THE POLITICS OF HETERONORMATIVITY FOR INDONESIAN WARIA IN YOUTUBE VIDEOS

Abstract

Through the lenses of structuration and gender performativity, this article investigates how select YouTube videos speak to the complexities of waria identities and the politics of heteronormativity. Waria are male-to-female transgendered individuals in Indonesia. Although the YouTube videos often try to ‘humanise’ and ‘normalise’ waria to non-waria viewers with the hope that such exposure can lead to greater tolerance and support, the videos present particular images and messages that, at times, reinforce a heterosexist gender binary framework, while on other occasions resisting that system or duality. Using an interpretative approach, the analysis treats the videos as data and texts. The general orientation of this type of content analysis is to uncover patterns of actions and meanings. This article pays special attention to the ways in which identity is socially constructed, and how the YouTube videos both support and challenge current dominant discourses about gender in Indonesia.