Date of Award

Spring 2022

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice; College of Arts & Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Dina Pinsky

Abstract

Abrosexuality can be defined by an individual experiences changes in their perception of their sexuality; for instance, an abrosexual person could find themselves to be exclusively attracted to women for a time, and then experiences no sexual attraction months later. Unlike sexual identities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, abrosexuality has not been previously studied. Previous research shows that social media and online sites provide spaces for positive identity development and support for gender and sexual minority individuals. Since abrosexuality had not been previously studied, it is important to ask about the experiences of abrosexual individuals on social media. My research chose to use TikTok as a primary social media site for analysis, due to it being the most downloaded app in 2020. I spent 30-60 minutes a day on TikTok to garner a general understanding of the abrosexual community on this app. I then randomly selected twenty videos and comments for content analysis. My research supports previous literature in that social media does provide information, support, and spaces for positive identity development; however, for many abrosexual individuals, negative experiences such as microinvalidations are also experienced. More research needs to be done on newer gender and sexual minority labels, since new language is being created everyday.

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“I’ve never met another person with this identity”: The Experiences of Abrosexual Individuals on TikTok

Abrosexuality can be defined by an individual experiences changes in their perception of their sexuality; for instance, an abrosexual person could find themselves to be exclusively attracted to women for a time, and then experiences no sexual attraction months later. Unlike sexual identities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, abrosexuality has not been previously studied. Previous research shows that social media and online sites provide spaces for positive identity development and support for gender and sexual minority individuals. Since abrosexuality had not been previously studied, it is important to ask about the experiences of abrosexual individuals on social media. My research chose to use TikTok as a primary social media site for analysis, due to it being the most downloaded app in 2020. I spent 30-60 minutes a day on TikTok to garner a general understanding of the abrosexual community on this app. I then randomly selected twenty videos and comments for content analysis. My research supports previous literature in that social media does provide information, support, and spaces for positive identity development; however, for many abrosexual individuals, negative experiences such as microinvalidations are also experienced. More research needs to be done on newer gender and sexual minority labels, since new language is being created everyday.