gives the phenotypical classification of male or female. More specifically,
14 it includes the chromosomal organization and primary and secondary sexual
15 characteristics; b) gender identity: the psychological and inner construction of
16 belonging to one or the other social and cultural category in the binary male-
17 female division; c) gender role: the complex system of models, beliefs,
18 expectations and behaviours, socially shared by a given culture and ascribable
19 to male or female gender roles (Valerio, Scandura, Amodeo, 2014).
20 Each culture, therefore, develops a series of sexual typologies, i.e.
21 representing patterns of conduct and symbolic resources that are
22 institutionalized, accepted and shared (Schutz,1996).
23 The individual is born sexed, with a predetermined genetic, biological and
24 somatic connotation, but thanks to the process of symbolization and
25 signification he or she becomes sexual; this newly acquired construction makes
26 it possible to establish, emotional, social and affective relationships and
27 exchanges (Gagnon, Simon, 2005).
28 Therefore, within this perspective of symbolic construction, there is not
29 just one human sexuality, but various sexual perspectives, in which one can
30 express the ways of acting, saying, expressing and feeling one’s sexual body.
31 It is important, therefore, to define the concept of sexual orientation as
32 emotional, relational and sexual desire/attraction towards people of the
33 opposite sex (heterosexuality), of one’s own sex (homosexuality) or both
34 (bisexuality).
35 Many cultures of modern society are based on genderist and
36 heteronormative ideological structures, which regulate relational, social and
37 psychological dynamics on a binary naturalist dichotomous division (male and
38 female), and on a heterosexual sexual orientation, ordered by nature and
39 reproductive function.
40 In the light of these ideological matrices, LGBT people are often subject to
41 forms of discrimination and social stigmatization and collectively represented
42 as deviant, amoral and unnatural, creating strong psychological, relational and
43 social discomfort.
44 Gagnon and Simon (2005) have described how interpersonal relationships,
45 and particularly sexual dynamics, are regulated by sexual scripts created,
46 consolidated and structured within processes of symbolisation and
47 signification.
32020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 The theory of sexual scripts was born as a sociological theory of sexuality,
2 harshly criticizing the positivist and functionalist tradition, overcoming the
3 dichotomous view of gender based on biological evidence and recognizing in
4 sexual scripts an articulated range of behaviours, expectations, beliefs and
5 practices to be adopted in social interactions in specific contexts.
6 Rinaldi defines sexual scripts as: “cognitive structures produced by the
7 union of different complexes of structured concepts configuring a stereotyped,
8 organized and adequate sequence of actions that resort to certain
9 circumstances, in a given context, to achieve a goal” (Rinaldi, 2015).
10 Sexual scripts are articulated through maps of meanings and behaviours
11 established by the social groups of reference and elaborated by each individual
12 to contextualize and decode their relational and sexual experiences.
13 Gagnon and Simon (2005) argue that sexual scripts are organized on three
14 specific levels: a) cultural level: refers to orientations, cognitive maps and
15 systems of norms and beliefs of reference, within which to act and co-construct
16 meaning; b) interpersonal level: refers to the application of cultural scripts
17 through behaviours and attitudes in a given social text or contextual situation;
18 c) intrapsychic level: refers to the system of values, beliefs, feelings and
19 emotions of the individual.
20 Later Gagnon, in collaboration with Laumann (2004: 2010), expanded and
21 reorganized the theory of sexual scripts, postulating the theory of sexual
22 markets.
23 The concept of the sexual market analyses the set of cultural and social
24 structures that can aid or inhibit sexual behaviours and highlights the existence
25 of a “social and relational structure” in which to search for a sexual partner.
26 Laumann (2010) defines five constitutive elements of sexual markets: a)
27 social networks: the network of interpersonal relationships, both real and
28 virtual, within which the subject can begin partnering processes. Social
29 networks are generally constituted through affinity parameters, e.g. ethnicity,
30 religion, ideology, geographical affiliation, elective affinity, sharing a physical
31 space; b) the physical space: consisting of geographical boundaries (real and
32 virtual) within which a process of partnering can be expressed; c) the internal
33 and external sexual culture: sexual markets generally have an internal sexual
34 culture related to specific social and cultural groups (e.g. ethnic group,
35 religious group), and an external sexual culture related to the combinations of
36 rules, roles and expectations established by the macro-culture to which they
37 belong; d) sexual scripts; e) institutional spheres: which include religious
38 organizations, the educational and pedagogical system, the Welfare State and
39 the control bodies that regulate social norms and rules regarding morals and
40 social and sexual custom.
