DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP CUDOS THE IMPACT

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP CUDOS THE IMPACT OF ONLINE SOCIAL SPACES (SNS & SDA) AND THE INCREASE OF COMMODIFICATION AND MARKETISATION OF HOMOFRIENDLY SPACES ON THE SOCIAL IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF AGEING GAY MEN IN NORTHEAST OF ENGLAND PATRICK MTHOMBENI & patrickbongani. mthombeni@ugent. be MIEKE VAN HOUTTE mieke. vanhoutte@ugent. be

Abstract: Different forms of media and online representations are continually shaping how we understand think about sexuality and social identity. Identity has been a significant part of how people in different geographical contexts define and put meaning into their existence and their social behaviour. This paper looks at the impact of online social-spaces and the increase of commodification and marketisation of homo-friendly spaces on the construction of social identity by ageing gay men in Northeast of England. Through thirty (N=30) interviews, we aim to evaluate how online socialtechnological advancements (such as social media, chat-rooms, and dating-sites) and an increase of the commodification of the 'gay-scene' contribute to the social identity construction of older gay men. Taking into consideration the 'invisibility' of ageing LGB&Ts, the sample is randomly selected from both rural and urban small towns in Northeast of England, from social-groups, and old-age residential homes. Social Divisions / Social Identities 3

Introductory comments: The rise of the markets, commodification, and improvement in technological communications such as social network sites (SNSs) and social dating Apps (SDAs), provide(d) older sexual minorities with an opportunity to recuperate the brittle fragmented identities and nurture their marginalised expressions not only within the LGB&T community but in the wider mainstream society (Kuper et al. , 2012; Soriano, 2014). Jenkins (2008: 5), defines identity as a process of “knowing who we are, knowing who others are, them knowing who we are, us knowing who they think we are. ” Aims: Revisit Higgins’s (1987) concepts of ‘actual self’, ‘ideal self’ and ‘ought self’, and Goffman's (1969) concept on the presentation of self. Goal: To explore and evaluate the power of online social spaces and the increase of commodification and marketization of the gayscene on the social identity construction of older gay men in the northeast of England. Social Divisions / Social Identities 4

Theoretical Reasoning (1): SNSs (Social Network Sites) and SDAs (Social Dating Apps) have created an accessible virtual spaces in which older gay men can express and create their desired ‘ideal’ identities (Attrill, 2015; Goedel et al. , 2016; Lutz and Ranzini, 2017). Homo-friendly entertainment spaces (queer temporalities) for years have assisted in the creation, editing, and presentation of the ‘self’ for LGB&T community (Bullingham and Vasconcelos, 2013; Casey, 2013; Siibak, 2009). These are spaces which have played a major role on social and political activism for gay rights. The gay scene is a space of consumption and leisure that is inherently promoted by a capitalist consumer society (Goebel, 2006) Social Divisions / Social Identities 5

Theoretical Reasoning (2): To theoretically build an understanding on the impact of social media and the increase on commodification and marketisation of the gay scene on identity formation of older gay men, we use: Higgins (1987) - self-discrepancy theory, three aspects (that is, the "actual self, "’ "ideal self, ", and "ought self"), and Goffman (1969) - presentation of self theory, the concepts of ‘frontstage’ and ‘backstage’. Why? – to highlight the interdynamic complexities between the three types of self and see how they inform each other as older gay men construct their social identities but at the same time how they are presented to others. Social Divisions / Social Identities 6

Methods and Data observations(1): - Qualitative project: - All the participants interviewed in this paper reside in Northeast England among the four counties (Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, County Durham, and Tees Valley). - The participants were recruited ( in 8 weeks) in two ways: • we attended both the social groups (small groups) that meet in the city center of Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, and Durham and some of the older-ageing homes. • we used geosocial-networking smartphone (Grindr) application as a recruitment tool. - Thirty (n=30) participants (50 -89 years old) were interviewed face-to-face - The participants chose the day, the time, and whether they would like to be interviewed in public (coffee shop) or in private (university’s interview room). Social Divisions / Social Identities 7

