Negotiating Desire Through Profiles: A Multimodal Analysis of Taiwanese Gay Men’s Self-Presentation on Grindr

Author Information

Chin-Hui Chen, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Bo-You Wu, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Abstract

This study explores how gay men in Taiwan strategically construct their gay identities and sexual desires through self-presentation on Grindr, which is a globally popular dating app. Drawing on a multimodal content analysis of 11 gay users’ profiles, the research investigates both visual and textual strategies, including photo choices, role labels, and coded language to imply sex preferences. Guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, this study identifies key patterns in how users negotiate visibility, masculinity, and sexual positioning within Taiwan’s evolving queer landscape. Despite the country’s progressive stance on same-sex marriage, findings reveal that ongoing tensions between public visibility and personal privacy, as evidenced by the selective concealment of faces and reliance on community-specific slang. The analysis demonstrates how the observed gay users mobilize both dominant and submissive tropes through images and coded language, enacting gender/sexuality roles in line with Butler’s theory of performativity. The findings also underscore the importance of subcultural literacy for the purpose of decoding profile content, because many textual cues and emojis function as in-group signals intelligible only to culturally embedded users within gay communities. This study contributes to queer digital media research by foregrounding Taiwanese-specific communication practices in global gay app cultures and emphasizes the need for further multimodal inquiry into LGBTQ+ digital self-representation in non-Western contexts.

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