Essential labels? Gender identity politics on Hong Kong lesbian mobile phone application Butterfly

Abstract

In this presentation, I aim to primarily investigate the social meanings of gender identities in Hong Kong lesbian mobile media culture through a case study of a lesbian specific mobile phone application Butterfly. A user on Butterfly was obliged to select among four gender identities, as in tomboy (tb), tomboy’s girl (tbg), pure and no label, in order to gain successful registration for further participation. These terms were commonly used by Hong Kong lesbians to determine one’s gender role within a relationship and were based on both physical appearances as well as social characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Through participant observation on Butterfly and ethnographic interviews with nine participants and three core members of the software development team, this study attempts to examine how gender identity politics and gender roles are manifested and negotiated among female same-sex relations on mobile media.