The world of Reddit has been foreign to me up until this moment. Reddit is a social media platform on which people create forums and posts about certain topics that are controversial in today's world. The subreddit everyone is talking about is called, GayBros and is a forum specifically for gay males who do not fit the typical ideology of masculine. These males enjoy sports, hunting, military, fishing, and other activities that don't fit into society's idea of homosexuality. This forum fights against the stereotype that being a gay male means you have to change in order to fit in. GayBros promotes being a gay male but continuing to be who you have always been, The subreddit is an example of a counterpublic/subculture. According to the Renninger reading, marginalized groups sit outside of the public sphere, therefore forming their own smaller public spheres, known as counterpublics (Renninger, 2014). Take a look at the subreddit forum GayBros below.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gaybros/comments/52xzvm/i_wrote_an_article_about_masculinity_would_love/
After reading the article and a few of the comments that were posted about 7 months ago, what are your thoughts about males who possess a higher level of masculine qualities than other males within the gay community? The subreddit GayBros seeks to resist the societal expectations that homosexual males have to act and present themselves in a certain way, and can't be themselves. A few of the comments on the forum are interesting, as they take the approach that masculine traits vary among different people. This shows support to GayBro subreddit forum, as every male maintains different interests and qualities that make them who they are. However, it's not all rainbows and support from members of the gay community. Brian Lowder's article, "Meet The Gaybros" discusses the resistance of the effeminate qualities the GayBros possess (Lowder, 2013). The subreddit GayBros makes the gay community mad. Their comments can be seen under Reddit threads titled, "My Gay Card Has Been Revoked'". Members of the gay community have described the GayBros mission statement to be, "we are young masculine homosexual males who exhibit no effeminate characteristics or interests and make a point of going on about how 'normal' they are" (Lowder, 2013). This article shows the resistance to the subreddit among members of the gay community, while the initial forum contains comments with ideas and support.
In my experience, homosexual males are expected to maintain interests that are appropriate for their culture. Fashion, hair, makeup, and business are areas you will find a gay male participating in these days. The subreddit "GayBros" breaks through the societal stereotype and says hunting, fishing, football, and other activities are completely acceptable among the gay community.The argument whether or not masculinity has a clear definition is seen in these articles and threads. This is an example of how GayBros is rearticulating hegemonic ideologies regarding gender and sexuality. While members of the Reddit Forum argue masculine characteristics vary among males, the Slate article says otherwise.In the gay community, there seems to be no room for males who like video games, hunting, and sports. This is the mainstream culture, and the subreddit GayBros is resisting these ideologies and promoting their own public culture on social media platforms.
Counterpublics and subcultures are known across social media platforms. Take a look at the following linear model that shows how this particular media was produced.
OF: BY: FOR:
Minority--->Minority-->-Minority
The subreddit GayBros is set up in the same manner as this linear model of media production. The thread consists of the minority, it was created by the minority, and it is for the minority audiences. Keep this linear model in mind as you navigate through the social media platform, and think of what it is made of, who it was made by, and who it was made for. There is so much importance to counterpublic communication. Only the people who are trying to change the status quo are aware of its importance. Counterpublic communication engages in the formation of social and cultural structures, and shows support or resistance to changing societal norms (Hilton & Battles, 2015). According to class lecture on resistance, resistance can be defined as rearticulating hegemonic ideologies pushed by mainstream and corporate media, and creating counterpublics.
References
De Luca, Alexander. (2016). Why Masculinity Needs A Makeover. The Huffington Post.
Lowder, Brian. (2013). Meet The GayBros. They like sports, hunting, and beer. They make the gay community mad. Slate.
No Author. (2016). I wrote an article about masculinity. Would love to hear your thoughts. GayBros Communty. Reddit. Retrieved from: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaybros/comments/52xzvm/i_wrote_an_article_about_masculinity_would_love/
