Queer Lives: The Construction of

Queer Self and Com m unity on

Tumblr
By Parisa Zamanian
Submitted in partial completion of the Masters of Arts Degree at Sarah
Lawrence College (May 2014)

UMI Number: 1525441

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Abstract
Since the m id-1990s, the Internet has been considered an ideal space for
young qu eer people to gather, interact, and organize. In 2014, Tum blr is a social
m edia platform w ith a large population of vocal queer users. Drawing from
inform ation gathered through browsing tags on Tumblr and looking through queer
users' tum blr pages, and in person, Skype, e-mail, and survey-based interviews with
qu eer Tum blr users betw een the ages of 18 and 33, this thesis uses ethnography to
discuss the form ations and m eans of m aintaining "good politics" am ong queer users
of the social netw orking and micro-blogging platform Tumblr. The thesis looks at
Tum blr as a site of q u eer utopia-building efforts through presenting the self through
carefully-selected and exam ined identity descriptions, the creation and m aintenance
q u eer "safe space" through processes of calling out and com pulsory trigger warning,
and concludes by discussing the ways in which attem pts a t queer utopia result in
q u eer dystopia.

Acknowledgements
This thesis would not have been possible w ithout the support of my
professors, classmates, and friends. First and foremost, 1would like to thank my
advisor Julie Abraham, who patiently worked with me and pushed me throughout
this project despite her bewilderm ent with Tumblrthere would be no thesis
without her. I would also like to thank my second reader, Priscilla Murolo, whose
intellectual support drove me to complete this work. 1would like to thank the
phenomenal women in my thesis sem inar for being my emotional and academic
support: Emilie Egger, Toni-Anne Stewart, Maria Vallejo-Nguyen, Tiffany Williams,
Marion Sader, and Katrina Brown. I thank the directors of the Women's History
Program and Sarah Lawrence College, Rona Holub and Tara James, for keeping the
program alive.
I thank my mother for checking up on me every once in a while to make sure
I was still alive and well and writing. I would also like to thank my friends and
housemates, Will and Anna for putting up with me while I spent long hours hiding
away in my room writing this thesis, and of course I am also grateful for their two
dachshunds, Rollo and Rory for their lounging on my bed throughout this the
process of this project

Table of contents
A b s tra c t......................................................................................................... i
A cknow ledgem ents.....................................................................................ii
Table of C ontents.........................................................................................iii
Introduction..................................................................................................1
C hapter 1: Presenting a Queer Self on T um blr.....................................16
C hapter 2: M aintaining Safe Space, Maintaining Queer Utopia

30

Chapter 3: Queer D ystopia...................................................................... 43

Conclusion.................................................................................................... 58
Bibliography........................................................

62

Introduction: A Queer Attraction to the Internet

Nearly two decades ago, the Los Angeles Times published an article titled "The
Talk of the Town," addressing the popularity of gay, user-created America Online (AOL)
chat room s.1 According to the article, one-third of AOLs chat room users in 1996
consisted of gay men and lesbians; Elizabeth Weise, the journalist covering the story,
claims that, "It's the unspoken secret of the online world: Gay men and lesbians are
among the m ost avid and plentiful commercial users of the Internet."2 Queer users have
historically been drawn to the Internet, and w ere one of the first populations to
recognize its possibilities.3
Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has been creating new ways for young queers to
interact with one another, navigate their interests, and communicate identity and desire. Its
geographical reach and its speed have led to the development of new means of connection on
a technical level, while its increased availability has led to a rise in venues for intra-queer
interaction, and thus new sites of development for new conventions of interaction, and new
means of self-expression through both anonymity and the move toward what I call a culture
of authentication, or the legitimization o f offline identity in online spaces.4 Throughout
history, queer people, people who do not fit into a heterosexual paradigm, have sought out
1 Elizabeth Weise, "The Talk of the Town," The Los Angeles Times, July 8,1996, accessed
March 25, 2014, http://articles.latim es.com /1996-07-08/new s/ls-22128_l_gay-m en
2 Weise, "The Talk of the Town.
3 Nikki Usher and Eleanor Morrison, "The Demise of the Gay Enclave, Communication
Infrastructure, Theory, and the Transform ation of Gay Public Space" in LGBT Identity
and Online New Media, ed. Christopher Pullen and Margaret Cooper. (New York:
Routledge, 2010), 279.
4 Before social networking site like Facebook evolved, anonymity dom inated the
discourse of online participation; a site such does not fit into the narrative of
anonymity, because its purpose is the authentication of identity. Other sites such as
Linkedln, a job-networking site, similarly follow the trend in authenticating an offline
identity within an online sphere.
1

safe havens, discrete means o f communication through which to connect with one another.
Early studies o f queer Internet usage focused on the Internet as a safe haven, where users
could hide behind the anonymity o f cyberspace.5
I turn to Tumblr, a microblogging platform and social networking site, as an example
o f online queer world-making and utopia-building. Fashioning a queer world is a conscious
activity, constructing both self and environment through the embodiment of both personal
and social practices. Lauren Berlant and Michael Warner explain that,
The queer world is a space of entrances, exits, unsystematized lines of acquaintance,
projected horizons, typifying examples, alternate routes, blockages, incommensurate
geographies. World making, as much in the mode o f dirty talk as of print-mediated
representation, is dispersed through incommensurate registers, by definition
unrealizable as community or identity.6
Queer world-making allows for the creation of space that affirms a queer self that is be
rejected within the dominant heteronormative culture.
This thesis draws from a twenty-year history of research about queer Internet users.
Nina Wakeford, among others, contributed to discussions of womens participation in cyber
culture in the mid-to-late 1990s, and her essay Cyberqueer7 marks the beginning o f a
discourse on cyberqueer culture and the specific study of cyberqueer spaces as sites of
interaction. Some o f the first major projects in this field, such as the work of John Edward
Campbell and Sally Munt, Elizabeth Bassett and Kate ORiordan, center on the usage o f the
Internet as a space for queer sexual encounters which often bleed into offline physical spaces.

5 Usher and M orrison, "The Demise of the Gay Enclave," in LGBT Identity and Online New
Media, ed. C hristopher Pullen and M argaret Cooper. (New York: Routledge, 2010) 271.
6 Lauren B erlant and Michael W arner, "Sex in Public," Critical Iqnquiry, (W inter 1998):
558.
7 Nina W akeford, "Cyberqueer," in ed, Sally Munt and Andy M edhurst, Lesbian and Gay
Studies: A Critical Introduction, (London: Cassell, 1997), 20-38
2

I look to collections such as Christopher Pullen and Margaret Coopers LGBTIdentity

o

and Online New Media which provides perspectives on queer embodiment, the agency o f
queer youth on the Internet, online activism, and online fan cultures; I draw specifically from
Sharif Mowlabocus's study of queer em bodim ent in online spaces and and Bruce E
Drushels Virtually Supportive: Self-Disclosure of Minority Sexualities through Online
Social Networking Sites,9 which introduces the idea that queer Internet users have moved
beyond the expression of queemess through discrete identity categories in a gay/straight
dichotomy to more individualistic means of self-expression.10
Kate ORiordan and David J. Phillips text Queer Online: Media, Technology &
Sexuality also contribute to this thesis, providing a theoretical framework for understanding
cyberqueer studies; Jenny Wolmarks Cybersexalities: A Reader on Feminist Theory,
Cyborgs, and Cyberspace provided me a basis for understanding the discourse of the cyborg
and cyberqueer studies.11 Jonathan Alexanders work on queer homepages and queer
Internet usage12 has greatly influenced this piece and provided a historical grounding, as does

8 Christopher Pullen and Margaret Cooper. LGBT Identity and Online New Media, ed
(New York: Routledge, 2010).
9 Sharif Mowlabocus, "Look at Me! Images, validation, and Cultural Currency on
Gaydar," in LGBT Identity and Online New Media, ed Christopher Pullen and M argaret
Cooper. (New York: Routledge, 2010)
10 Bruce E Drushels Virtually Supportive: Self-Disclosure of Minority Sexualities through
Online Social Networking Sites in LGBT Identity and Online New Media, ed. Christopher
Pullen and Margaret Cooper (New York: Routledge, 2010), 63.
11 Kate ORiordan and David J. Phillips, Queer Online: Media, Technology & Sexuality,
(New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2007)
Jenny Wolmark, Cybersexualities: A Reader in Feminist Theory, Cyborgs, and Cyberspace,
(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1999).
12 Jonathan Alexander, "Homo-Pages and Queer Sites: Studying the Construction and
Representation of Queer Identities on the World Wide Web." International Journal o f
Sexuality and Gender Studies, 7,2 (July 2002): 7.
3

Katherine Walkers study that posits that the types of information that can be gleaned from
an Internet homepage are no different than those gleaned from a face-to-face interaction.13
The Internet has become the most significant site of contemporary cultural
transformation, the expression and formulation of identity, and community participation;
these young, queer, Tumblr users represent the potential for both the Internet and Tumblr as
to function as a means o f access to and production o f capital. 14 I draw from Annamarie
Jagose to look at Tumblr as an example of attempts at queer utopia building, and I draw from
Michael Warner to interpret Tumblr as a counterpublic. My own research is as much about
the current state o f queer politics among college-bound and college-educated queers as it is
about usage o f Tumblr.
Methodology
The study o f virtual community finds its origins in Benedict Andersons Imagined
Communities, which posits that nations exist due to peoples belief in them.15 Howard
Rheingold (1993) cites a sociology student, Marc Smith, who suggests that if this is the case,
virtual communities require an act of imagination to use, and what must be imagined is the
idea of the community itself.16 This thesis offers a virtual ethnography centered on a
constantly evolving, loose network of queer Internet users. As a project that rests on virtual
ethnography and online queer ethnography, this thesis is based on a process o f deep hanging

13 K atherine W alker. "It's Difficult to Hide It: The Presentation of Self on Internet Home
Pages" Quantitative Sociology 23,1 (2000): 99-120.
14 Mary Bryson, "When Jill Jacks In: Queer Women and the Net" Feminist Media Studies,
4 ,3 (2004): 239.
15 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread o f
Nationalism (New York: Verso, 2006).
16 Personal com m unication as quoted in Howard Rheingold, The Virtual Community:
Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (No. 28) (MIT Press, 1993), 54.
4

out on Tumblr and on interviews conducted with queer Tumblr users. The data collected
from hanging out on Tumblr mostly consists of screenshots18 gathered by browsing through
queer-related tags, perusing my interlocutors tumblrs and following these tumblrs as well as
other queer-themed blogs. Following blogs creates a consistent flow of live, constantlyupdated posts on the dashboard of the tumblr, queerlives, which I created specifically for this
project.
I conducted the interviews in two different formats: through verbal communication
and through text. The verbal interviews were held either in-person or on Skype,19 and the
text-based interviews were conducted over e-mail and via a Google Forms survey. Figure 1
depicts the call for interlocutors I designed. In the advertisement, I introduce myself with
my name, and explain that I am writing my Masters Thesis on queer folks uses o f tumblr.
My own experience with Tumblr affected the structure of the call for interviews; as John
Edward Campbell says of himself in his study of gay male Internet usage, I am less an
academic gone native than a native gone academic.20 The language of the advertisement
reflects my status as someone familiar with Tumblrs format and unwittingly acclimated to
the conventions of queer Tumblr. For example, the advertisement intentionally avoids the
mention of my pursuing a masters degree in womens history. I avoid this because the
specificity of the word women would cause tension among my interlocutors. The prospect
o f higher education would not bother users, the prospect of being subjects of a study would
17 Anthropologist Clifford Geertz coined the term "deep hanging out" to refer to the
process of informally immersing oneself in a cultural, social, or group experience. See
Clifford Geertz, "Deep Hanging Out," The New York Review o f Books 45, n o l6 . (October
1998]: 69-72.
18 A screenshot is a picture of a com puter screen taken on the computer.
19 Skype is a computer application for phone calls and video chats over the Internet.
20 John Edward Campbell, Getting it On Online: Cyberspace, Gay Male Sexuality, and
Embodied Identity (New York: Routledge, 2014], 25.
5

not deter them, and history as a discipline is not offensive. Womens history, however,
conjures images of the pitfalls of second-wave feminism, including racial and class tensions,
but especially among Tumblr queers it is connected to transphobia; queer Tumblr users
would not want to engage in a discourse that would potentially exclude trans women. In my
advertisement, I also do not call out to queer women specifically. The call for interviews
strategically requests responses from queer folks because gender-specificity as a general
practice might cause skepticism among potential interlocutors, deter users from sharing the
post, and detract from responses.21
Rather than disclose my discipline, I explain my interest in the ways in which queer
folks create and engage with community on Tumblr, as well as how people use Tumblr as a
tool for self-expression. I follow this with a parenthetical elaboration in which I position
m yself as a queer Tumblr user, seeking other peoples narratives o f being queer on Tumblr; I
provide examples o f the ways that we may use Tumblr. In the graphic I include my e-mail
address and the URL o f queerlives.22 There, I posted the advertisement as an image post
with a caption including a plain text version o f my blurb and links to my two other tumblr
pages to allow users to see me. Providing links to my personal blogs allows potential
interlocutors to observe my presence as a queer person on Tumblr and evaluate whether or
not, based on the types o f content that I post to Tumblr and the ways I present this content, I
am an acceptable queer Tumblr user, and in turn a trustworthy scholar. On Tumblr, this type
o f disclosure is a standard form of accountability, a demonstration that I accept

21 C hapter 1 elaborates m ore on the negotiation of gender on Tumblr.

22 W hen referring to Tum blr the company or the social netw orking platform, I use a
capital "T." W hen referring to a tum blr page, I use a lower-case "t" to differentiate the
tw o.
6

