“Not in my Stable”: The use of distancing

discourse among male participants on a

Brony website

Steven  L  Dashiell  University  of  Maryland,  Bal7more  County  

Topics in this Slide •  What  is  a  Brony?  •  Why  Bronies?  •  Problem  and  Hypothesis  •  Literature  •  Methodology  •  Findings  •  Discussion  •  Limita7ons/Future  Implica7ons  

What is a Brony?

•  Literal/inclusive  defini7on  •  Friendship  is  Magic  •  The  “average”  Brony  •  Brony  ac7vi7es  •  Bronies  in  popular  culture  

Why Bronies? •  Past  research  about  Bronies  •  Marginalized  masculini7es  in  the  hegemonic  model  

•  Ascribed  marginaliza7on  vs.  achieved  marginaliza7on  

•  Inclusive  masculini7es  – Many  Bronies  self-­‐iden7fy  at  heterosexual  –  S7gma  based  on  percep7ons  and  stereotypes  

•  High  level  of  online  communica7on  

Problem and Hypothesis •  Sexual  orienta7on  called  into  ques7on  due  to  interest  –  Backlash  -­‐>  heterosexist  responses  (“I’m  not  gay”)    

•  Ques%on:  To  what  degree  do  Bronies,  who  might  perceive  their  sexual  orienta8on  called  to  ques8on,  assert  heteronorma8ve  behavior  during  in-­‐  group  interac8ons  

•  Hypothesis:  Bronies  reaffirm  hegemony  and  their  sexual  orienta7on  through  distance  discourse,  use  of  statements  to  present  their  orienta7on  

Literature

•  Goffman  –  Face  saving  behavior  and  impression  management  

•  Anderson  –  masculinity  presenta7on  in  feminized  terrain  

•  McCormack  –  low  and  high  homohysteric  environments  and  communica7on  

•  Coates  –  masculine  discourse  

Literature (continued)

•  Coles  –  masculinity  nego7a7on  •  Kendall  –  online  masculinity    

Methodology

•  Thema7c  analysis  of  posts  on  a  Brony  website  (Reddit  page).  

•  Examina7on  of  threads  which  specifically  talk  about  gender  &  masculinity  

•  Search  for  individuals  who  affirm  their  sexual  orienta7on  or  gender  in  those  circumstances  

Methodology (continued)

•  Quan7ta7ve  count  of  occurrences  on  mul7ple  pages  (n  =  1150  comments,  6  threads)  

•  Examina7on  of  appropriateness  of  sexual  orienta7on/gender  declara7on  

•  Distancing  discourse  –  superfluous  use  of  disclaimer  statements  to  affirm  sexual  orienta7on  or  gender  before  commen7ng.  –  Sexuality/gender  not  challenged  –  Serves  as  a  hegemonic  tool  – Differs  from  ‘diver7ng  discourse’  by  intent  

Findings Distancing  Discourse  –  Where  are  all  the  Straight  Guys?  

Findings Distancing  Discourse  –  Obviously  Straight….  

Findings Distancing  Discourse  –  Blatancy….  

Findings

Distancing  Discourse  –  with  my  girlfriend….  

Findings Distancing  Discourse  –  not  gay  myself….  

Discussion

•  Common  use  of  statements  to  affirm  sexual  orienta7on  

•  Few  indica7ons  where  this  was  done  in  a  confronta7onal  way  

•  Oben  not  subtle  (“As  a  man”,  “Being  heterosexual”)  but  not  blatant  (“I  love  boobs”)  

•  More  oben  than  not  preceding  (or  contained)  in  a  suppor7ve  statement  

Limitations •  Sample  size  –  only  viewed  five  Reddit  threads  •  Authen7city  of  online  respondents  •  Might  simply  be  “ally”  behavior  driving  iden7fica7on  

•  Moderated  limita7ons  of  Reddit  based  on  votes;  more  blatant  comments  might  be  hidden  

•  Who  posts?  Seems  more  gender/sexual  orienta7on  variable  

Future Implications/ Further Study

•  Need  for  addi7onal  research  on  “achieved”  marginal  masculini7es  

•  Interviews/focus  groups  might  prove  useful  at  face-­‐to-­‐face  mee7ngs  (BronyCon)  

•  Examina7on  of  heterosexism  in  Brony  and  Geek  communi7es  

 

Acknowledgements

•  Dr.  Chris7ne  Mallinson,  UMBC  •  Dr.  Mark  McCormack,  Durham  University  •  Kurt  Bayer,  Phd  candidate,  Indiana  University  

                         Steven  Dashiell                            Language,  Literature,  and  Culture  •                   University  of  Maryland,  Bal7more  County  •                   sdashie1@umbc.edu