Methods and Data observations (2): Table 1: Respondents’ Biographical Details: - Race: 23 white, 2 were Asian, 3 black (or mixed race), and 2 were Pakistani. - Relationship status: 16 revealed that they were in committed relationships, 2 presented their relationships as “complicated, ” and the rest identified as single. - Eight of the participants were previously in a “heterosexual” marriage and currently have children and grandchildren. - Eighteen of the interviewees had some form of tertiary qualifications (bachelors, Honours, Masters, or Doctorates), 6 identified as only having the A-level education, and the rest (six) of the participants did not disclose their educational levels. Social Divisions / Social Identities 8

Results (1): SNSs and SDAs - Identities are compartmentalised intersectional performances based on issues of health and economic - - conditions, the network of friends and the distance from the family/relatives. The social identities within older gay men are interwoven, connected and fetishised. Thus, they depend upon the degree to which the individual had followed certain social categories of gayness (Bear, Cub, Leather, etc. ) Because history could not afford these men an opportunity to self express, at the same time the social space (gayscene) they used as an agent of self expression is now facing a rapid decline. SNSs and SDAs are giving older gay men that space to self express, however at a risk of online racism, gay bashing, and online bullying. This is promoted by the anonymisation of accounts especially in SDAs. Most of the respondents believed the gayscene relies on self-display (be out, be seen, have a personality) and some form of fetishised masculinity (don’t be camp = feminine, a clear exhibition of internalised heteronormativity. ) as a presentation of gay-self to others. Those that permanently live in the city enjoy a much more “fulfilled” social identities but largely interrupted by hate crime, the law and law permissions on heterosexuals (Richardson, D (2018) – Sexuality and Citizenship) Social Divisions / Social Identities 9

Results (2): Gayscene - Through social media they can remove themselves from the gayscene, they don’t have to go to the gayscene to perform being gay anymore. - The movements of older gay men from the city's peripheries (villages) into conurbations like Newcastle’s gayscene creates what we term as ‘temporary social identities’ that are only performed on specific time and context. - The involvement of gay people in the gayscene not as just consumers of culture but of producers of culture is important for the future survival and continuation of gay social life experiences in queer temporalities (to borrow Taylor’s (2010) concept on ‘gay music scene’). “People don’t go out to socially interact, the way that they used to, not so long ago. And I mean, Uhm…by and large straight people still go out to meet at bars. Uhm… but is seems to be much of a dying art in the commercial gayscene. ” Simon “I use social media and Apps for meeting people. So, when I was a young gay man and single and if I wanted to meet people and hook-up I would have to go out to the gayscene. I would have to go out to the bars and night clubs to meet people and I don’t know if people still use bars and clubs for that purpose anymore when it’s easy to pick-up your smartphone, load internet and sit, wait for someone else to come interested to you. ” John Social Divisions / Social Identities 10

Conclusion: The impact of social networks, commodification, and marketisation of homo-friendly spaces (the ‘gayscene’) certainly is creating an uneven distribution of experiences across the older gay men. SNSs and SDAs have created a free space in which older gay men can express and create their desired identities. As a result, an increase in the participation in SNSs and SDAs has made the gayscene to appear less attractive for the older gay men. The gay “cultures” or “tribes” that have tended to dominate the gay scene are a direct result of consumeristic behaviour. The commodification and marketisation of the gay identities into buyable objects (in a form of tribes/styles) meant a reduction of identities into different categories within the gay community that can be consumed over time. The pubs and clubs in homo-entertainment spaces used to be owned by gay individuals in Newcastle and run by gay people. Now they are run largely by companies, some of whom are not gay or gay-friendly. Lastly, it becomes obvious that the SNSs, SDAs and the gay scene need the individual to be active in them in order to function, just as much as the individual needs them for entertainment and meeting people. Social Divisions / Social Identities 11

Patrick B. Mthombeni Ph. D. Student Acknowledgements: South African National Research Foundation (NRF) DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY E Patrick. Bongani. Mthombeni@ugent. be www. cudos. ugent. be Future Research on this topic: Identity formation of older gay men of color in the Northeast examining “intersectionality by demonstrating that identities are not only intersectional but also contextual” (Han, 2017).