“Oya Samanalayekda?”: The architects and architexts of gender and sexual nonconforming identities on mainstream Sri Lankan Youtube channels
List of Authors
  • Kadugodage, N.A. , Prasadika, K.A.T.

Keyword
  • gender, sexually nonconforming identities, mainstream Youtube channels, Sri Lanka

Abstract
  • The neoliberal narrative tends to articulate the digital space as providing democratic infrastructure for the expression of marginalized subjectivities. As a result, there is increasing tendency in representing the “alternative” gender and sexual identities on social networking sites and digital mainstream media such as YouTube. Perhaps because of the influence of such neoliberal understandings of sexual and gender economies, these digital platforms also promote a certain fashioning of identity under the parameters of “freedom”, and “individualism”. This study intends to discuss such nuances of representing gender and sexually nonconforming identities on Sri Lankan mainstream YouTube channels with particular focus on a) how these videos represent gender/sexually nonconforming individuals in Sri Lanka b) how gender/sexually nonconforming individuals navigate in and through the narratives which represent them, and c) how such representations influence/shape/challenge the public opinion of gender and sexually nonconforming identities in Sri Lanka. For the purpose of this study, we analyze two mainstream YouTube channels; “Ashen Vlogs” and “Talk with Heshitha”, which currently trend on YouTube as two of the most popular channels in Sri Lanka. Even though research has been conducted on the representation of gender/sexually nonconforming identities on digital space, in the context of Sri Lanka, far less qualitative research is available; therefore, with this exploratory study, we intend to foreground the ways in which gender/sexually nonconforming identities are compelled to navigate different/hegemonic meaning-making systems which mediate their identities for various purposes. This study is methodologically grounded in Critical Content Analysis and makes inquiries into the ways in which digital spaces (mis)represent and legitimize/delegitimize the representation of gender/sexually nonconforming identities by reinforcing/subverting the hegemonic narrative on gender and sexuality in Sri Lanka.

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