Celebrities, Fans, and Queering Gender Norms: a Critical Examination of Lady Gaga’S, Nicki Minaj’S, and Fans’ Use of Instagram
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CELEBRITIES, FANS, AND QUEERING GENDER NORMS: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF LADY GAGA’S, NICKI MINAJ’S, AND FANS’ USE OF INSTAGRAM by BRANDY DIETERLE B.A. Purdue University Calumet, 2011 M.A. Purdue University Calumet, 2013 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Texts & Technology in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2018 Major Professor: Stephanie Vie © 2018 Brandy Dieterle ii ABSTRACT This dissertation used queer rhetoric as a lens for studying queering gender norms on Instagram by using Lady Gaga’s, Nicki Minaj’s, and fan posts as case studies. The research considers how celebrities may use social media, like Instagram, for queering gender norms, and what this might look like. This research also aimed to better understand if and how fans may take up celebrities’ efforts at queering gender norms and, in turn, queer gender norms in their own Instagram posts where they tag Gaga or Minaj. To conduct this research, I took a multimodal methodological approach and collected and coded 1,000 posts from Gaga and Minaj, respectively, and 1,000 posts that used the hashtag Gaga and another 1,000 posts that used the hashtag Minaj. My findings suggested that Gaga and Minaj do not engage in the queering of gender norms as frequently as anticipated, and when they do it is often in relation to their public, staged performances as musicians. Furthermore, Gaga also spoke on issues relating to gender and marriage equality whereas Minaj also spoke on issues relating to racial equality. The data collected on fans was inconclusive in part because of the large number of spam posts and also because, without interviewing fans, it was difficult to discern whether they were taking up celebrity messages in their posts given information shared in the photo and in the caption. However, I was able to note that, most often, fans were engaging with celebrities by expressing admiration. This research is useful for considering how gender performance manifests on Instagram, and possible ways celebrities can utilize Instagram to queer gender norms as well as promote other messages. With regard to fan posts, I argue for continued research in ways to support fans becoming critical rather than passive consumers of celebrity culture. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to my dissertation committee for their unwavering support of my research and their thought-provoking feedback throughout the duration of this process. Thank you to my partner and family who have also been so supportive of my research, even though at times writing has kept me a bit distracted. Thank you to my parents who, I suspect, struggled at first with the thought of one of their children moving across the country alone, but have always exuded their confidence, support, and excitement on this journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: QUEER RHETORIC AND GENDER THEORY ............ 1 Literature Review................................................................................................................ 4 Queer Rhetoric and Gender .................................................................................... 4 Queer Rhetoric and Race ...................................................................................... 15 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 19 CHAPTER TWO: QUEER RHETORIC, IDENTITY, AND SOCIAL MEDIA ......................... 21 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 21 Identity Theory and Performance ..................................................................................... 21 Social Media and Celebrities ................................................................................ 29 Social Media, Gender, and Identity ...................................................................... 34 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 42 Data Collection & Methods .................................................................................. 42 CHAPTER THREE: LADY GAGA AND QUEER RHETORIC ................................................ 49 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 49 Background on Lady Gaga ............................................................................................... 50 Descriptions of Categorization of Lady Gaga’s Photos .................................................... 53 Appearance and Sex .............................................................................................. 56 Male-Female Relations ......................................................................................... 57 Home and Mother ................................................................................................. 58 v Self-Development ................................................................................................. 59 Career Development ............................................................................................. 60 Political and World Issues .................................................................................... 62 Analysis of Lady Gaga’s photos ....................................................................................... 63 Photos Queering Gender Norms ........................................................................... 63 Photos Not Queering Gender Norms .................................................................... 79 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 90 CHAPTER FOUR: NICKI MINAJ AND QUEER RHETORIC ................................................. 93 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 93 Background on Nicki Minaj.............................................................................................. 94 Descriptions of Categorization of Nicki Minaj’s Photos .................................................. 95 Appearance and Sex .............................................................................................. 99 Male-Female Relations ....................................................................................... 100 Home and Mother ............................................................................................... 101 Self-Development ............................................................................................... 102 Career Development ........................................................................................... 104 Political and World Issues .................................................................................. 105 Analysis of Nicki Minaj’s photos ................................................................................... 106 Photos Queering Gender Norms ......................................................................... 106 Photos Not Queering Gender Norms .................................................................. 121 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 132 CHAPTER FIVE: FAN POSTS AND QUEER RHETORIC .................................................... 134 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 134 vi Lady Gaga’s Fan Posts.................................................................................................... 136 Descriptions of Categorization of Lady Gaga’s Fan Posts ................................. 138 Spam Photo Analysis .......................................................................................... 140 Sexuality Photo Analysis .................................................................................... 142 Activism Photo Analysis..................................................................................... 144 Other Photo Analysis .......................................................................................... 146 Nicki Minaj’s Fan Posts .................................................................................................. 148 Descriptions of Categorization of Nicki Minaj’s Fan Posts ............................... 149 Spam Photo Analysis .......................................................................................... 151 Body Photo Analysis........................................................................................... 152 Activism Photo Analysis..................................................................................... 154 Other Photo Analysis .......................................................................................... 155 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 157 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION: SOCIAL