41 It is important to note that there is an important gap in the literature and
42 scientific production on sexual scripts and sexual markets, as the only studies
43 that have considered non-regulatory sexuality have highlighted how
44 homosexuals, for example, borrow symbolic and meaningful co-structures
45 from heterosexuals by reworking them and adapting them to their situations,
46 leaving heteronormative and dichotomous male/female parameters in the
47 background (Bacio, Peruzzi 2017).
42020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 With the advent of the New Media the symbolic squares in the sexual
2 markets have expanded, articulated and differentiated, helped by the
3 elimination and sublimation of filters and taboos that previously regulated and
4 inhibited the contents and the symbolization processes of communication
5 regarding the body and especially the sexual body (Amato et al. 2014).
6 Social Media, for example, represent spaces and tools of socialization,
7 which convey and promote communication processes and represent new
8 communication opportunities for sexuality, for the construction of new social
9 representations of eroticism and new sexual scripts.
10 Within the wide range of socialisation applications and tools, the most
11 widespread Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) have been joined by
12 applications for online dating, both for heterosexual and LGBT people.
13 These applications are new sexual markets and represent an important
14 turning point in the socialization scenarios for people with non-
15 heteronormative identity and sexual orientation, marking a new perspective
16 both in the construction of meanings and in the birth and consolidation of new
17 relational and sexual practices.
18 Specifically, two widely used applications, Grindr and Wapa, guarantee,
19 besides the peculiar advantages of Social Media (gratuitousness and
20 immediacy), other fundamental aspects in the new processes of socialization
21 and the new sexual markets: anonymity, which allows one not to openly
22 manifest their identity, to assume other identities to preserve their offline
23 privacy; and geolocation, which allows one to search and establish affective
24 and/or sexual relationships in their surroundings or a specific area of reference,
25 precisely to regulate the personal level of confidentiality and privacy.
26 There is a research gap in the scientific literature on the use of online
27 dating apps as a new way of socializing and as new symbolic places in sexual
28 markets. Existing research refers to the study of sexual behaviour of gay men,
29 especially to describe medical-health and epidemiological aspects. Landovitz
30 and his co-authors (2012) and Halloway (2014) have studied the relationship
31 between the use of the Grindr app and the sexual behaviour and practices
32 related to AIDS prevention and infection in the US.
33 The data show that a significant percentage of users (about 33%) used the
34 application to search for new sexual partners, while users with an affective and
35 relational purpose were less than 15%. Moreover, the qualitative analysis of the
36 conversation with the research participants showed that there was less attention
37 paid to the measures for preventing HIV infection among Grindr users than
38 non-users (Duncan, Goedel, 2015).
39 Riviere et al. (2015) described how using Apps is a way to map and
40 outline the visibility of the LBG community within society, and how the
41 massive use of online dating Apps has diverted the main sexual market for gay
42 men to virtuality, excluding lesbian women from this mechanism.
43 Consequently, the scientific interest in the online sex market in Women Studies
44 represents an innovative field of investigation.
45 Hancock (2011) in his contributions highlighted how homosexual women,
46 compared to men, find few spaces to express and claim their identities and their
52020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 principles of self-determination, connoting a hegemonic male presence also in
2 homosexuality.
3 The reflections on imposed roles and the adoption of gender and sexual
4 identity of lesbian women of the fourth period of Feminism argue that the
5 chauvinist and heteronormative society considers female homosexuality as a
6 sexual practice and not as a recognizable and distinctive sexual identity.
7 Therefore, a devaluation and subordination matrix emerges even within the
8 description of deviance, recognizing an identity state to male homosexuality
9 and relegating female homosexuality to a mere sexual practice (Bunch, 1972;
10 Rich, 1976; Connell 1985).
11 Recently some studies have described how social media re-produce the
12 sexual behaviours and sexual scripts typical of the gender models prevailing in
13 real life and the LGBT community.
14 Corbisiero (2010), for example, through a survey carried out in Campania
15 on a sample of homosexual people, highlighted how sexuality represents a
16 central aspect of life for 75% and how fidelity and affective monogamy
17 represent important values for 73% of lesbian women interviewed while only
18 34% of gay men refer to a stable and lasting relationship.