Figure 1 Tum blr A dvertisem ent designed by th e au th o r

llUgltlS

rm r a r i u and tin writing my Masters

Thesis on queer folks uses of tumblr. Im
particularly interested in the ways in
which queer folks create and engage with
community on tumblr, as well as how
people use tumblr as a tool for self
expression (whether its our rad
intersections! identities, dedication to
cute sunimals, tasty food, Tina Fey, or
anything we post, reblog, or quote)
Id love to talk to anyone interested via
cither video, in-person, or c-roafl
interview.
If you re interested in helping me out,
please either message me via tumblr a
qucerlivcs.tumblr.com or
psamanianjjgm.slc.edu

mwm

responsibility for my actions by providing a form of authentication legible to queer Tumblr

users.
In order to encourage circulation, I tagged my advertisement post. Tagging a post
on Tumblr makes the post searchable; I used the tags #queer, #tumblr, #projects, #womens
history, #queer history, #social media, #community, #queer community, #masters thesis,
#queerlives, #queer tumblr, #ma, and #queer ethnography. These tags allow my post to
appear if a Tumblr user searches for any of these terms. The post received 42 notes total.
This means that 42 people totalincluding myself, because I reblogged the post to my
personal tumblrresponded to the post, whether by replying, reblogging, or liking the post.
Before contacting me via e-mail, my interlocutor nonstandardrepertoire reblogged the
advertisement with the explanation that they encountered the post originally in the queer
history tag.
After creating queerlives and posting the call for interviews, I submittedthe
image/text combination to five Fuck Yeah tumblrs that post content specific to intersecting
queer identities.23 I call these tumblrs purposed tumblrs, and specifically queer purposed
tumblrs. A purposed tumblr differs from most personal blogs because it was created with an
intended purpose, whether it be specifically for pom or similarly NSFW (Not Safe for

23 Tumblr's "submit" feature allows users to subm it a post to a tum blr for publication.
Most tumblrs have a "submit" link; when clicked, the link takes the user to a page th at
asks them w hat kind of post they would like to subm it (audio, image, video, quote, text,
link, or chat). The user must then provide a title, the contents of the post, and can select
tags from a list of tags created by the m oderator of the blog.
"Fuck Yeah" is a common method for naming purposed tumblrs, which could arguably
come from either colloquial speech patterns, or could have developed into a colloquial
speech pattern, of affirmation. Anything can become a "fuck yeah," Tumblr. For
example, if a person has a fine appreciation for butch women in lilac shirts, this person
could start a Tumblr entitled "fuck yeah, butches in lilac."
7

Work) content, or dedicated to a specific fandom (fans of a specific television or literary

series), a favorite celebrity, or a particular aspect of a persons identity. There are many
community-oriented queer purposed tumblrs that are curated by either one or more people
that post content specific to a particular queer identity. A tumblr by the name o f Fuck Yeah
Queer Latin@s24 facilitated the publication o f my first advertising attempt. Fuck Yeah Queer
Latin@s (shortened to FYQL) is a tumblr centered on facilitating queer Latin@ visibility
through the circulation o f images, audio, video, links, quotes and other text relevant to the
intersection o f queer and Latin@ identities. In addition to the submission, I used Tumblrs
ask function to send a message to FYQL. Asks can be either commentary or a question
that the person who moderates a tumblr can then answer either privately (directly to the user,
unless anonymous), or publicly by publishing the response to their tumblr. I submitted the
ask as an addendum to present myself to Fuck Yeah Queer Latin@s as a regular follower of
the blog, assure them o f my awareness that the call for interlocutors does not necessarily fit
in with the mission o f the blog, and demonstrate to the moderators that I would understand if
they decided not to post the ad. I undertook these precautions in order to prove that I was not
spamming them with self-promoting posts, and to reassure them that I did not just expect
Fuck Yeah Queer Latin@s to post content for me.
On Tumblr: Details & Demographics
In 2005 a high-school student named Chris Neukirchen developed the system of
microblogging known as the tumblelog, a combination of the words tumble and web
logging. Neukirchen felt stifled by other publishing formats; wanting to post more frequent,
shorter, updates, he experimented with different blogging layouts. He explains,

24 Latin@ is a shorthand w ay of w riting Latino/a.

8

I already had a blog with longer articles, and it felt inappropriate to spam it with such
short pieces of content.. .So I decided to make a separate site with a list of interesting
links, quotes, and pictures I wanted to share. It turned out I digged [sic] up enough
things to publish this list daily.25
Microblogs differ from their more traditional counterparts in the style, size, and frequency of
content published to the site. Standard blogs contain organized, planned-out, fleshed-out
blocks of text at the end of which readers may post commentary. In 2007, Tumblrs founder
David Karp adopted and tweaked Neukirchens blogging platform to create Tumblr.26
Microblogs provide eye-catching snippets or snapshots of content, and sites such as Tumblr
allow for the republication of content with added commentary that can recirculate throughout
the site. The microblogging platform that Tumblr uses is specifically known as a
tumblelog, a term and style that existed prior to David Karps founding of Tumblr in 2007.
Tumblr users ability to post daily provides a sense o f activity and movement and
fosters a casual relationship with technology, creation, and publication. Compared to other
social networking sites, Tumblr is more removed from users offline identities. While sites
such as Facebook function as spaces of authentication, in which people authenticate their
identities through connections with offline (real-life) acquaintances, Tumblr is advertised
as a space for self-expression 27 If Facebook represents everyday life, Tumblr is its more
obscure, subculture-centric cousin.

25 Fernando Alfonso III, "The Real Origins of Tumblr," The Daily Dot, May 23, 2013,
accessed February 13, 2014, http://w w w .dailvdot.com /business/origin-tum blranarchaia-projectionist-david-karp/
26 Alfonso III, "The Real Origins of Tumblr."
27 Tom Cheshire. "Tumbling on success: How Tum blr's David Karp built a 500
million empire. Wired, accessed O ctober 2 0 ,2 0 1 3 ,
http://www .wired.co .uk/magazine/archi ve/2012/03/features/tum bling-onsuccess?page=all
9

Tumblr epitomizes what Henry Jenkins calls convergence culture, or the cultural
shift among consumers in which different types o f media production and consumption collide
and flow into one another.28 In convergence culture, every story is told, produced, and
reproduced over multiple media platforms; on Tumblr specifically, users reproduce news
stories, commentary on current events, images from mainstream media and popular culture,
as well as personal content, all accomplished in the spirit of what I will call casual urgency.
A quest for liveness or the illusion of liveness on the Internet drives this urgency,
particularly on Tumblr. The microblog tumblelog style of blogging fosters a sense of
continuous activity with quick, short, flashy, image-based, frequently updated content. The
urgency is casual because Tumblr is designed to represent individual stream-ofconsciousness, allowing images, text, audio, video, quotes, links, and chats tumble onto the
blog chronologically with each posting.
In order to sign up for Tumblr, one need only be thirteen years old or over, create a
unique username that will become the url for ones blog, and provide two pieces of
information: a working e-mail address and a password to log onto the site. Tumblr provides
two main services for an account: an individual tumblr blog and the dashboard, which serves
as a home base for the user. A users tumblr page is the public blog to which the user posts
content, whether through original posts or reblogs; each tumblr page has a unique url, and is
customizeable and visible to the general public (anyone who visits the url, unless the blog is
password protected). Some users will have multiple blogs connected to the same Tumblr
account. Users spend the majority of their time looking through, liking, and reblogging

28 Henry Jenkins, Convergrertce Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, (New York:
New York U niversity Press, 2006), 2.
10

posts on their dashboards. When a user follows other users blogs, each recent post of the
followed blogs will tumble onto that users dashboard.
All dashboards are structurally alike. Figure 2 is a screenshot that depicts the
queerlives dashboard. The top left o f the page displays the Tumblr logo; the top right
features an icon that links to the dashboard, one that links to messages and submissions, a
help icon, a settings icon, a log-out icon, and a search box that allows users to search for
blogs and tags on Tumblr. Underneath this, a line o f icons allow users to create a new post
with either original content or content borrowed from elsewhere; users can choose whether
this post will be text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio or video. Beneath these icons, the most
recent posts from the blog that a user follows begin to appear. At the time of this screenshot,
the two most recent posts are from Fuck Yeah Queer Latin@s and my interlocutor
queerqueerspawn. The posts appear on the dahsboard in white rectangles with rounded
comers, organized vertically in a central column. Tumblr dashboards, as well as some
tumblr pages, use infinite scroll. Infinite scroll refreshes content as a user scrolls down the
page so that rather than requiring a next button to look through more content, posts will
continue to appear on the page as a user scrolls down. While scrolling through these posts,
users have the option to like (by clicking a heart-shaped icon), reblog (which will publish
the post to the users tumblr and in turn cause the post to appear on the dashboard of the
users followers), or share the post or just the URL through Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail.
According to the Pew Research Internet Project, a nonpartisan fact tank that informs
the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world,29 6% of
Internet users use Tumblr, and the majority of users are women. The Pew Reasearch Internet
29 "About the Project," Pew Research Internet Project, accessed April 12, 2014,
http: / / w w w .pew internet.org/about/
11

Projects study o f trends in Internet usage is based on 1,802 landline and cell phone
interviews conducted in both English and Spanish. The study reveals that Tumblr is most
popular with women Internet users, Latino and Latina Internet users, and users between the
ages o f eighteen and twenty nine who are either college graduates or have experienced some
college.30
Prior to commencing an official interview with my interlocutors, I asked each of
them a set o f twelve preliminary questions so as to locate them within Tumblrs
demographics.
Name (If you do not wish to disclose your name, perhaps a pseudonym that I
can use):
What gender pronouns do you use? (What gender pronouns would you like
me to use for you?)
Where do you live? Where are you from?
What is your occupation?
Are you a student? (where?):
How do you support yourself?:
How would you describe your race, ethnicity, or nationality?:
How do you identify? (Whatever the word identify means to you)
What is your tumblr URL?
Do you have multiple tumblrs? If so, what are the URLs?
How did you hear about this project?
Most o f my interlocutors fall between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five; my interlocutor
solointhesand is my oldest interlocutor, at age 33. In congruence with Tumblrs
demographics; all o f my interlocutors experienced some college, and a few had already
graduated from college. The majority are currently enrolled in or have attended small liberal
arts colleges, Ivy League schools, and state schools on the east coast, and a few o f them on
the west coast. O f my twenty interlocutors, eighteen identify as white, one as Filipina/Latina,

30 Maeve Duggan and Joanna Brenner, "The Demographics of Social Media Users
2012," Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. February 14,2013, accessed February
12, 2014, http://w w w .pew internet.org/2013/02/14/social-netw orking-site-u sers/
12

Figure 2: Screenshotof Queerlives Dashboard taken February 25, 2 0 1 4 at 6pm.

Photo

x p S .V ! . V

K it-

rsckietset:
oueerqueers oa wr.;
UnskAed tabor doesn't exist.
Labcr vtxch requres sk*s that are devalued does
<Js b en a a ceo rt a tvc^ powered company right not,
seem s feke tarty unskAed tabor
I won't
you on that beng retat<vety unrelated to effort
and aptitude.
But I wB put that posfton's status as tabor m scare
quotes

and one as African American. Those who identified themselves as white would frequently
describe themselves as, white as hell, veiy white, or Im whitey, and Im sorry. These
descriptions reveal that my interlocutors view themselves as excessively or apologetically
white. This excessive and apologetic whiteness also testifies to the fact that, whether or not
people act in racist or appropriative ways on Tumblr, a consciousness of race and a sense of
white guilt prevails. Had I originally created a survey for this project, I may have had a more
diverse pool of interlocutors. I initially received thirteen e-mails from Tumblr users
interested in interviewing with me, many of whom identified as Latina and mixed-race (the
majority had seen the post on Fuck Yeah Queer Latin@s). I gave users the choice o f an email interview and a Skype interview; the majority chose to continue over e-mail;
unfortunately, only three responded to my interview questions. In order to simplify the
interview process, I created the Google Forms survey, which garnered eleven responses,
many from Tumblr users who had wanted to schedule an in-person or Skype interview but
had never had the time. As the medium changed, my pool of interlocutors became
whitewashed.
The Pew Research Internet Project does not measure how many Tumblr users identify
as queer31, and does not take into consideration genders beyond than men and women.
All of my interlocutors feel that queer is a term that they can claim in some way. The
genders of my interlocutors vary; ten identify as cis32 women (all but two explicitly used the

31 There has been a queer Tumblr demographics survey circulating on the site, but as of
yet no results have been released. The survey can be found at
http://www.surveymonkey.eom/s/M V5TPZK
32 cis" is shorthand for the word "cisgender." The term applies to people w hose gender
identity correlates with the gender that they w ere assigned at birth.
13

word cis to identify their gender), three are trans men, one interlocutor is AMAB33
agender, two are FAAB34 genderqueer, one as AMAB genderqueer, and one describes her
gender as indeterminate at this time, and two are cis men.
After my interviewing my interlocutors and spending time analyzing common aspects
o f being a queer tumblr user, my results have led me to divide this thesis into three chapters,
and frame Tumblr as an effort in queer utopia-building and the creation of a counterpublic.
Utopias are independent from dominant culture, free o f any governing laws implemented by
the dominant culture. Annamarie Jagose explores the idea lesbian utopia, noting that it is
beyond representation, patriarchal nomination, heterosexual exchange, binary opposition35
and that we must acknowledge that when we give something the chance for utopia we are
automatically saying that it is transgressive and needs a space in which to thrive because it
does not get to fully express itself in normal society. This can be said of Tumblrs queer
utopia as well; queer Tumblr users and tumblr pages that curate queer content self
consciously understand themselves as outside of dominant culture and actively participate in
acts o f transgression. The queer community on Tumblr is often self-referential and a product
o f shared experience. In addition to being an effort in utopia building, Tumblr resembles

33 AMAB is an acronym coined by the trans* (the * in "trans*" indicates the variety of
gender(ed) identities and expressions that can be encompassed by the term "trans")
com m unity, particularly genderqueer and non-binary communities, as well as intersex
com m unities to m ean "Assigned Male a t Birth." The term is an alternative to
perp etuating a trans* narrative of necessary "transition" from one state of being to
another. The term also indicates th at people have been "assigned" a certain sex (and by
"default," gender) a t birth th at does not necessarily correlate w ith their experience of
th eir own sex and gender. Rather than calling oneself "male to female," or "m tf a
person can say they are AMAB. Someone female-assigned would be AFAB (assigned
fem ale a t birth).
34 FAAB is a variation of AFAB and stands for "female assigned a t birth." The two have
th e sam e definition.
35 Annam arie Jagose, Lesbian Utopics. (New York: Routledge, 1994), 2.
14

what Michael Warner calls counterpublics. Warner defines publics as a common readership,
or a commonality in bearing witness to particular content. A counterpublic is similar to a
public but with a self-consciousness of its own separation from the norm; within a
counterpublic, people understand content circulated in conscious opposition or transgression
from the dominant culture.36 On Tumblr, queer content is often positioned in direct
opposition to straight, cis, white culture, and even in opposition to homonormative gay
culture. The ability on Tumblr to fashion a queer world allows it to be what Berlant and
Warner would call a queer zone estranged from heterosexual culture37 despite its being a
situated within the wider pool of Tumblr as a site.
I begin Chapter 1 with the presentation of self on Tumblr; this chapter focuses on
Tumblr as a site, and how queer users of the site engage in a process o f presenting the self
using Tumblr. This section primarily focuses on the About me section of Tumblr, and the
language that users engage to describe their identities and to both forge and explore new
identities. The second chapter, Maintaining Safe Space, Maintaining Queer Utopia,
explores the idea of creating queer safe space and queer utopia on Tumblr. In this
chapter, I discuss the ways in which queer Tumblr users interact with each other and the
content posted to Tumblr and work to build an ideal queer environment through processes of
accountability and calling out. The third chapter, Queer Dystopia, delves into the
failures of these community-building efforts, demonstrating the ways in which queer utopia
becomes queer dystopia on Tumblr.

