Looking good, Laddy!

Wow, me and TSoL were having a discussion over a portion of my dissertation research. I'll just quote from the discussion because I don't want to type it all out again:


Quote Originally Posted by Formy
It's swung around to Instagram and Pinterest, funnily enough. I write... very verbosely, and very in-depth, so I'm honestly struggling to see how I'll fit the word count.


I'm currently writing on gender-typical stereotyping in selfies. As in, females have a higher percentage of 'the feminine touch', 'imbalance', 'withdrawing gaze' and 'pouting', while males have far higher levels of 'muscle presentation'. It's rather fascinating reading.


Quote Originally Posted by TSoL
Interesting. So basically how each gender presents themselves within the ideology of gender roles? I wonder how it cross-sections with non-heteronormative sexualities? I say this as a gay guy who Instagram is filled with fandom trout. Oh and pretty guys.
Quote Originally Posted by Formy
Well the fascinating thing is this piece of current research (2016) acknowledges that they focused on what they term mainstream Instagram users. They said it'd be interesting to examine sexual minorities and their photo behaviour.

Quote Originally Posted by TSoL
it'd be interesting because I feel that there is the trend among gays to show body and muscle on it (especially on the big names), but I wonder if there is traces of the "feminization" aesthetics you mentioned?
Quote Originally Posted by Formy
It is an interesting area. Just speaking anecdotally, I would probably hypothesise a mix of both. In magazine adverts, muscles are very much everywhere, as is the moody scowl which is apparently attractive in male modelling (seriously, when did that become a thing?). On the other hand, there may be a more marked rise in 'feminine' characteristics, such as the feminine touch. I can't say for sure though, and they might do gender-typical selfies to make a point, or to be ironic. Unfortunately, my 2016 study didn't touch upon possible intentions.

But basically, your post couldn't have come at a more timely fashion.