19 In accordance with Corbisiero, Bacio and Peruzzi (2017) have shown, in a
20 recent study on the use of Grindr, how the online can represent a virtual “door”
21 to new connections with an open evolutionary relational trajectory in a
22 continuum that goes from the possibility of sex only to the possibility of a new
23 knowledge/friendship/relation.
24 In the following section, we will analyse, interpret and compare the
25 psychological, relational, social and symbolic aspects highlighted through the
26 use of online dating apps of young gays and lesbians from Salerno, trying to
27 identify common aspects, similarities and differences on the construction of
28 sexual scripts, the organization and construction of meaning around sexual
29 markets and the concepts of masculinity and femininity (Simon, Gagnon,
30 1984:2003; Connell, 1989; Masullo, Giannola, 2017; Bacio, Peruzzi 2017).
31
32
33 Methodology
34
35 The research takes into consideration the process of socialization to
36 sexuality, the construction of sexual scripts and how to access the virtual
37 sexual market of two different target groups: gay men and lesbian women
38 living in Salerno and its province, in the Campania Region, in Italy, from
39 October 2019 to February 2020.
40 The analysis tries to answer the following research questions:
41
42 - How do the relationships experienced through virtual sex markets
43 outlined using online dating apps (Grindr for gay men, Wapa for
44 lesbian women) contribute to structuring the experience of one’s
45 sexuality, outlining sexual scripts?
62020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 - How can these new socializing tools represent resources and
2 opportunities to conceive identity constructions in terms of masculinity
3 and femininity in gay and lesbian people? (Connell, 1996);
4 - what are the main similarities and differences between gays and
5 lesbians concerning the use of online dating tools? Can these
6 similarities and differences be ascribed to different ways of living one’s
7 gender and sexual identity?
8
9 The analysis is an exploratory survey, highlighting the limits of the
10 methodological approach, including the resistance of homosexual people to be
11 involved and to explicitly argue the dimensions related to their identity,
12 sexuality and sexual practices and experiences.
13 The strategy used is, therefore, a netnographic approach with a
14 combination of online/offline qualitative techniques, including covert
15 observation of users in a virtual environment and semi-structured offline
16 interviews with privileged witnesses of the examined context.
17 For the collection of data in covert mode, we built an observation grid
18 taking into consideration dimensions such as:
19
20 - chosen nicknames: distinguishing between proper (first) names and
21 pseudonyms;
22 - profile pictures characteristics: distinguishing between identity photos
23 and non-identity photos;
24 - socio-biographical information: understood as height, weight and place
25 of residence, and distinguishing between present and absent;
26 - types of presentations: highlighting recurring themes, ways of
27 representing the Self and the search characteristics of the partner(s).
28
29 We analysed 150 users for each the Grindr and the Wapa application.
30 The semi-structured interview, instead, tried to investigate the identity
31 dimensions in relation to the use of the App and the processes of self-definition
32 and sexuality; the media consumption in terms of usage mode, frequency and
33 profile characteristics; sociality in terms of lived experiences, friendships, love
34 and continuity between online meetings and offline relationships;
35 discrimination suffered in the online environment for characteristics related to
36 one's gender and sexual identity; evaluations on the use of the App as a vehicle
37 for socializing, on models of construction of masculinity and femininity.
38 Online dating applications are widely used as a new communicative space
39 within which to create relational possibilities, opportunities for socialisation
40 and intersubjectivity. Within the offer of social networks for homosexual
41 people Grindr (for gay men) and Wapa (for lesbian women) represent the most
42 used applications. These apps share the fundamental aspects characterizing the
43 diffusion of an application: they are free and geo-localized, so they allow
44 instant and free access to a possibility of socialization and relationality
45 unimaginable before their appearance.
46 Another fundamental aspect, which represents two sides of the same coin,
47 is the preservation of memory, a function that, on the one hand, allows to create
72020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 a chronology of one’s interpersonal contacts, and on the other, undermines the
2 assumption of confidentiality, since this memory, by preserving itself, exposes
3 people to the risks connected to the diffusion of their online/offline data.
4 Moreover, the use of an App, allows an unlimited number of inter-personal
5 contacts (chat) through the creation of an account or a virtual identity that can
6 be enriched, built ad hoc, enhanced with more and more specific details
7 (photos, preferences, quotes, content).