36 Michael W arner, "Publics and Counterpublics," Public Cultures, 14,1 (W inter 2002):
50.
37 Berlant and Waner, "Sex in Public," 547.
15

Chapter 1: Presenting A Queer Self on Tumblr

Tumblr's homepage boasts, Follow the blogs youve been hearing about. Share the
things that you love.1 Tumblrs founder David Karp claims that he created the site to help
users build their identity through self-expression and creativity.2 How do queer Tumblr users
employ Tumblrs tools to creatively express the self? Prior studies o f queer Internet usage,
such as Alexanders study o f queer homepages and Munt, Bassett and ORiordans study of
lesbian online community, posit that norms o f narrativization and presentation emerge among
queer users online just as they do in offline queer communities.3
If the casual interactions between queer Tumblr users can be imagined as a
community, then queer Tumblr users also participate in trends o f self-presentation in order to
communicate a self that is socially intelligible to fellow queer users. This chapter addresses
how queer Tumblr users do queemess. The chapter begins with a discussion of how queer
users articulate identity through textual disclosurethrough usernames (a users URL), a
tumblrs title, heading and about me sectionand ends by addressing queer Tumblr users
politics of self-care, enacted through visual presentations of the self or selfies and the use
o f Tumblr as catharsis through the writing o f personal posts.
The tenuous relationship between queemess and visibility makes the Internet an
attractive venue for constructing a visibly queer self, knowable to queer and non-queer
users alike. On Tumblr, queer users align themselves with a queer identity and find ways to
mark their profiles as queer. In his essay on queer homepages in the United States, Jonathan
1 Tumblr Homepage, <http://w w w .tum blr.com > 22 November 2013.
2 Ryan Kim, "Tum brls Challenge: Finding Money in Sparking Creativity," Gigaom, April
13, 2012, accessed April 12, 2014, http://gigaom .com /2012/Q 4/13/tum bIrs-challengefinding-m oney-in-sparking-creativitv/.
3 Alexander, "Homo-Pages and Queer Sites," 86; Munt, Bassett and O'Riordan, "Virtually
Belonging," 125.
16

Alexander explains that many queer homepages in the mid-to late 1990s shared similar
aesthetics, using similar layouts, using queer iconography such as images o f pink trianges
and rainbows, and featuring links to a coming out story.4 Tumblr users can mark
themselves as queer through their URL or blog title. Alexander Cho explains that while
preparing for his ethnographic work on Tumblr, he had to determine how to best present
himself as a queer user without divulging too much personal information. Cho uploaded a
hot pink square to use as his Tumblr icon and explains the process of choosing his username,
saying,
Because I knew that I wanted to declare myself as a queer Tumblr, I wanted to choose
a name that was simple, direct, and indicated both a concern for queer issues as well
as a pointed voice. I wanted potential followers to get the message immediately,
especially in situations where all they would see was my Tumblr name in the instance
of something I liked or reblogged. I chose queer-militia as my username5
Between the hot pink square icon and a name like queer-militia, Cho blends in as a regular
queer user of the site.
Some of my interlocutors intentionally chose usernames that signify one or multiple
aspects of their queemess. For example, queerqueerspawn describes his own URL as
overtly political, as it puts together two major identities o f mine (being queer and being
queerspawn).6 He chose his username to represent his own queemess as it intersects with
his investment in queer kinship as the child of queer parents, demonstrating his view that his
queemess as well as queer kinship as inherently political. Figure 3 provides a screen shot of

4 Jonathan Alexander, "Homo-Pages and Queer Sites," 86.

5 Alexander Cho, "Queer Tumblrs, Networked Counterpublics," Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Boston, MA,. May 25,
2011, accessed March 12,2014,
http://citation.allacadem ic.com /m eta/p488843Jndex.htm l
6 Queerqueerspawn, Skype interview by author, January 23,2014.
17

queerqueerspawns heading, which reads, Just how was this babby formed?7 In our
interview he explains that his title draws attention to how confusing basic queerspawn life
stories (like how I was conceived) are for many/most straightspawn people. 8
Queerqueerspawns title and explanation demonstrate a positioning of the self through
opposition; his queerspawn identity exists in opposition to straigtspawn people.
What queer Tumblr users do not indicate with the URL or title o f their tumblr pages
they can reveal in their blog subtitle or an about me section which can either appear as a
heading under the title (often at the top of the blog), as a column on either side of the tumblr,
or as a separate page accessible via an about me link listed at the top of the tumblr. Over a
decade after Alexanders homepages, the norms for queer Internet use have evolved; queer
users no longer post a coming out story. Where Jonathan Alexanders queer homepages
feature a coming out story, queer Tumblr users implement this about me section to disclose
their various intersecting identities. Queer Tumblr users replace the coming out narrative as
a marker of queer authenticity with a building-blocks method of constructing and presenting
the self, accomplished through the layering disparate identities to create an authentically
unique, queer image.
The authentic queer narrative offered in the about me section demonstrates queer
Tumblr users obsessive attentiveness to identity or identities when describing the self.
Alexander Cho notes this trend during his fieldwork on Tumblr; he explains that, in an effort
to avoid providing personal content on his tumblr, his about me simply stated, queer

7 Q ueerqueerspaw n's title also references an Internet meme, "How is babby formed?"
th a t developed after a u ser on Yahoo! Answers posted the question "how is babby
form ed? how girl get pragnent?"
8 Q ueerqueerspaw n, Skype interview by author, January 31,2014
18

Just how was this babby formed

{daces I write key tags

tell me something

hmmm?

Thoughts on queerness and queerspawn life. Other things also too.

Figure 3: Screenshot of queerqueerspaw ns Tumblr heading (queerqueerspawn.tum blr.com )

shit.9 After spending time on Tumblr, Cho noticed that even tumblrs that did not include
any other personal content presented more descriptive identities than the one his, so changed
his description to read, im a gay hapa10 doctoral student.11 The old description presented
Chos tumblr as a collection of randomly selected, miscellaneous queer contentthe new
description presents the tumblr as miscellaneous content as filtered and curated by a gay hapa
doctoral student. By providing this short list of identities in his description, Cho participates
in the queer Tumblr convention of presenting intersectional queer identities.
The structure of about me sections exemplifies queer Tumblr users obsessive
attentiveness to identity as a form o f good political etiquette. In her essay Trigger
Warnings: Sex, Lies and Social Justice Utopia on Tumblr Lenore Bell posits that the longwinded identity statements are meant to contribute to the image that a deeply original,
sincere, and authentic queer personality is at work and that it is difficult to envisage how this
person can embody all of these identities beyond the confines o f the internet.12 To Bell,
these identities are contradictory and represent a failure to understand intersectionality; she
posits that although the building-blocks style o f naming multiple identities, the rigid
understanding of privilege and oppression do not allow for the true fluidity of intersecting
identities. Bell posits that the statements are worn as badges o f queer authenticity, which
armor any potential accusations of insincerity. These identities do not only armor from
insincerity, they act as a form of accountability. Acknowledging different forms of

9 Alexander Cho, "Queer Tumblr, Networked Publics," 16.

10"Hapa" is a mixed-race identity indicating th at som eone is part Asian o r Pacific
Islander.
11 Cho, "Queer Tumblr, Networked Publics," 16.
12 Lenore Bell, "Trigger Warnings: Sex, Lies, and Social justice Utopia on Tumbr," Media,
Communication and Cultural Studies Association, 6,1 (2013): 34, accessed November 23,
2013, http://ojs.m eccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow /article/view /296/
19

identifying conveys the message that a user is aware of a multitude of identities, and thus the
person is considered someone with good politics.
I turn to the about me section of my interlocutor jadynv to demonstrate the type o f
self-presentation that constitutes good politics on Tumblr. Jadynvs about me typifies
the negotiation o f the relationship between identity, privilege and oppression among queer
Tumblr users. Jadynvs tumblr uses one of the simpler themes: the background is a dark
purple, almost black; on the right there is a rectangular, white text box; an image can be
found in Figure 4. The text box includes jadynvs tumblr icon, which is a picture o f a
unicorn with a blue and orange mane and a mustache. Directly below the icon is the
description o f Jades tumblr; ze begins with a basic introduction Hello! My name is Jade.
I'm genderqueer, asexual, panromantic, and I use the pronouns ze/zir/zirs.13 This
introduction includes zir name, gender, gender pronouns, and an announcement that ze is
both asexual and panromantic.14 The first line immediately marks jadynv as different; ze
uses non-binary pronouns, does not identify within a binary system of gender, and does not
ascribe to traditional LGBT labels. Jadynvs identity is uniqueso unique that ze also
adds a line to express zir availability and openness to speak further on this potentially
confusing identity whose expression requires language that likely unfamiliar to some readers.
A second line break in the text represents a shift away from Jades personal identity to the
purpose of zir tumblr, which has no specific purpose or direction whatsoever. Yay tumblr!
Ze separates this from next block o f text to indicate another change of subject: naming zir

13 Jadynv, "About me,Jadynv, accessed December 29, 2013.

h ttp ://w w w .jadynv.tum blr.com
14 Panrom antic is a term generally used in conjunction with asexuality; being
panrom antic indicates th a t som eone is attracted to people of any gender in a romantic,
b u t not necessarily in a sexual way.
20

Figure 4: Screenshot of jadynv's "about m e section.

(Jadynv.tumblr.com) taken February 1 2 ,2 0 1 4 .

Hello! My nam e is Jade. Im

g e n d e rq u e e r, a sex u al,
pan ro m an tic, and I use th e
p ro n o u n s z e /z ir/z irs.
Q u estio n s always w elcom e.
T his is my blog th a t has no
specific p u rp o se o r direction
w hatsoever. Yay tum blr!
I am w hite, ab le-bodied,
econom ically privileged, TAAiT.
and have thin privilege. I try to be
as so cially re sp o n sib le and
respectful as I can at all tim es,
and try to rec o g n ize my privileges
and behave acco rd in g ly . If/w hen I
m ess up, I ap p re c ia te being called
o u t {but, o f c o u rse , its my jo b to
b e e d u c ate d and re s p o n s ib le , an d
its n o t so m eo n e e lses jo b to
ed u c ate me). If th e re s so m eth in g
problem atic o n my blog,
in clu d in g in th is a b o u t me, p lea se
yell at me a b o u t it and Ill Fix it {or
try to!) STAT.
A s k me a n y t h i n g I S u b m i t

Search

My blog

All o f T um blr

F o llo w on

tum blr.

