cybertiger
‘[…] stereotyping is not restricted to the way in which any individual characterises and dismisses the threat of others, but is also typical of the way in which personal identity is constructed. The ‘I’, Barthes realised, ‘is not an innocent subject’. It is a complex interweaving of influences drawn from shared cultural knowledge, which is then naturalised as personal history, so that even the individual’s subjectivity has ultimately the generality of stereotypes’
Steve Baker, Picturing the Beast. Animal, Identity and Representation
Reflecting on the representation of identity online in relation to the dynamics of social media, I have focused my attention on identity representation in dating apps, looking into patterns and categories of image production. I aim to explore how online platforms and social media, providing a space of connection and visibility, have also introduced an intricate mechanism of image creation and self-representation. This project, directly connected with the previous study on icon images, is focusing on the use of animals in images on dating apps. More precisely, the representation of users, men, with tigers, and the use of those images on users’ profiles on these specific platforms.
Stereotypes, animal symbolism, and masculinity representations are translated into patterns of repetition and gestures from offline to online.
