(Trans)cending masculinity: gender performance of female to male trans fitness influencers on Instagram

Abstract

The public sphere has expanded in a way that has allowed for a more hyper visible approach to self-definition and self-representation. Instagram is just one example of an application that has created a platform for this kind of hypervisibility. Instagram is a photograph sharing application with a community of over 500 million users (Instagram,2018). It dictates a heteronormative narrative and ideal and uses this to categorise and perceive bodies along a continuum of ‘normality’. Many people who do not reiterate such norms utilise Instagramas their vehicle towards community creation or involvement, self-empowerment or awareness. The self-empowerment lies within the counter-discourse created by the hypervisibility of the bodies. The users utilise their own non-normative bodies to make a specific point towards discursive activism. There has been a rise in the occurrence of body-positivity selfies, in response to society’s gendered expectations of the aesthetics of our bodies. Responding to the barrage of images dictating a narrow bodily ideal, the body-positivity movement has taken to social networking sites to create a space for the showcasing of bodies of all shapes and sizes (Sastre,2014).This study is based on the examination of a select number of Instagram users who identify as, or can be identified as, transgender (hereinafter referred to as ‘trans’) fitness influencers, and who perform a female-to-male trans fitness regime. An Instagram influencer can be understood as a public figure who is responsive to the needs and interests of a target audience, holding the power to shape the attitudes of that audience (Freberg et al.,2010;Khamis. Ang & Welling, 2016). LGBTQIA+ (an acronym for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans, queer, intersex and agender identities). This represents a spectrum of identities inclusive of the vast diversity of genders and sexualities of the human species (Poynter, 2016). Influencers are engaging in a social justice ecology, where they use their lifestyle narrative as a platform from which to personalise and promote causes pertaining to LGBTQIA+ politics and advocacy (Abidin, 2019).The goal of these trans fitness influencers is to achieve a masculinised aesthetic. However, as the researcher, I wish to problematise the hegemonic or idealised masculine identity to which the influencers aspire. Such representations and promotions of this particular identity are replete with issues that warrant further investigation within the broader field of trans scholarship. I aim to conduct this investigation using an analysis of the visual and written aspects of the relevant Instagram posts, and the audience reception of these posts