RSS Feed

Random

A rchive

Mobile

privileges and sources of oppression. This naming process is common on Tumblr and has
also spread to more mainstream media outlets, becoming the dominant framework for
understanding social systems of power.
Privilege is no new concept. Since Peggy McIntoshs publication of White
Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, 15 anti-racist activists have understood
privilege as an unconscious form of oppression, or an invisible package of unearned
assets16 that certain people receive. McIntosh initially encountered the concept of privilege
through her activism within the womens movement before she realized her own position of
power as a white woman over women of color; since the publishing of her text, the discourse
on privilege, particularly in colloquial discourse, has both complicated and simplified this
passive form of oppression as it intersects with complex identities. Jadynv names zir
privileges by announcing, I am white, able-bodied, economically privileged, FAAB, and
have thin privilege.1718 Among queer Tumblr users, the first step in preventing the
oppression of others is to recognize and acknowledge ones own privileges. Jadynv chooses
to include a statement of accountability in zir description, explaining zir intent to be
responsible and respectful, and to recognize zir privileges. Jade also opens zirself up for
criticism and appeals to zir followers to call zir out when ze messes up or posts something
problematic on zir blog. The language jadynv uses mirrors that o f my other interlocutors; the

15 Peggy McIntosh, "White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack," Peace and
freedom, 4 9 ,4 (1989): 10-12.
16 McIntosh, "White Privilege," 10.
17 "Thin privilege" refers to the privilege of walking through the world as a thin person
and being exempt from "fat-phobia" and discrim ination based on larger-than-average
body size.
18 Jadynv, e-mail interview by author, January 3,2014.
21

themes o f being respectful and responsible, recognizing privilege, and the need for correction
and to be called out on problematic content are present in other about me sections.
I compare the about me to the idea of coming out because they have two things in
common: both are put in place as a means of presenting an authentic self, and both revolve
around a narrative o f being wounded. In their study of online and offline lesbian community,
Munt, Bassett and ORiordan posit that in the coming out narrative, Risk is part o f this
narrativized journey: the risks o f setting out, of exposure, and of loss. 19 My interlocutors
are out the notion o f risk o f identity exposure does not threaten them. Risk in the case
o f Tumblr is narrativized through victimization, which will be explained in more detail in the
last chapter. My interlocutors express a sense of woundedness; if Munt, Bassett, and
O Riordans interlocutors feared coming out or being exposed as queer, my interlocutors
have been out for years and identify as people who have suffered, not necessarily because of
their queemess, but because o f the way that their queemess intersects with their gender,
gender presentation, race, class, size, mental health, mental ability, physical ability, and any
potential other source that could cause a feeling of disenfranchisement. One o f my less jaded
interlocutors, littlesproutie, explains that engaging with queer Tumblr users and the content
that they post opened her eyes to how, how ostracized and hurt some people really are.20
Selfies & Self-Care
The ability to express the self on tumblr manifests differently for different people; for
some, self-expression comes in the form of reblogging a beautiful picture, others will write a
personal text post (often tagging it as #personal so that followers can decide whether or not
19 Sally R. Munt, Elizabeth H. Bassett, and Kate O'Riordan, "Virtually Belonging: Risk,
Connectivity, and Coming Out On-Line," International Journal o f Sexuality and Gender
Studies, 7, 2 (July 2002): 127
20 Littlesproutie, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 30, 2014.
22

they are interested in reading a personal post). Other queer Tumblr users will post selfies.
A selfie is a picture of the self, taken by the self. On Tumblr, a selfie is also referred to as
a GPOY21 or a Gratuitous Picture of Yourself. In his study of gay men and visibility on
the dating site Gaydar calls pictures o f the self face-pics,22 and posits that the presence of
these images act as a sort of currency of investment in an out gay identity. While selfies are
not currency on Tumblr, queer users known for posting selfies, which are often used as a
form of self-validation within the context of a culture of self-care on Tumblr. Lenore Bell
does not refrain from judging queer Tumblr users for appropriating a politics of radical selfcare when she writes,
One of the more popular tags in this community is self-care. The phrase self-care
derives a quote attributed to the African-American lesbian poet Audre Lorde: Caring
for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political
warfare. However, on Tumblr, this act of political warfare manifests itself as semi
nude camera-phone pictures o f the users followed by captions about accepting ones
self as beautiful. Pictures of over-indulgent foods, such as cupcakes, are also popular
forms of self-care.23
Lenore Bell conveys these actions as frivolous and overindulgent, she takes them out of
context. Many of my interlocutors identify as either neuro-atypical or as having mental
health struggles with depression and anxiety; for example, when I asked somethingruthless
how they identify, leaving the definition o f identify up to them for interpretation, they
responded with, white, able-bodied, genderqueer, queer, introvert, still have not figured out
whether i identify as neuraotypical or not. i am allistic. i have multiple mental

21 Tumblr users will also jokingly tag non-selfie images as "GPOY" if they relate to the
image. For example, someone who is really tired might encounter an image of a really
sleepy animal and reblog the picture with the tag "GPOY."
22 Mowlabocus, "Look at Me!," 204.
23 Bell, "Trigger Warnings," 37.
23

illnesses/disorders."24 Responses such as these are common; many queer Tumblr users
identify with disorders that require self-care as a means of survival. Another interlocutor,
peachon, speaks specifically to Bells commentary on over-indulgent foods and explains that
a large population of Tumblr users are recovering from eating disorders and will often post
pictures o f food and tag them as self-care to demonstrate an effort at recovery and as a means
o f overcoming feelings o f shame about eating, and specifically eating indulgent foods.25
The types o f self-care that Bell describes are attempts made by queer Tumblr users to undo
and work against social conditioning that tells people that something about themtheir
queemess, the way they cut or color their hair, their size, the color o f their skinmakes them
inherently not beautiful. Interested in potential responses to Bells quote, I posted a longer
version o f it along with a request for responses on queerlives, the Tumblr I created for this
project. I received only one written response, from ohsomuchlove; she concludes her
response by saying,
if you want to take a selfie or eat a cupcakehow can that harm someone else? It
may seem [whatever it seems to youyoung, frivolous, indulgent] in action but if its
not wronging anyone else, hows it different from anything else we do to derive
relaxation or pleasure like a massage or a bubble bath, sleeping in or rewatching
your favorite movie? The photographic documentation of the act of self-care
publicizes and politicizes it; it makes radical the idea that one can enjoy and be
validated in enjoying their own pleasure.
Queer Tumblr users promote the logic that self-care is a radical act.
People will also participate in affirmation as self-care. Affirmation is an important
part o f queer Tumblr; users will frequently seek and reproduce affirmations through text
posts as well. For example, a tumblr called thenonbinarysafespace published a post with the
text Nonbinary people: You are real. You exist. You matter. You are not alone. Please
24 Som ethingruthless, "Queerlives Survey/ (distributed by author), April 11, 2014.
25 Peachon, interview by author, March 30, 2014.
24

never forget any of this.26 The assumption made here is that people do forget this kind of
information, and that they do need reminding, especially those whose identities are rendered
invisible by society. Genderrific tells me that his tumblr, which is intended to create a sort
of catalogue, for the most part, of trans masculinity, began as a means o f self-care, as a
reinforcement of my own identity and aesthetic, but since acquiring many followers it has
expanded to empower others through affirming their identities by continuing to update and
diversify this catalogue of trans masculinity and aesthetics 27
As Bell also notes, selfies are a part of self-care to many Tumblr queers. My
interlocutor, parisianintexas notes that she sees many selfies of queer people, queer women
specifically, on Tumblr that feature images of people who are not considered conventionally
attractive in the mainstream.

Queer users post selfies as an act of creating a positive space

that redefines norms of beauty. Selfies are about performance, visibility, affirmation, and
self-empowerment. Many selfies feature the performance of the quotidian, trying to
empower the self by using everyday images, and providing an image of the self to view on
the screen. When asked about what he uses Tumblr for, my interlocutor,
francesetherealgumm ended his answer with, also I like to post selfies to get compliments.
Who doesn't?29 He explains that on Tumblr, he can express himself more openly than he
can on other sites and notes that, obviously selfies allow me to present my body in an uber
intentional and controlled way that I don't get otherwise." He posts selfies frequently and
26 Thenonbinarysafespace, "Nonbinary People," The Non-Binary Safe Space, February 6,
2014, accessed February 15, 2014,
http://thenonbinarvsafespace.tum blr.com /post/75853189876/nonbinary-people-youare-real-you-exist-you
27 Genderrific, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 27, 2014.
28 Parisianintexas, interview by author, December 11, 2013.
29 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.

25

says that they make me feel cute and pretty and happy, when my friends tell me I'm pretty I
feel even more awesome, as a transsexual fag this kind of validation and control over how
I'm seen is pretty rare for me and it rocks. Some o f my other interlocutors also post selfies,
and ohsomuchlove expressed a desire to post more selfies as a means of breaking out o f her
shy shell.30
Selfies contribute to the complex negotiation o f the personal on Tumblr. Many o f my
interlocutors posit that one aspect o f self-care for them is simply the act of using Tumblr as a
form o f catharsis, as a venue for self-expression. People will often use it to vent; letsgetmeta
explains that he lets all o f his political, angry feminist, radical queer feelings out on Tumblr
in ways that he cannot on a site such as Facebook. This queer sphere, ideally, also facilitates
learning and exploration. Some users choose to explore Tumblr by maintaining multiple
tumblr pages to curate and express different aspects of their identities. These second blogs
can also serve as a means of exploring and connecting with different aspects or interests o f
the queer community on Tumblr. For example, Nonstandardrepetoire created a second blog
because their initial tumblr was too much connected to an offline identity, and jadynv created
a second blog to engage more with an asexual identity. Nonstandardrerpertoire and jadynvs
second tumblrs specifically exist to help them develop aspects of their identities and to
engage with new, more specific, networks on Tumblr. Nonstandardrepertoire finds more
resources on agenderism and queer struggles with mental health, while jadynv can explore zir
sexual identity with more depth and connect with an asexual network on Tumblr.31

30 Ohsomuchlove, interview by author, January 25, 2014.

31 Jadynv and n o n standardrepertoire did not wish to disclose the URLs of their second
tum blrs.
Jadynv, e-mail interview by author, January 3, 2014; N onstandardrepertoire, e-mail
interview by author, February 13, 2014.
26

Queer users explore identities by searching through tags and browsing the content
of individual tumblrs; through this process, users are able to pick up on trending topics
among certain groups of people, as well as the conventions of how to discuss these identities
and topics. Litlesproutie, one of my more optimistic and perhaps less jaded interlocutors,
explains that she uses Tumblr to look at beautiful images of nature and animals. To
discover new artists. To learn about thing s(social inequalities, different perspectives on
things, queer culture, body positivity, veganism).32 Without Tumblr, she explains, she
would have been exposed to less content; Genderrific similarly says that without Tumblr, he
would miss out on some radical ideas and aesthetics available on the site. He would also
miss out on a lot of great ideas, communities, critiques, and possible connections., and
would be a less well-developed thinker and activist..33 Exploration and learning on Tumblr
are meant to be positive and liberating experiences.
Queer Tumblr users, as if in a counterpublic, bear witness to much of the same
material. Users find blogs to follow through the blogs that they already follow; every single
one o f my interlocutors expressed that they primarily discover new blogs through content
reblogged on their dashboards. If users consistently reblog content and follow content
specific to their interests, many queer Tumblr users with similar interests will experience the
same Tumblr posts, and often they will see the same commentary attached to these posts,
further fostering a sense of shared experience. Frequently multiples of the same post will
appear on the dashboard, and as my interlocutor solointhesand notes, she sometimes hesitates
to reblog popular posts own blog because she figures that if she has seen a post multiple

32 Littlesproutie, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 30, 2014.

33 Genderrific, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 27, 2014.

27

times, her followers have probably seen the post multiple times as well and posting it again
would just clutter peoples dashboards.34
People fin d community on Tumblr, and by community they mean people who support
them, people to reply and reblog their posts, people with shared interests and investments.
Users will post personal content on Tumblr, whether about personal anxieties, emotional
moments in their lives, anger at the oppressive nature of society, anger at the ways in which
their personal feelings o f being oppressed victimize them, or maybe a happy or empowering
moment. People will often tag these posts as personal, which with the hashtag symbol
becomes #personal. These #personal posts that often cause followers to reply with
sympathetic reactions, reblogs of solidarity particularly if the post is about politicallymotivated anger or feelings of oppression, or kind messages. Francesetherealgumm notes
that he particularly likes to respond to peoples selfies with excessive compliments and
words o f support
The expressing anger on Tumblr can be cathartic; in an article on abuse in online
activism, Katherine Cross sums up the politics of a right to anger on Tumblr when she says,
Odds are if you belong to marginalised group, you are saddled with a stigma against
being angry. Women, people of colour, people with disabilities, trans people, the poor
and labouring classes, all face various and specific stigmas for being too loud or
too angry.36
As mentioned earlier in this chapter, people often use Tumblr to vent, such as my interlocutor
letsgetmeta, who uses Tumblr to vent about the symbolic figure of straight white cis men

34 Solointhesand, e-mail interview by author, March 20, 2013.

35 Francesetherealgum m , "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.
36 K atherine Cross, "Words, Words, Words: On Toxicity and Abuse in Online
Activism." Nuclear Unicorn, January 3, 2014, accessed March 28, 2014,
http://quinnae.com /2014/01/03/w ords-w ords-w ords-on-toxicity-and-abuse-inonline-activism /
28

who, to many queer Tumblr users, epitomize unchecked privilege and both passive and
active forms of oppression. Letsgetmeta says,
When Im very angry at annoying white boys, like cis boys, white boys, straight, gay,
whatever, or just boys in general. When Im angry at cis boys, I go to tumblr and Im
like ugh, cis boys are the worst because most of those cis boys dont have tumblr,
so, its .. .theres definitely a safety from those people. Thats.. .thats awesome.37
He goes to Tumblr because he knows that, on Tumblr, the people who follow him will agree
with him about straight white cis men, because as a straight white trans man he is able to see
the privilege that straight white cis men have and critique it, and be frustrated by it, and find
solidarity in this frustration. Tumblr allows users to discover both interest-based community
and personal support; the sites sense of anonymity allows users to be a more true, more
candid, more #personal self.
Queer users of Tumblr leam to negotiate their identities through the about me
section of Tumblr, creating a culture of obsessive attention to identity, oppression, and
privilege. These complex selves that are created on the site require attention and care; in her
study o f queer YouTube performance, Aymar Jean Christian notes that her interlocutors
privilege personal and emotional development over politics38 but for my interlocutors, and
among queer Tumblr users, personal and emotional development are deeply enmeshed with a
sense of politicsit is a politics of protection, and in particular protecting the self.