8 The peculiar differences of the two applications essentially lie in the
9 different degree of specificity and quality of the information provided. Grindr
10 allows the possibility to include or exclude elements of one’s identity such as
11 ethnicity, body type or sexual role, it has a list of preferences on users’ profiles,
12 it allows to block undesirable users, it also dedicates a central position in one’s
13 presentation to sexuality and sexual preferences. Wapa, on the other hand,
14 while preserving some features of Grindr, (such as the possibility to block
15 unwanted users), does not provide the possibility to add profile entries related
16 to sexuality or sexually desired practices.
17
18
19 Results and Discussion
20
21 The analysis of the profiles, and the comparative analysis carried out
22 between the sample of gay men and lesbian women shows an early functional
23 access for gays (18 years) compared to lesbian women who approach the
24 application around the age of 25. This is partly explained by the time gap
25 between gays and lesbians in sexual identity awareness. Women have more
26 difficulty in understanding their sexual orientation, in our opinion, also due to
27 an unavailability of existing and legitimate patterns and models of signification
28 of the lesbian culture in the offline environment, also due to the action of a
29 double social stigma, as women and as lesbians. For lesbians, the dimension of
30 identity and sexual orientation is stabilized at an older age and with a greater
31 experiential awareness (Chetcuti, 2014).
32 There is a greater predisposition of gays to express the bodily, erotic and
33 sexual aspects compared to the character and psychological aspects that
34 instead represent the prevalent expression of lesbian women, in line with the
35 literature that sees women interested in interpersonal relationships and
36 friendship compared to gay men who use the digital tool (app) as a new mode
37 to access the sexual market (Masullo, Gianola 2017).
38 Finally, references to external social media are a prevailing practice in
39 gays compared to lesbians, confirming the dimension of invisibility and
40 anonymity of homosexual women compared to gay men (Bertolazzi and
41 Esposito 2015).
42
43 Table 1. Analysis of the Profiles
Dimension Grindr Wapa
Predominant age 55% (18-30) 43% (25-30)
Predominant type of characteristics Physical Psychological
References to social profiles (Facebook, Instagram) Average frequency Low frequency
44
82020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 The analysis of the Profile Pictures allowed to confirm aspects highlighted
2 by the general profile analysis. Invisibility and anonymity are also central
3 aspects in the analysis of Profile Pictures, in fact personal profile photos
4 comprise 55% of gay users’ profiles compared to 33% of lesbian women’s
5 profiles. Also the aspect related to physicality and prevalent erotic habitus in
6 gay men compared to lesbian women is confirmed by the analysis of the
7 photos, in fact it is on average frequent in gays (35%) compared to a low
8 frequency in lesbian women (15%). Finally, both categories refer to images
9 that refer to the most widespread homosexual subcultures in the LGBT world
10 (such as the bear culture for gays and the dark culture for lesbians).
11
12 Table 2. Analysis of Profile Pictures
Type of profile image Grindr Wapa
Face 55% 33%
Body parts 35% 15%
Images related to LG subcultures 15% 15%
13
14 In line with the analysis of the profiles, the presentations confirm a series
15 of significant aspects: if gay men emphasize more the physical and bodily
16 aspects, lesbian women highlight the aspects related to psychological
17 characteristics; in the Grindr application the characteristics related to sexual
18 practices (such as master, slave, no sex, looking for versatile) are more evident
19 than in the Wapa application, in order to create coordinate frames for sexual
20 scripts, to facilitate the exchange and languages within the sexual market.
21 Moreover, gays seem more critical than lesbians about how to use and
22 enjoy the application: this data can be read because of the scarce opportunities
23 for L women to have offline meeting spaces. In the examined context, the chat
24 for women, unlike men, represents an indispensable tool for socializing
25 sexuality and learning useful sexual scripts in an online environment.
