DIGITAL GENDER DISIDENTIFICATIONS: QUEER MIGRANTS AND TRANSNATIONAL CULTURES OF GENDER DIVERSITY

Abstract

The twenty-first century has observed the emergence of new practices of gender diversity, which eschew rigid gender binary and proliferate new gender labels, including “nonbinary,” “genderfluid,” and “agender.” Digital media have played a crucial role in this process as the new labels often originate in online social networks. Academic discussions on digital gender diversity suggest that the new labels either resist or reproduce the dominant gender ideology. I contribute to these discussions by challenging the dichotomy of subversion versus hegemony and demonstrating a wide spectrum of digital practices of gender diversity. Drawing on six interviews with gender-diverse migrants and building on the concept of disidentification, I update the concept to the increasingly digital societies and emerging gender diversity, challenge the dichotomous thinking about digital gender diversity, and stress the importance of mediated and cultural contexts for understanding how new gender labels are being enacted in everyday life.