37 Letsgetmeta, interview by author, January 20, 2014.

38 Aymar Jean Christian, "Camp 2.0: A Queer Performance of the Personal,"
Communication, Culture & Critique, 3,3 (Septem ber 2010), 357.
29

Chapter 2: Maintaining Safe Space, Maintaining Queer Utopia

Although Tumblr is one of the more mainstream social networking venues, it houses
and encourages the alternative and at times contradictory identities described in the first
chapter. Users and their identities do not simply exist on Tumblr, separate and unaffected by
one another; they are forged in relation to one another, developing through interactions
among users. In our interview, nonstandardrepertoire relates that Tumblr is an attractive
blogging platform because o f its built-in community aspect,1 which suggests the belief that
the participation in and creation of community are activities inherent to Tumblr as a site. But
what is it that queer users do on Tumblr? If there is a queer community on Tumblr, how is
this community mediated and maintained? What conventions do queer users employ to
create a sense o f community on Tumblr, and how do these relate to a project of utopia
building? This chapter examines the trends o f identity affirmation and accountability on
Tumblr as they are used to create a sense of ideal safe space on the Internet.
Within both online and offline queer social and activist spaces, safe space is a
constantly negotiated concept. According to Moira Kenney, safe space initially developed
within the womens movement of the early 1970s. In the womens movement and in queer
movements now, safe space allows its occupants to express themselves freely.2 She explains
that while venues such as bars could often serve as safe places, women began to intentionally
create safe spaces through active engagement and collaboration. Space in this sense does not
have to be grounded in physical location, but rather created through womens coming
together to create community and solidarity. Within queer activist spaces, a politics o f safe

1 N onstandardrepertoire, e-mail interview by author, February 13, 2014.

2 Moira Kenney, Mapping Gay LA: The Intersections o f Place and Politics (Philadelphia:
Tem ple U niversity Press, 2001), 24.
30

space has come to mean the creation of an environment in which no one should feel unsafe
or threatened or judged negatively for being who they are; it is an environment free of
judgment. On Tumblr, queer users engage with safe space by creating environments free of
content that threatens or challenges their beliefs.
Based on the responses of my interlocutors, a definition of queer community defies
consensus. Without the modifier queer, my interlocutors describe community as an
environment in which one feels safe, as something that is created and actively maintained, as
a group of people who support one another and are connected by common interest, physical
space, or emotional connection. When community becomes queer community, my
interlocutors struggle to formulate a confident definition, and their responses contradict one
another. Some of my interlocutors consider anyone who identifies as queer an automatic
member of the queer community, while others distinguish among multiple queer
communities that develop through intra-queer interaction and connections. Despite my
interlocutors expressions of uncertainty when defining queer community, many identify as
being a part of the queer community or, alternatively, a queer community. Clockworkbard
expresses that in the two years since his college graduation, his connections to a queer
community have diminished and Tumblr is one of the few places where he can feel even
peripherally involved in a queer community. When I asked ohsomuchlove to define queer
community, she responded, I mean, the queer community is a utopia. The queer
community doesnt exist.. .Tumblr is the closest thing you have to a queer community.4 But
what constitutes the queer community on Tumblr, and how do people engage with it?

3 Clockworkbard, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 25, 2014.

4 Ohsomuchlove, interview by author, January 25, 2014.
31

When asked whether there is a queer community on Tumblr and what that
community looks like, my interlocutor levianity says, I feel like there is a queer community
on Tumblr, but I also feel like most of the Tumblr community is queer. If this is true, then
who is the queer community on Tumblr? According to her, The queer [Tumblr] community
is made up o f the people who discuss queer politics, issues, and problems with the aim o f
awareness and betterment o f the community.5 The queer community on Tumblr consists of
queer users who post queer content. Both Clockworkbard and abcdevonlee contribute that a
lot o f queer content comes in form o f media criticism particularly within fandoms, and the
reimagination of images from TV shows and movies as queer.6 In somethingruthlesss
words, queer content refers to posts about advocacy health and respect, blogs with photos of
cuties, blogs that promote queer art or queer history.7 People engage with queer community
primarily by reblogging with or without commentary and sometimes replying directly to
posts. Reimagining media and criticizing is the expression o f a fantasy, a fantasy for a world
in which there are readily available diverse representations o f queemess. Advice posts on
Tumblr, posts with articles about queer news, posts with resources, are attempts at
consciousness-raising in the hopes o f creating a safe space on Tumblr, or a space in which
everyone shares the same politics. My interlocutors explain that experiencing these politics,
learning about a politics o f hyperawareness and sensitivity to identity and its intersections
with oppression, and the privileging of traditionally oppressed voices, is a positive
experience that adds to their knowledge. Aposhcountryclubinadesert says that shed be

5 Levianity, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 15, 2014.

6 Clockworkbard, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 25, 2014;
Abcdevonlee, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 20, 2014.
7 Som ethingruthless, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 11, 2014.
32

pretty damn ignorant and lost without Tumblr,8 and genderrific would have been a less
well developed thinker and activist without Tumblr.9
Tumblr allows for the creation of a pseudo-utopia or safe space because the
conventions of Tumblr allow users to construct their own experiences o f the site. Queer
users can follow only blogs that display the right politics, and can find community the
users who hold these politics. When asked to describe Tumblr, ministryofsillyhats explains
that the experience you have on Tumblr really depends on what blogs you choose to follow,
and then from there your experience is built. So, it really depends on your interests and then
who you choose to look at.10 Tumblr users do not just curate a public tumblr page, but also
to some extent curate their own dashboards. Ministryofsilly hats will not follow blogs that
post anti-queer, anti-feminist, or racist content;11 many of my interlocutors refuse to put up
with tumblrs whose politics do not align with their own. Both clockworkbard and
ohsomuchlove admit that sometimes, they will even unfollow a blog run by a best friend.
Clockworkbard does not like to see his best friends overly analytical and occasionally
argumentative fandom and social justice posts12, whereas ohsomuchlove confesses that she
constantly follows and then un-followers one of her best friends because she sometimes
cannot handle so much gore and pom on her dashboard13.
In his ethnographic research, Alexander Cho notes that users extend the courtesy of
courtesy of following back, or automatically reciprocating when they gain a new

8 Aposhcountryclubinadessert, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 20,

2014.
9 Genderrific, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 27, 2014.
10 Ministryofsillyhats, interview by author, January 21, 2014.
11 Ministryofsillyhats, interview by author, January 21, 2014.
12 Clockworkbard, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 25, 2014.
13 Ohsomuchlove, interview by author, January 25 2014.
33

follower.14 I asked my interlocutors if they follow back, and every single one indicated that,
no, they do not. Francesetherealgumm sums up my interlocutors responses when he says,
no I follow blogs that interest me and that's all.15 Users will, however, look at the tumblr
o f a new follower and determine whether or not the blog appears to be 'worth following. As
sophia-sol says, Definitely not! I only follow people for whom I genuinely want to see the
things they post.16 Unlike a site such as Facebook, which revolves around mutual
acceptance o f friendship, following a tumblr does not require reciprocation. Users will follow
up to thousands o f blogs, but they make sure to follow them selectively, often scrolling
through pages of content before deciding on whether or not to follow; all o f my interlocutors,
like ohsomuchlove and clockworkbard, indicate that they are friends with people who have
tumblrs that they choose not to follow.17 Genderrific explains that he is a careful dashboard
curator and occasionally checks up on friends blogs, but will often choose not to follow
them because he uses his dashboard primarily as a newspaper so that he is keyed in to queer
news.18 The selectiveness with which people follow users translates to reblogging posts as
well; if a post does not express an idea articulately or accurately enough, misrepresents a
particular identity group, is supposed to be funny but is not funny, or says something
considered oppressive, people will not recirculate it (unless in correction), and the blog will
not receive many followers.
This means that to some extent, users control how content is recirculated by choosing
whether or not to reblog it. Most o f my interlocutors will add commentary to posts, but those

14 Cho, "Queer Tum blrs, Networked Counterpublics," 22.

15 Francesetherealgum m , "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.
16 Sophia-sol, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 19, 2014.
17 Ohsomuchlove, interview by author, January 25, 2014; clockworkbard
18 Genderrific, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 27,2014.
34

who are more interested in creating a visual archive will reblog mostly images and delete any
commentary and will not add any of their own. In our interviews, I asked interlocutors
whether or not they have ever hesitated to reblog a post. All of them indicated that, yes, they
had hesitated to reblog a post, with the majority adding all the time. When asked why,
somethingruthless writes,
i do not want to reblog things if it is offensive or oppressive, i sometimes also have
hesitated to reblog things because i am thinking about whether i want to add
commentary or notweighing whether it is worthwhile to get involved, usually in
those cases i decide it is not worthwhile and i do not reblog whatever it is.19
Somethingruthless acknowledges in their response that frequently people will hesitate to
reblog a) because the post contains something that the user finds offensive or b) because the
post contains something that other users may find oppressive. Some users, such as
francesetherealgumm will choose simply like a post instead o f reblogging it, if it seems
like it will start an argument.20 Nonstandardrepertoire similarly wishes to avoid argument,
and explains that sometimes they will hesitate to reblog because they want to add
commentary but do not have enough coherent thoughts to do it justice, or because they feel
the post may be factually inaccurate (such as a quote with no citation or source to
authenticate it) but they lack the time to fact-check the information. Nonstandardrepertoire
also comments that frequently they hesitate to add commentary to posts; for example, when
reblogging a post about racism from a person o f color, Nonstandardrepertoire might post
without commentary because adding my own voice would neither be necessary nor
welcome."21 Presumably, if the original poster, or w hoever had left the m ost recent
commentary, w ere not a person of color, N onstandardrepertoire would able to respond
19 Somethingruthless, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 11, 2014.
20 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.
21 Nonstandardrepertoire, e-mail interview by author, January 15, 2014.
35

to the post and express an opinion w ithout hesitation, or w ithout fear of being "called
o u t"
Being "called out" is a mechanism of accountability th at is used to m aintain
T um blr as a safe space for all queer users. Francesetherealgum m brings this up when
describing his experience w ith hesitation in reblogging; he explains th at he will not
reblog if he "think[s] people will have political issues with it, that they will w ant to do a
'call o u t'" 22 The problem s th at arise w hen "calling out will be discussed in the next
chapter; in this section 1 concentrate on the ways in which "calling out" is perceived as a
useful tool for T um blr to m aintain a safe com m unity space.
Accountability on Tumblr means an awareness of ones privileges and the acceptance
o f responsibility for ones actions with those privileges in tow. One method o f enforcing
accountability is calling out people on behavior or language or actions that are perceived as
having bad politics. Figure 5 is an infographic that I originally encountered on the tumblr
for a San Jose-based DIY/feminist/queer/punk collective called Think and Die Thinking and
has been reblogged by some o f my interlocutors, most recently by genderrific.23 The post
delineates a proper method to respond respectfully to being called out. The image is like a
Public Service Announcement (PSA) to queer Tumblr users; it demonstrates that in an ideal
world, calling out, is a productive process, and that people should grow from the
experience. The text is broken up into three steps. The first, Dont discredit the person by
arguing explains the courage it takes to call a person out, and that an individual should not
pass off the incident or devalue the legitimacy o f the persons complaints. According to

22 Francesetherealgum m , "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.

23 Genderrific, "How to Deal with Being Called Out and How to Grow From It," March 8,
2013, accessed Novem ber 31, 2013, http://genderrific.tum blr.com /post/44901155213
36

Figure 5: How to Deal with Being Called Out and How to Grow From It

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the image, being oppressive cannot be euphemized as being offensive or hurting

someones feelings; in short, being oppressive is a serious matter, being called out is a
serious matter, and to respond to a call-out defensively or flippantly is another oppressive
matter (no matter ones intent, according to the image). The first section ends by asserting
that even if ones intent is not to use oppressive language, their actions are still
contributing to and perpetuating a larger system of oppression that you may not know
exists. According to the image, it is O.K., because everyone is still learning.
The second section urges people to recognize the power dynamics between you and
this person doing the calling out. The person being called out is reminded to understand
intersectionality, which by this definition means the ways in which privileges and
oppressions intersect; this assumes that the person doing the calling out is less privileged, or
in this situation holds less social power, than the person being called out. Knowing ones
privilege can help reduce the way you oppress others, because privilege is a passive form
of oppression. Those with privilege are thus constantly oppressing others, and those who
lack privilege are by default under a constant state o f oppression. The PSA takes on a tone o f
compassion, reminding that it is a difficult process to recognize ones privilege, and
encouraging the person being called out to stay strong.
The third step in being called out is to apologize, and to understand that the calling
out is only done as a favor, out of genuine consideration for the person called out; The point
of them calling you out is to help you work to change and help you reduce your oppression
[sic] and be a great ally (emphasis in text). The logic of the text dictates that all people
have been socialized into an oppressive society and have been taught to oppress others;
according to the graphic, people should be thankful for the experience of being called out, or,

37

be happy that you have someone around to help identify and unlearn these things. In my
own e-mail exchange with jadynv, I was called out for asking for preferred gender
pronouns. In zir response, ze explains,
note: please don't say preferred pronoun, nor that pronouns have genders or vice
versa. Describing pronouns as 'preferred' implies that they are optional or a
preference, which they are not, and no set o f pronouns is inherently attached to a
gender [e.g. someone who uses the pronouns she/her/hers is not necessarily a girl])
:)24
In response, I apologized to Jadynv writing,
I would like to apologize for using the language of preferred gender pronoun - it is
the colloquial way I and the circles I engage with use to ask folks how they would
like us to refer to them. I was only asking so I would know what pronouns to use in
my paper, rather than to infer gender based on pronouns (I also notice that I only
asked for pronouns, and not gender, which makes it seem even more as if I had
intended to make assumptions, which was not the case!) That said, you are definitely
right; I should have considered more deeply my use of the standard phrase preferred
gender pronoun because the word preferred linguistically implies passivity and
dismissiveness. Thank you so much for calling me out on this so that I will be more
conscious of language when speaking to my other interlocutors.25
In the apology I defend m yself but also acknowledge that I should have been more careful
with my language. These instances of calling out, such as the one that transpired between
jadynv and myself, can sometimes seem like users trying to one-up each other on knowledge
o f good politics. Jadynv calls me out for using the term preferred gender pronoun, which
is a standard phrase used among most queer communities, particularly in queer activist
spaces; by calling me out, jadynv simultaneously wants me to know that I have erred but in
the process tries to demonstrate that ze is more in the know on good queer politics. As I
defend myself, I similarly adopt this language of being in the know, in order to
demonstrate to jadynv that I am not ignorant, but that my phrasing could have been better
and more considerate. In our interaction jadynv accepts this apology, and we are able to
24 Jadynv, e-mail interview by author, January 3, 2014.
25 Parisa Zamanina, e-mail interview w ith Jadynv, January 3, 2014.
38

continue with our interview. If I had started a debate with jadynv on this subject, or had I
disagreed, our interaction would not have ended agreeably. In theory, the practice of calling
outthe acknowledgement of ones improper actions and show of being accountable or
responsible for ones actions creates the optimum circumstances for queer safe space, which
is to say a space that is not just safe for queer people but also safe for any other marginalized
group assuming that they recognize a mutual respect for queer peoples marginalization.
The purposed tumblrs I described in Chapter 1 can often be sources of exposure for
queer Tumblr users, as well as sources of community and solidarity. Many will choose
impersonal, identity-centric URLs that correlate to their impersonal and identity-centric
purpose; these blog will often also indicate on their tumblr page that they are a safe space.
Safe space in this context means that those who identify with the identity centralized will be
able to view identity-affirming content which does not judge or devalue their identities.
Littlesproutie associates purposed tumblrs with community, saying there is queer
community on Tumblr. There are blogs dedicated to support people in hard places, blogs
spreading knowledge, blogs about advocacy, health, and respect, blogs with photos of cuties,
blogs that promote queer art or queer history.26 Purposed tumblrs, and individual tumblr
users who post content about identity-affirmation and self-care strive toward creating queer
safe space, and ultimately an ideal space in which queemess can exist without
repercussion. Jennifer Egan in her 2000 article Lonely Gay Teen Seeking Same, claims
that the Internet revolutionized the experience of growing up gay by providing an escape

