Sexualities on dotcom: spaces and homossexualities from an on-line community

Author(s)

Carolina Parreiras

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2008-12-17

Examining board members

Maria Filomena Gregori; Júlio Assis Simões; Adriana Gracia Piscitelli; Guita Grin Debert

• Advisor: Maria Filomena Gregori

Abstract

This essay has as central theme was the interpersonal relations established within an online (or virtual) community inside a relationship website (Orkut - www.orkut.com) and composed by men who have affective and sexual relationships with other man. From both this case study and the ethnographic material resulting from the observation, conversations via instant message programme (messenger), offline gatherings (orkontros) and the discussions carried within the community forum, the central proposal is talking about how bodies and sexualities are built up in an online environment. That way, I mean to focus on questions such as the construction of the avatars (or virtual bodies), the manner in which categories and labels (homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality) come up in the discussions among the studied group members, the usage of the virtual space to "come out of the closet", the discourses about sex and fetishes that take place within the discussion forum and the proclaimed gay images, specially when it comes to the masculinity/femininity and the roles performed during the sexual intercourse. The aspects thereinafter mentioned help explaining the way in which sexualities are perceived and lived in this "dotcom" (.com) universe - taken as a virtual sex index -, and it also allows thinking about the interchange between the studies on sexualities and those on spatial issues, specially the ones concerning cyber space. (AU)