26
27 Table 3. Analysis of Profile Presentations
Dimension Grindr Wapa
Physical aspects
High frequency Low frequency
(description with reference to
(e.g.: Height, Dark, Blond, Well- (e.g.: Blonde, Sexy,
physical and erotic
endowed, XXL) Curvy)
characteristics)
Psychological aspects
Average frequency Average frequency
(presentation with reference to
(e.g.: Sweet, Strong, Introvert, (e.g.: Friendly, Sweet,
emotional and personal
Cheerful) Affectionate, Lovely)
dimensions)
Low frequency Mid-High frequency
Intellectual and cultural aspects (e.g.: Quotes from books, poems, (e.g.: Quotes from
etc) books, poems, etc)
High frequency High frequency
Aspects linked to gender
(esempio: Masculine, Bear, (e.g: Feminine, Dame,
characteristics
Teddy) Femme, Lady)
High frequency
Aspects linked to preferences in (e.g.: Looking for versatile, No
None
sexual practices fenimine, looking for Master,
looking for Slave)
Aspects critical towards the Average frequency Low frequency
92020-3711-AJSS-SOC
application (e.g.: This is a whorehouse; the (e.g.: Wapa Hell; I hate
chat is just for sex) monosyllabic people)
1
2 We interviewed 40 gay men and 40 lesbian women. The analysis of the
3 interviews allowed us to outline the functional accesses through the use of the
4 App, highlighting similarities and differences.
5 For gay men, the most recurrent sexual script emphasizes the hegemonic
6 masculinity model, a masculinity to be constantly confirmed through more and
7 more sexual intercourse according to the stereotype of the predator. The search
8 for sex is, therefore, the main reason for using the dating app, relationships are
9 shorter and often cease if the transition from virtual to offline reality does not
10 occur. Sentences such as “no time wasters” are frequent:
11
12 “When I want sex, I know that if I open the app and schedule a date for the
13 next day I must be in bad luck. In 80% of the cases I meet and sleep with
14 someone the same evening! Practical and fast!” (Giovanni, 30)
15
16 However, although in a residual form, some gay men, especially young
17 men, use the App as a testing ground where they can experiment with aspects
18 related to their sexual identity and create new friendships, role models or where
19 they can find information on protection practices and tools:
20
21 “I felt the need to subscribe to the App, just to understand more. I was
22 curious to get to know someone, you have to start with someone!” (Luigi,
23 19)
24
25 Most respondents highlighted a number of long-term advantages of the
26 virtual tool, such as the obsolescence of face-to-face communication strategies:
27
28 "In my opinion, it’s rather difficult today to meet someone in real life.
29 Personally, I met two of my previous boyfriends [through the app]. Is it a
30 must to use apps, where do you find in real life the possibility to meet, date
31 and fall in love with a gay person? Life goes fast, we missed practice!”
32 (Daniele, 29)
33
34 L women, instead, use the App mainly as an emancipation tool in the
35 absence of other physical and real spaces where they can meet and explore the
36 L universe.
37
38 “It started as a curiosity, for some time I had some strange fantasies, I saw
39 of this app on the internet and downloaded it. I didn't know where to
40 start...” (Sara, 33)
41
42 Women often tend to prefer chats, as in offline reality women in the L
43 community get to know each other through friendship chains, with the limit of
44 greater control over their sexuality and exposure to social judgment by other
45 women, confirming the importance of anonymity:
46
102020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 “The app ensures that I remain anonymous, you know, I’m not out of the
2 closet, I don’t even know if I'm really a lesbian, why create a fuss without
3 a reason? It's fine for now... then we’ll see!" (Gina, 24).
4
5 Finally, lesbian women prefer the search for relationships and friendships
6 over sex-aimed relationships. This aspect could also mean adhering to a
7 stereotyped view of womanhood, which classifies in a negative way those who
8 freely live their sexuality and detach it from emotional aspects:
9
10 “I'm not looking for sex, I'm not a whore! I hate whores, they sleep with
11 everyone. I'm looking for a sincere relationship, I've had too many
12 disappointments... I'd rather be alone...” (Laura, 29)
13
14 Virtuality, therefore, represents immediacy, gratuitousness, and offer for
15 gay men, while for lesbian women it represents of reserve-heartedness,
16 anonymity and continuity.
17 There are, therefore, references to the models of social and mental
18 representations of gender and relational practices, which confirm the
19 hegemonic model of masculinity in which the man is seen as a cunning
20 predator and a stereotyped image of the female universe anchored to
21 relationality, knowledge, temporality and the construction of an interpersonal
22 plot.
23 The analysis of the interviews also revealed constructions of intra-group
24 discrimination in both gay men and lesbian women.