26 Littlesproutie, "Queerlives Survey, (distributed by author), March 30, 2014.

39

from homophobic surroundings through a parallel online community.27 Tumblr is a space

where users can create parallel community, particularly on purposed tumblrs. In many ways,
purposed tumblrs are positive spaces trying to create space for those who do not see
themselves reflected in either popular culture or among the people they regularly interact
with. Many of my interlocutors expressed a wish that they could have had a Tumblr account
when they were younger, so they could have explored different identities at a younger age;
my interlocutors also predict that they would have come out sooner if they had been able to
find and curate for themselves the kinds of queer-centric content available on the site.
Tumblr users are able to find these loosely connected user networks through the tags
that make posts searchable. Tumblr users frequently tag their content; tags allow ones posts
to show up when users search the tags, but they also serve as commentary, frequently ironic
commentary. Juxtaposed with the ironic capabilities of tags is the use of tags to trigger
warn content. Trigger warnings are a convention that many queer, feminist, and social
justice-oriented Internet users use regularly. The term serves as a red flag for people who
have experienced certain forms of trauma; if a post says trigger warning on it, this likely
means that the post either describes or depicts something potentially upsetting and triggering.
Both on and off Tumblr, people will either type out trigger warning or write TW:
followed by a few words describing the possible trigger. Typical trigger warnings include
rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, gore, g if (for those who may be sensitive to
moving images), racial slurs, racism, trans slurs, or transphobia. Figure 6 actually
shows a recent post from queerqueerspawn expressing his regret and shame at having

27 Jennifer Egan, "Lonely Gay Teen Seeking Same," The New York Times, December 10,
2000, accessed February 28, 2014
h ttp ://w w w .n y tim e s.c o m /2 0 0 0 /1 2 /1 0 /magazine/lonely-gay-teen-seeking-same.html
40

forgotten to put trigger warnings on posts that could potentially be triggering to others.28 The
sentiment behind trigger warning is protection, and creating an environment that is safe
for all people to engage with without fear of encountering potentially emotionally harmful
content. I asked all of my interlocutors about their uses of trigger warnings; every single
interlocutor knew about trigger warnings, and admitted to using them when necessary.
Many, like queerqueerspawn, felt guilty when they did not use them. One interlocutor,
drunkandbored, says If it seems in egregious need o f trigger warnings, I'll tag it, but often I
just post without tagging. (Which is probably why I only have 122 followers, but my god
tagging is tedious!)29 Drunkandbored thus attributes a low follower count to the fact that
she sometimes neglects to trigger warn her content. Whether or not her follower count is
dependent on consistency of her trigger warnings, drunkandbored perceives the politics o f
incorporating these warnings into ones reblogging and blogging habits are so strong that
they affect the types of blogs that people follow; users cannot justify following someone who
do not utilize the mechanisms of maintaining safe-space.
In the introduction to this thesis, I posited that Tumblr resembles a counterpublic; a
subaltern public conscious of its transgressiveness. This chapter demonstrates the
maintenance of Tumblr as a safe space, a utopia, or alternatively as a counterpubclic which
exists in as a queer space, "estranged from a heterosexual culture"30 while
simultaneously existing within a larger heterosexual society, both on and off Tumblr
(unless levianity is rightunless the m ajority of Tumblr users really are queer). The
safe space that users imagine on Tumblr is one in which queer users can build queer
28 Queerqueerspawn, "UGH," Queerqueerspawn, April 8, 2014, accessed April 8, 2014,
http://queerqueerspaw n.tum blr.com /post/82098378617
29 Drunkandbored, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 25, 2014.
30 Berlant and Warner, "Sex in Public," 547.

culture and reim agine the possibilities of identity, of a public itself; to create a
com m unity in which, as Berlant and W arner say, "the heterosexual couple is no longer
th e privileged exam ple of sexual culture."31 In o rd er to maintain this safe space, users
m ust engage w ith th e right politics by following the right blogs, posting the right
content, calling each oth er out w hen necessary, and trigger w arning content th at could
potentially cause em otional harm to other users.

31 B erlant and W arner, "Sex in Public," 548.

42

Figure 6: Screenshot of queerlives dashboard April 8, 2014 at 1 lam

UGH the number of tim es Iv e forgotten to put in a very im portant TW for

d a y s on end on a p o s t I am g a rb a g e everyone should unfollow me.

Chapter 3: Queer Dystopia

Despite efforts at creating a utopian safe space in which all expressions of queer
identity can exist freely and flourish, Tumblr also exhibits qualities of a queer rfystopia.
Dystopia is often a consequence of attempts at setting up utopia. Lenore Bell compares the
pitfalls of queer community on tumblr to Synergia, a commune founded in New Mexico in
1969.1 Synergia members abided by the principle that, through total honesty, their society
could function harmoniously and naturally. Queer Tumblr similarly abides by an ethos of
total honesty, but replaces the word honesty with the word accountability. While
honesty and accountability are not the same thing, accountability is achieved through a form
of being upfront about ones social and personal circumstances (ones privileges and
oppressions); honesty and accountability are achieved through constant disclosure. Unlike
Synergia, queer Tumblr users are not intentionally sequestered into a physical community;
they are geographically separated, and each user exists in a personal Internet sphere or
bubble, and through shared interest, casually and coincidentally interacts with other queer
users. In presenting the self to people who would otherwise be strangers, in order to be
visibly accountable, queer Tumblr users must demonstrate social awareness through the
disclosure of identities on their own tumblr pages. The about me sections of users profiles
demonstrate that naming ones identities as well as ones privileges is a form of
accountability, or, of being aware of and responsible for the privileges associated with a
particular identity or aspect of ones being. According to Bell, human nature was the greatest
impediment to Synergias success, because human interactions do not take place in a
vacuum. With no political system to mediate group dynamics, certain personalities begin to
dominate and disrupt the egalitarian ideal; by trying to void the creation of a political system,
1 Bell, "Trigger Warnings," 32.

people within the group begin to feel stifled, as Bell comments when she says, anxiety and
silent fear ran high in the community.2
As discussed in the second chapter, queer Tumblr users use the process of calling out
to compel each other to take responsibility for actions and missteps. Just as Synergias
policy of total honesty became a tool for silencing, Tumblrs processes of calling out can
evolve into online wars o f words that generate a mob-like mentality, privileging the voices of
some, silencing others, and as Bell argues, forcing the rest into anxiety and silent fear.
Tumblr users attempts to create a queer utopia are foiled by their own mechanisms for its
maintenance. This chapter looks at the dystopian side of Tumblrs utopia, examining the
stereotypes o f queer Tumblr users, the tendency toward a mob-like mentality, the creation of
enemies both outside o f and among queer users, and exceptions to rules of accountability.
Queer Tumblr users have acquired a bad name for themselves, in many ways
perpetuated by queer Tumblr users themselves. I asked my interlocutors to explain the
stereotypes o f a typical queer Tumblr user, also known as a Tumblr queer. A quick Google
search for Tumblr queers (in quotation marks) results with titles such as Dear Tumblr
queers and Are you listening, Tumblr queers? that demonstrate that Tumblr queers are
referenced as a collective and coherent group. This group, or perhaps more accurately, this
counterpublic, holds two different positions among queer Tumblr users. Using the phrase
positively, people call out to Tumblr queers as friends and like-minded people with similar
politics, who operate within the same framework o f privilege and oppression, with whom a
user can communicate their #personal anger or anxieties. When the phrase is used
negatively, Tumblr queers represent the extremes of Tumblr arguments; Tumblr queer is a
title thrust upon others somebody more radical, more sensitive, more argumentative,
2 Bell, "Trigger W arnings," 32.

possibly more annoying, and certainly more interested in spending too much time on Tumblr.
While many of my interlocutors do not identify as a Tumblr queer, they all participate in the
culture that typifies the mythical Tumblr queer, and their blogs will address an ambiguous,
amorphous group of Tumblr queers when seeking solidarity or community.
When I asked about the stereotypical Tumblr queer, I received a variety of responses
relayed with varying degrees of sympathy. Ohsomuch offers a visual, saying,
I imagine like a little cartoon figure with a pink Mohawk standing on a soap box
shouting at people, half of whom vehemently agree and half o f whom vehemently
dont. Also lots of piercings. And some bad tattoos.3
Ministryofsillyhats distinguishes between what she views as two different types of tumblr
queer, one she calls the social justice Tumblr queer, who mostly reblogs content relating to
queer and feminist issues, often adding their own opinions and analysis to the content, and
the other a Tumblr queer who sharess a lot of sexual content about their queemess, often
through selfies which would be classified as NSFW (Not Safe for Work),4 or to quote Lenore
Bell, semi-nude camera-phone pictures o f the users followed by captions about accepting
ones self as beautiful.5 While ministryofsillyhats identifies a split between posting more
political content and sexual content, my other interlocutors describe Tumblr queers being
both politically-centered and posting personal content such as selfies; for example, when
asked for a description of a stereotypical Tumblr queer, genderrific posits, A lot of trigger
warnings, text posts about how much life sucks, and selfies.6 The overlap o f the selfie as a
radical act of queer self-love and the frequent posting o f political, though argumentative,
content reveals the strongly-held belief among Tumblr users that the personal is political.
3 Ohsomuchlove, interview by author, January 25, 2014.
4 Ministryofsillyhats, interview by author, January 21, 2014.
5 Bell, "Trigger Warnings," 37.
6 Genderrific, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 27, 2014.

45

Solointhesand, my oldest interlocutor at thirty-three years old, sums up my

interlocutors sentiments but provides perhaps the most sympathetic portrait of a
stereotypical Tumblr queer, describing them as,
20 to 22, well-meaning, earnest, very concerned with being respectful
to marginalized communities, sometimes a bit bitter and angry about
"the cishets", probably a bit genderqueer in addition to whatever
their orientation is, tries to keep track of any famous people who
have said disrespectful things and is quick to disavow affiliation
with them. Posts lots o f adorable selfies. Single and wistful about
it. Still trying to piece together a coherent identity.7
In clockworkbards less sympathetic words,
The unfortunate stereotype is an overly sensitive and argumentative individual who
takes everything ever posted as offensive and rants at length about political issues
related to their queemess. The stereotype hates straight people, particularly cis men,
solely because they are straight/straight cis men.8
In short: the stereotype o f queer Tumblr users is that they are younger, angrier, and more
radically queer than you. Clockworkbard resents these stereotypes, and claims that he
actively tries to avoid arguments though he believes that if he had gotten his tumblr when he
was younger (he is currently twenty-five and has had his tumblr for four years) he probably
would have engaged in the arguments that frustrate him so much.9 Another interlocutor,
aposhcountryclubinadesert explains that although she spends most of her time looking
through radical queer, feminist, anti-racist, anti-ableist content, that she disliked the
reputation that Tumblr can be overly social justice warrior-y.10 Somethingruthless
similarly laments this stereotype, but tells me that someone looking at their blog would

7 Solointhesand, e-mail interview by author, March 1, 2013.

8 Clockworkbard, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 25, 2014.
9 Clockworkbard, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), March 25, 2014.
10 A poshcountryclubinadessert, "Queerlives Survey, (distributed by author), March 20,
2014.
46

probably would peg them as a social justice warrior (and that they are fine with that).11
Francesetherealgumm, an unwilling participant in a Tumblr queer community, expresses
frustration with its politics
god I hate tumblr queer politics so much. I hate the way that tumblr queers tend to
ontologize queemess and gender and everything else in their politics, I hate the way
that they require everyone to have a stable and visible identity and list of experiences
at all times in order to be a valid speaking subject, oh my god.12
The politics that he refers to can be seen in the about me sections; users must have visible,
coherent identities which they constantly defend and present in order to be heard.
Calling People Out & Victimhood
In the previous section, I quote ministryossillyhats, somethingruthless, and
aposhcountryclubinadesert, all mentioning the idea of the social justice warrior, often
referred to as SJW. According to urbandictionary s definition, a social justice warrior is an
individual mostly active on Tumblr who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments
on social justice on the Internet that are characterized by a lack of depth or lack of meaning.
According to this definition, a social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly
believe all that they say, or even care about the groups they are fighting on behalf of, but
they make sure to adopt stances that are correct in their social circle. 13 These Internet
arguments are primarily centered on calling people out. This section o f the chapter focuses
on a standard example of calling someone out, and one exceptional instance o f an individual
being called out and then ostracized from queer Tumblr and social justice circles.
In this section I provide two primary examples o f negative calling out. The first is
Figure 7, which is a screen shot of two consecutive posts published on the Fuck Yeah Queer
11 Somethingruthless, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 11, 2014.
12 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.
13 "SJW," Urbandictionary.com, accessed April 13,2014,
http://w w w .urbandictionary.com /define.php?term =sjw
47

Latin@s (FYQL) tumblr, and the second is the situation surrounding a Tumblr user named
Ira Gray.
Figure 7 depicts two consecutive posts from FYQL.14 The first post, which appears
on the bottom, is an ask submitted to the blog; the ask references an apparent conflict
between a tumblr user and the blog FYQL. The person who submitted the ask says that he
is disgusted by the way that FYQL reacted to something his friend did; presumably
FYQL and this friend exchanged some harsh words, and perhaps FYQL called him out on a
behavior that they disapproved of, and this is what made the friend feel like shit. FYQL
published the ask along with a piece of commentary; they said, Latino Homosexual Oh
yeah, totally believable. Lulz!

The post that immediately follows this one is titled White

cis straight folx make us laugh. The body o f the text reads, As a Latino Homosexual
Lulz Next youre gonna come into our ask saying something like As a Latino-American of
a homosexual persuasion lolololol. Whoever curates the contents of FYQL does not
believe that the anonymous person submitting is queer or Latino, based on his language. The
ideology o f the anonymous user and the language used in the ask do not follow the
conventions o f queer Tumblr users, or proper queer Tumblr users.
The first hint that the user is not Latino or queer is the phrase As a Latino homosexual.
This sets him apart from queer people on Tumblr because the word homosexual does not
fit into current queer terminology for sexuality unless used sarcastically or ironically.
Because he uses the word seriously, he is deemed an imposter. The next mistake he makes is

14 Fyqueerlatinxs, "Anonymous Asked," Fuck Yeah Queer Latin@s, April 10, 2014,
accessed April 10,2014, http://fvqueerlatinxs.tum blr.com /post/79142130415/as-alatino-hom osexual-i-am -disgusted-by-your-treatm ent
Fyqueerlatinxs, "White cis straight folx m ake us laugh," April 10, 2014, accessed April
10, 2014 http://fyqueerlatinxs.tum blr.com /post/79142324690/w hite-cis-straightfolx-make-us-Iaugh
48

to tell FYQL that it is their moral responsibility as someone who wants to represent the
Latino homosexuals and all other labels to educate, not to berate. If he were a person who
traveled in queer, Latin@, or queer Latin@ circles, he would know that, among activists and
allies, it is never anyones responsibility to educate others. His final mistake, which
disqualifies him from being Latino, is his ending phrase, Your hypocrisy makes me
disgusted to identify as any form of Latino or Hispanic. While looking through the notes
of this post, I was able to look at other followers responses as they reblogged the post,
adding commentary on the prevalence of cyber brown/blackface. Even if this user really is
a Latino homosexual, as he claims to be, based on the logic of queer Tumblr, he is not
claiming a legitimate identity, and is thus by default a white, cis, straight man, the ultimate
attack on ones character and legitimacy among queer Tumblr users.
Ira Gray was a Tumblr user who easily fell into the categories of Tumblr queer and
social justice warrior; other users respected him for his good politics, and he frequently
received asks requesting advice and guidance, which he would give in the most respectful
way possible. He had connections to outside trans/queer networks; he ran local queer
workshops and workshops on practicing good sexual consent. His Tumblr description states,
What sets this blog apart from the rest o f the transition blogs? Queer theory and utter
honesty. Ira Gray knew about intersectionality and privilege, knew how to call people out
on their oppressive behavior, knew how to express his own identity, articulating his
various sources of oppression and victimhood while still acknowledging his own privileges.
He was right kind of queer and his ability to perform queemess with appropriate amounts
of good politics and personal anecdotes led to Tumblr-fame. Tumblr celebrity differs from
most other celebrityfor example, real celebrities use Twitter. They tweet so that everyone
can know what they had for breakfast and see that they are people just like us. Tumblr

celebrities are ordinary people who become famous on Tumblr, and thus famous outside o f
Tumblr. Some, like Ira Gray, also become infamous and a highly-debated subject among
queer Tumblr users both online and in real-life conversation.
In June o f 2012, accusations of sexual assault and rape began to come out against Ira
Gray. Some o f his former partners, all women and genderqueer trans masculine folks, started
posting online their histories with Ira, saying that he behaved abusively and that he often
forced them to have sex with him, often while they were asleep. His old partners would
describe the ways in which he tried to exert control over them, manipulate them, call them
cissexist or transphobic when they did not feel like having sex with him.15 He construed the
people he sexually victimized as his oppressors because he felt more victimized than he
perceived them to be. As Lenore Bell points out, after the accusations Ira Gray tried to
manipulate the situation, using the good-politics logic that had gained him legitimacy and
popularity among queer Tumblr users.16
There's no such thing as 100% good consent, but that obviously doesn't mean we
shouldn't be working towards it. What these allegations have done, however, is make me
question what truly good consent looks like. What happens if you do everything the
workshops youve attended and the reading youve done tells you to do and people still
feel violated? What does it mean if you both feel shitty about what happened? The only
reason I havent is because if I say Im not a rapist, then Ill be an apologist. If I say Im a
rapist, then I m confessing to something that I didnt do. These people obviously feel the
way that they feel, and I cant validate that while speaking up...Yes, I have messed up
and will continue to do so, but at the end of the day, Tumblr culture will say that
whatever I say doesnt matter. All I can do is recognise where I have done wrong, attempt
to resolve things, and go from there. Yes, I will always perpetuate misogyny despite my
best efforts. Said efforts dont absolve me though. I will perpetuate rape culture and have
done so despite my beliefs and efforts. I dont expect or desire to be absolved o f these
things. I hope to learn and grow for there is always room to do so. Lastly, Ive obviously
15 Testim onies are available at Fucknoshittypeople, "Posts Tagged Ira Gray" Fuck No
Shitty People, June 15, 2012, accessed March 10, 2014,
http://fucknoshittypeople.tum blr.com /tagged/iradaltongray and Wtfsocialjustice,
"Tagged Ira Gray," Best o f Social Justice, April 12, 2013, accessed March 10, 2014,
http://w tfsocialjustice.tum blr.com /tagged/Ira% 20G ray
16 Bell, "Trigger W arnings," 40.
50

Figure 7: Screenshot of Fuck Yeah Queer Latin@s page on March 10, 2014 at 2am.

White cis straight folx make us laugh.

"As a Latino Homosexual" Lulz
Next you're gonna com e into our ask saying som ething like As a
Latino-American of a hom osexual persuasion" lolololol

9 m inutes ego

Oh yeah, totally believable. Lulz!

12 m inutes ago

&

6 n o tes
mmmm

Anonymous asked: As a Latino hom osexual I am disg u sted by your

treatm ent of a blogger friend of mine. You m ade him feel like shit b e ca u se
of a com m ent he made. W as it a m istake? Maybe. But its your moral
responsibility a s som eone w ho w an ts to represent th e Latino
hom osexuals and ail other labels to educate, not to berate. Your ignorance
in dealing with him angers m e and you need to evaluate yourself before you
dare to judge others. Your hypocrisy m akes m e d isg u sted to identify a s any
form of Latino or Hispanic.
"Latino homosexual"

a
a

&

hurt these people; otherwise, they wouldnt be saying these things about me. I am not a
rapist though. 7
Here, Ira Gray tries to gloss over the complaints by discussing the hopelessness o f the
social justice politics that brought him to Tumblr-fame. In another response, he also
emphasizes that he, too, is a victim of abuse. Within the good-politics framework, as a trans
man, he has male privilege and he will always have this privilege; he will always, by default,
be oppressing women and perpetuating rape culture. He cannot defend himself for fear o f
being considered an apologist for rape. But he maintains that he did nothing wrong, even if
he can see that he has hurt people.
Despite his best efforts, most Tumblr users did not buy into Ira Grays self-defense.
As solointhesand says, people are very quick to disavow, and Ira Gray very quickly became a
public enemy of queer Tumblr.18 The last post on his now inactive but still existing tumblr is
from June 8, 2012. Self Made Men, a trans organization for which Gray was the West Coast
representative, let him go on June 12, releasing a statement (featured in Figure 8)
condemning him.19 The news of Ira Gray spread like wildfire throughout the queer Tumblr
scene and bled into offline queer environments as well.20 Figure 9 provides a screenshot of a
YouTube-famous trans Tumblr users archive, which reveals the amount of debate and

17 Wtfsocialjustice, "Ira Dalton Gray," Best o f Social justice, July 3, 2012, accessed March
10, 2014, http://w tfsocialjustice.tum blr.com /post/26438887241/im -not-going-tomake-a-statement-on-whether-i
Bell, "Trigger Warnings," 44.
18 Solointhesand, e-mail interview by author, March 1, 2014.
19 Theselfinademen, "Public Statem ent Regarding Ira Gray," The Self Made Men, June 10,
2012, accessed March 1,2014, http://theselfm adem en.tum blr.com /post/24791319042
20 See Figure 10 for an account of offline interactions with Ira Gray. Chase Ross, "so ira
gray was at my bar last night," Chase Ross, June 12, 2012, accessed March 28,2014,
http://chaseross.tum blr.com /post/24857158451/so-ira-gray-w as-at-m y-bar-lastnight
51

commentary circulating around June 10, 2012 about Ira Gray.21 Ira Gray tests the lines
between victim and victimizerhe embodies the transition between being a figure who could
do no wrong and becoming the subject o f mob-like, intra-queer hatred, and queer utopia gone
wrong.
In her text about queer cyber-gossip, Maria Francesca Fackler comments that the Internet
forces users to renegotiate continually the boundaries and registers of publicity and pivacy
adding that cyber-gossip manages to create a (queer) context of trust, 22 a trust which
requires a certain sense o f intimacy because gossip is never a relation among strangers.23
While the situation with Ira Gray spread to most comers of queer Tumblr was common
knowledge among queer users active on Tumblr between 2011 and June 2012, no one
pressed charges against him offline. When asked about reporting him to authorities, one user
answers, Who the fuck are the proper authorities for queer people and transpeople?...Do you
honestly expect us/them to trust the criminal justice systema system which criminalized
trans bodies and bodies o f colour... how obtuse do you think we are?"24 Figure 11 shows an
open letter to Ira Gray, demanding justice for his victims by stipulating that Gray take
responsibility for his actions. According to the demands, he must write a letter admitting that
he is a serial rapist and misogynist without trying to defend himself, give this letter to any
queer or trans organizations he is affiliated with, resign from all positions of power, take

21 Chase Ross, Archive," Snitch, Please, June 10, 2012, accessed March 23, 2014,
h ttp ://ch asero ss.tu m b lr.eo m /arch iv e/2 0 1 2 /6
22 Maria Francesca Fackler, "'I'll Google It': Gossip, Queer Intimacies, and the Internet,"
Modern Drama, 53, 3 (2010): 391
23 W arner, "Publics and Counterpublics," 59.
24 Bell "Trigger W arnings," 45
52

Figure 8: Self Made Mens Disavowal of Ira Gray

Public Statement Regarding Ira Gray

The Self Made Men
June 10,2012
As of today, June 10th 2012, The Self Made Men have severed professional ties with their West
Coast Representative, Ira Dalton Gray. On the morning of June 8th, 2012 The Self Made Men were
made aware of the allegations brought upon Mr. Gray. After careful consideration amongst the
staff, they have decided to let Mr. Gray go as a representative and member of the company.
He will no longer be affiliated with The Self Made Men from today forward.
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SO IRA GRAY WAS AT MY BAR LAST NIGHT.

jaymehariot:
TW: Ira Gray, Sexual Assualt, Sexual Violence. Rape
1 say my Par not In the sense of ownership, but In the sense of I work there and care deeply about It Anyway,
let me start from the bgeinnlng of my story.
I was speaking with a friend recently, Friday to be exact, and at the time had been completely obvious to the
accusations against Ira. She mentioned his name, sad she had been hanging out with him, etc, and that was It
The next day, 1 learned about how he raped multiple people, and read his response to the accusations. Needles
to say, I was on the victims side 1 did not know many details, just basics. That he did not get consent and he
doesnt believe that he is a rapist
Skip to last night where I was busy, stressed, tired, and sore from work. That friend of mine comes up to me
with Ira.
Mayme, meet Ira Gray?*
1 SHOOK HIS FUCKING HAND AND SMILED, SAID NICE TO MEET YOU AND APOLOGISED for not befog as
friendly a s l usually am at work. He then said that my friends had already told h im that 1 was usually much
friendlier, and not to worry about It, ete...
1 pulled my dose friend aside a few moments later and asked If she knew about the accusations against him, am
that I didnt want her or her girlfriend to get hurt I said this out of kwe.
Her response was *So you're on the other side too, huh?
I said yes, 1 tend to believe victims before rapists.
The rest of the night I did not speak to him, maybe a word whilst emptying ashtrays or something. 1 treated hlnr
like any other patron. I asked around with some of the trans* individuals that were there that night If they knew
him. Many said no, and 1 didnt have a chance to speak with them more. 1was working so time was iimted.
To get more to the point, today 1 finally had time to cateh up and read about what has been happening.
I am sick.
1 am angry.
1 am triggered to the point of tears.
1 officially, publicly, take back my handshake, my smile, my apology, and every single look or word I said to Ira
last night
I WILL BE SPEAKING TO MY BAR AND OTHERS TO GET HIM BANNED.
I wtt lose friends over this, but 1 will hopefully protect others.
Ira, 1 want you to know that you are not officially banned from my bar, and you should know which ft is, BUT I
am going to do EVERYTHING in my power to get you on that list And If you set foot fo my bar again, do not
expect a smile from me. Do not expect me to keep rrry mouth shut to other patrons. Do not expect people to not
know who you are and what you have done.
As a victim of rape and abuse, 1 am standing against Ira and all abusers and rapists.