25 As far as gay men are concerned, highlighted discriminations refer to
26 dimensions such as age: people over the age of 55 are seen as individuals
27 outside the sex market and not selected within it:
28
29 “Ah I'll tell you what, I block over-55 a priori, it's not out of malice but I
30 don't like wrinkly skin or white hair, I prefer the 18-35 bracket maximum!"
31 (Roberto, 25)
32
33 Moreover, the exaltation of the aspects related to the gender model of
34 reference are discriminated, in fact there is an important contrast between
35 extreme machismo and effeminate models:
36
37 "I think there has to be some balance, I can't stand fairies! Those gays too
38 effeminate, let's be clear if I wanted someone like that would go with a
39 woman, right? I like balance!” (Silvio, 23).
40
41 Finally, a discriminatory component emerges towards transgender people,
42 mainly MtoF (male to famale) because they are considered a voice out of the
43 chorus and not adhering to the context and the peculiar use of the application:
44
45 “Honestly, it's not discrimination, but what's the point of a transgender
46 joining Grind? Why doesn't she join Tinder or Badoo? What do you want
112020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 here? I think they are confused people, they want to be women only when
2 it’s convenient” (Vincenzo, 28)
3
4 Similarly, the analysis of the conversations of interviews with lesbian
5 women identifies forms of intra-group discrimination. A first discrimination
6 lies in the expression of gender characteristics, for example the too masculine
7 aspect of some categories of lesbians (e.g. Tomboys) is strongly stigmatized:
8
9 “I don't like women who are too masculine, butches! I honestly find them
10 vulgar and boorish as I find males vulgar and boorish!” (Luna, 24).
11
12 A further form of discrimination is directed towards those who use the
13 application as a means of “procuring” sexual experiences, in line with that
14 social and mental representation of female relationships that sees them
15 disconnected from physicality and sexuality:
16
17 “The chat room is a whorehouse, they create closed micro-groups that
18 have sexual relationships with each other, honestly it sucks!” (Greta, 20).
19 Also in lesbian women there is a discrimination towards MtoF trangenders
20 because they are perceived as non-women, as a separate category, with less
21 erotic habitus and therefore out of the prevailing logic and preferences of
22 lesbian women:
23
24 “For me a transsexual is not a woman, personally I see them as people
25 stuck between two worlds, I would never be attracted to a transsexual,
26 being a woman is another thing...” (Katia, 33).
27
28
29 Conclusions
30
31 Social Media, current virtual communication tools, online dating
32 applications, represent new communication spaces and, consequently, new
33 sexual markets where new sexual scripts can be staged.
34 The direct observation of profiles in a virtual environment has made it
35 possible to highlight how the same social, mental, logical and cultural
36 representations are reproduced in chats or online as in face-to-face interactions
37 and off-line reality.
38 The analysis and comparisons of the use of Apps for online dating for gay
39 men and lesbian women in Campania show a different functional use.
40 Concerning the first research question, we found that if it is true that for
41 gay men the App is mainly an additional tool to fulfil the need to live their
42 sexuality, it is also true that it also reinforces some stereotypes related to the
43 Mediterranean homosexual model, where sexual roles build coordinates for the
44 selection of partners with respect to gender expressiveness (for example active
45 = male, passive = female) (Taurino, 2016).
46 For lesbian women, no doubt, chats are fundamental in this context due to
47 a double stigma, which hinders women to live their sexuality publicly. The
122020-3711-AJSS-SOC
1 Wapa application, therefore, helps not only in meeting other women, but in
2 learning a language, jargon, sexual scripts, which they cannot intercept
3 elsewhere, since the context on lesbianism has matured a heteronormative
4 stereotyped imaginary (shared by some lesbian women) that confuses the
5 practice of lesbianism as friendship between women or that sees it only as a
6 sexual fantasy. Ultimately, women lack terms to “express themselves” as
7 lesbian and to live as “lesbians” more than gay men (Masullo, Coppola 2019).
8 Our contribution would confirm the current the literature (Whitley, Kite,
9 1995; Bacio, Peruzzi, 2017) that underline how homosexuals borrow
10 heterosexuals’ sexual scripts, then rework them and adapt them to their
11 situations and “their rules”.
12 The future developments of this research can be many, such as to further
13 explore the link existing between the App and the processes of socialization to
14 sexuality for bisexual people (who use Apps for heterosexual encounters) and
15 transgender people (both MtoF and FtoM).
16
17
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