25 notes
tagged as: Ira Gray, iragray. sexual assualt sexual violence, rape, abuse,
reblogged from jaymeharlot-deactlvated20120703
originally posted by JaymeharkX-deact)vated2012Q703
Figure 10: Offline Ira Gray

down all of his websites, stop running workshops and giving lectures, stop going to activist
events, and never contact them again.25
While Ira Gray had some defenders, there were more people who hated him. I myself
was not entirely convinced that I should bring Ira Gray into this thesisit felt too personal,
too close to strange memory, and certainly too sensitive a subject to actually bring up with
my interlocutors; little did I know that my interlocutors were going to bring him up in our
conversations. In my initial interview with letsgetmeta, he very vaguely brought up Ira Gray,
but did not mention him by name. He kept referring to how scary the queer community on
Tumblr was, how much he feared being swept up or falsely accused of something that he did
not do. A few days later, we had a subsequent conversation in which he did mention Ira
Gray. Letsgetmeta was commenting on how he had recently run across some of the Ira Gray
posts and commented that it was very threatening, like, if I see you on the street Im going
to kill you, and that he found himself thinking, theres no way all of these five thousand
people know who this person is, know the logistics of these accusations, theyre just jumping
on this big hate bandwagon.26
The big hate bandwagon is not necessarily unique to Tumblr; other movements
experience the same phenomenon. The easiest comparison for calling out is trashing. In
1976, after being trashed herself and disassociating herself from the womens movement, Jo
Freeman wrote an article called Trashing: The Dark Side o f Sisterhood, in which she
describes the phenomenon of second wave feminisms culture o f vehemently attacking and
disavowing those whose politics or circumstances strayed from their own brand of feminism;

25 Queerandpheasantstranger, "An Open Letter to Ira Gray," Cisnormativity, June 13,

2012, accessed March 30, 2014,
http://cisnorm ativitv.tum blr.com /post/25020031197/an-open-letter-to-ira-gray
26 Letsgetmeta, interview by author, January 31, 2014.
53

for example, women who chose to marry or have children would be trashed through guilttripping for not living their politics.27 In her article on the subject, Freeman defines trashing
as an attack
accomplished by making you feel that your very existence is inimical to the
Movement and that nothing can change this short of ceasing to exist. These feelings
are reinforced when you are isolated from your friends as they become convinced that
their association with you is similarly inimical to the Movement and to themselves.
Any support of you will taint them. Eventually all your colleagues join in a chorus of
condemnation which cannot be silenced, and you are reduced to a mere parody of
your previous self.28
Unlike calling out, trashing was a one-directional action; one person was trashed and thrown
out without defense. Calling out, in theory, is supposed to create a sense of mutual
accountability that leads ultimately to growth, but as evidenced by Ira Gray and the posts on
FYQL, frequently this is not the case. The PSA about how to deal with being called out in
Figure 5 tells the reader that it is hard to be called out. But what if someone with good
politics, who is normally doing the calling out, is called out? Even a queer, trans, feminist,
PhD candidate, blogger and journalist such as Katherine Cross fear the wrath of being called
out and being disavowed by the community. In her article on the subject of abuse in online
activism, Cross confesses that she fears being cast suddenly as one of the bad guys for
being insufficiently radical, too nuanced or too forgiving, or for simply writing something
whose offensive dimensions would be unknown to me at the time of publication.29 As a
Puerto Rican trans woman, Crosss statement is even more poignant; queer Tumblr users,
particularly the characteristically trans masculine queer population of Tumblr, in the spirit of
good politics will rush to the defense of the most oppressed or the most disenfranchised,
27 Ruth Rosen, "The W orld Split Open: How the Modern W omens Movement Changed
America," (New York: Penguin Books, 2000): 229-230.
28 Jo Freem an, "Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood, Articles By Joreen, accessed
March 15, 2014, http://w w w .iofreem an.com /ioreen/trashing.htm
29 K atherine Cross, "Words, Words, Words.
54

Figure 11: Open Letter to Ira Gray

which is often symbolized by the figure of the trans woman of color. Even Cross, whose
voice enjoys a higher level of legitimacy and authenticity due to the inherent hardship of
being a trans woman of color in the US, feels the anxiety and fear of rejection from the queer
community on Tumblr.
Although Cross expresses her fears, she does not request that people refrain from
calling her out; in her article, she calls for a more careful form of listening and consideration,
a less verbally violent form of calling out. But I ask the same questions as I did before, now
to demonstrate a different point: what if someone with good politics, who is normally doing
the calling out, is called out? My interlocutor francesetherealgumm, who is semi Tumblrfamous trans guy who frequently calls people out on his blog says in his interview that I
don't think tum blr callouts are very useful and for me they're usually triggering and
really upsetting. Sometimes."30 If he cannot be called out because he feels "triggered"
by this; is this not similar Ira Gray's assertion that he cannot be called out?
Lenore Bell claims that, The attempts to create a utopian safe space are actually
creating a community of entitled victims. Yet this environment helps sustain the community.
The users keep returning to air grievances and seek authenticity.31 To queeer Tumblr users,
this quote seems appalling because it is harsh, but in many ways it is true. I posted this quote
to the Queerlives Tumblr hoping to see responses; when I cited the source of the quote I did
so by following the norms of a queer Tumblr user. I provided a link to the full article and
warned that half the essay discusses Ira GrayI even added a trigger warning for his name,
just in case. I realize that taking these stepsadding the trigger warnings, making sure that
the link is provided so that someone does not go looking for it and suddenly stumble upon

30 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.

31 Bell, "Trigger Warnings," 37
55

triggering informationare precautions and a safety mechanism for myself, the person
posting. As a queer Tumblr user myself, I demonstrate my own fear o f being disavowed by
queer Tumblr; I cover my bases so that someone does not call me out, as jadynv did in our email exchange.
I received one actual response (other than reblogging and liking) to the post about entitled
victims; the response was from ohsomuchlove. She agrees that often on Tumblr there is a
preaching of accountability but a lack of practice to it," th at Tumblr users "are really
keen to play pity party games" which create a "hierarchy or privilegeand
converselya hierarchy of w ho suffers m ore than you do...[of) who is queer enough to
be included." She offers a theoretical situation:
For example, Suzie gossips about Jane, som eone she knows in passing, a t a party.
Jane finds ou t about it and says to Suzie, "Hey, I heard th at you said [w hatever]
w hat th e hell?" and Suzie says, "You're making me uncomfortable, you're being
aggressive, this is too upsetting to me, I can't talk to you. I have to take care of
myself." And Jane says, "Well can we talk about it later? You really upset me and I
w ant to talk about it" Suzie is privileging her own comfort over Janes, and uses selfcare as an excuse to n o t take accountability. If Suzie comes around later and says,
"Sorry I reacted so intensely, [whatever] you said triggered/upset me and I needed a
m inute to em otionally p rep arew hat w as it you w anted to talk about?" or anything
to a vaguely sim ilar effectif she ever responds to Jane in any wayshe's being a
good citizen, but if she continually avoids Jane, refuses to talk about it, and

continues to gossip about Janeyet her behavior is protected because queers

value self-care, then what kind of a community are we in? How can we create a
mutually supportive community without privileging the comfort of some over
the other? Avoiding responsibility for your actions is a fucked-up and childish
kind of self-careits harmful32
The question then becom es, w ho gets to be cared for? The logics of Tumblr allow queer
users to shirk responsibility for their actions by claiming th at it is in the name of self-

32 Em phasis added by author.

Ohsomuchlove, "The attem p ts to create a utopian safe space," The stares, the prayers,
the affairs o f the heart, March 30,2014, accessed March 30, 2014,
http://ohsom uchlove.tum blr.com /post/81168651581/the-attem pts-to-create-autopian-safe-space-are
56

care, using one's traum a or mental illness as an excuse to avoid accountability while
simultaneously demanding it from someone else.
Francesetherealgumm speaks to the complications that good politics, or being
politically pure33 bring to personal connections, positing that there is a tendency among
queer Tumblr users to insist that you're only allowed to be friends with people who are
politically pure and you're obliged to get mad at your friends if they're friends with people
who aren't politically pure.34 Tumblrs queer utopia, with its ideals o f good politics and
calling out, potential for the exploration of new identities, and its obsessive awareness o f
privilege and oppression and social power dynamics, crumbles and becomes a dystopian
parody of the safe space it tries to create.

33 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.

34 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.

Conclusion
This thesis has discussed the current conventions of queer self-representation
and com m unity building on Tumblr, and ultim ately asks the question; w hat do these
failed a ttem pts at enacting queer utopian values say about the new est queer
generation? The first ch ap ter addressed the formulation and presentation of an
authentic queer identity through the descriptions of the self found in the "about me"
section of a user's tu m b lr and in the title, and subtitle of a user's blog. The "about me"
sections reveal a basic form ula for presenting identity; name, age, gender, pronouns, the
list of w ays in which a user is privileged, and the list of ways in which a user is
oppressed. W hen asked to describe them selves to me in our interviews, my
interlocutors responded using the exact sam e format, presenting to me a complex queer
identity form ulated through an aw areness of privilege and oppression and an
identification w ith victimhood.
Does this d em o n strate th a t this is a standard way of describing the self in
g en era l or do my interlocutors respond in this way because there is an understanding
betw een us, th a t because w e are speaking of identity within the context of a project
ab o u t Tum blr, identity should be represented w ithin the norm s of Tumblr. The tren d of
presenting th e self through the intricate stacking and layering of privilege and
oppression leads to th e im portant question of w hether o r not a Tumblr user can
identify as queer, or identify with any disenfranchised group, w ithout feeling actively
oppressed by society. On Tumblr, the answ er seem s to be that people constantly feel
eith er actively or passively oppressed.

58

The second chapter relates back to the issue of community m aintenance, and
w hat it means to be involved with a queer community on Tumblr. This chapter
discusses processes of creating and m aintaining safe space on Tumblr through m ethods
of accountability such as calling out and trigger warnings; the chapter focuses on
Tumblr as a site of ideal growth, community, and good politics in the nam e of creating
safe online space for queer users. The creation and m aintenance of this space can be
positive, allowing for the exploration and affirmation of identity. But the obsessive
attem pt to create safe space can also foster a paranoid state among users.
Chapter three dem onstrates how the attem pts at creating utopia and safe space
on Tumblr can generate dystopia. This involves the failings of calling out, the ways in
which the good politics of Tumblr can be turned around to create a culture of anxiety
and silent fear among users, and the race to victimhood among users who m ust prove
th at they are victimized in order to absolve them selves of responsibility for their
privileges.
The New Republic recently published a bewildered news article entitled "Trigger
Happy: The 'trigger warning' has spread from blogs to college classes. Can it be
stopped?"1 The piece addresses a new trend among college students to dem and th at
trigger warnings be placed on course m aterial th at could potentially trigger students.
The politics developing among college-aged students on sites such as Tumblr are not
relegated to the online sphere; they are becoming standard modes of imagining and
experiencing the world. Formulations of "good politics" on Tumblr bleed into everyday
1 Jenny Jarvie, "Trigger Happy: The 'trigger w arning' has spread from blogs to college
classes. Can it be stopped?" New Republic, March 3, 2014, accessed March 16,2014,
http://w w w .new republic.com /article/116842/trigger-w arnings-have-spread-blogscollege-classes-thats-bad
59

practice. The author of the article, Jenny Jarvie, makes clear her opinion that trigger
w arnings in the classroom are excessive and unnecessary, but explains th at many
colleges have acquiesced to the students' requests. She cites Chinua Achebe's Things
Fall A part as an exam ple of a standard text th at requires trigger warnings under Oberlin
Colleges new guidelines for faculty. Because the text is too im portant to om it from the
curriculum , Oberlin's guidelines suggest a trigger warning because it may "trigger
read ers w ho have experienced racism, colonialism, religious persecution, violence,
suicide and more."2 According to Jarvie, a Rutgers University sophom ore
suggested th a t an a le rt for F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby say, TW: suicide,
dom estic abuse and graphic violence.'"3 The popularity and new dem and for tools such
as trigger w arnings offline dem onstrate the shift in thinking, the reim agining of the
w orld in term s of anxiety and victimhood.
The bleed betw een m echanism s of online safe space m aintenance and offline
attem p ts a t m aking individuals feel safe in the semi-public setting of the classroom
m akes sense w ithin the context of current habits of Internet usage. Before the advent of
technologies such as th e sm artphone and other Internet-access devices th at many
people carry on their person daily, Internet use w as confined to a set time and place;
the experience of being online w as segm ented into a timeframe, and often limited to
one site of interaction a t a time. The new technologies allow for immediate, any-time
access to sites such as Tumblr; users can engage with the site using the Tumblr
2 "Support Resources for Faculty," Oberlin College Office o f Equity Concerns, accessed
March 25, 2014,
h ttp://w eb.archive.org/w eb/20131222174936/http:/new .oberlin.edu/office/equityconcerns/sexual-offense-resource-guide/prevention-support-education/supportresources-for-faculty.dot
3 Jarvie, "Trigger Happy."
60

application on a sm artphone in the five-minute walk betw een classrooms, while waiting
for a train, while watching a movie, while eating or at w orkpeople are constantly
keyed in to w hat is going on online. It is thus unavoidable th at aspects of Tumblr would
bleed into everyday life in the same way th at aspects of everyday life certainly bleed
into Tumblr. The increasingly casual relationship to technology fosters the overlap of
offline and online experience.
Trigger warnings are not all th at Tumblr has affected offline. The politics th at
queer Tumblr users engage with on Tum blr do not differ from their personal beliefs;
Tumblr users feel able to express their radicalism m ore freely on Tumblr and feel m ore
supported in their beliefs on Tumblr, but their personal politics, the fram e of mind
dem onstrated by my interlocutors in this thesis, do not disappear w hen users look
away from their computers or log on to a different website. So w hat does this say about
this generation of college-educated, m ostly white, hyperconscious and victimized queer
Tumblr users? If queer utopia cannot succeed on a site such as Tumblr, can attem pts to
bring into popular discourse its m echanism s such as the trigger w arning liberate queer
lives? Or will these attem pts merely encourage "entitled victimhood"using one's
oppression to brush off other wrongs? As my interlocutor francesetherealgum m says,
Tumblr politics "repeatedly diagnose the w orld as fucked up in the sam e three or four
ways,"4 and based on the politics of Tumblr, it seem s that by constantly interrogating
identity and power in the same ways, queers will constantly receive the same
depressing answers w ithout real solutions.

4 Francesetherealgumm, "Queerlives Survey," (distributed by author), April 12, 2014.

61

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