Answer

Dissertation Proposal

Broad Topic/Area of Interest

Social media Apps have been deployed by both male and female users as mediums for their promotional activities. One of the commonly used social media App is Instagram. Cassidy (2017) opines that the rise of social media; particularly Instagram, has introduced a new wave of celebrity pegged on online influencing. Celebrities; whether male or female, who have gained recognition and a huge fan base due to their output and online content, are now using their bodies for promotional purposes (Fitzsimmons, 2017). There exist different similarities and differences in self-presentation of male and female in terms of their images, caption content, and hashtags. In Instagram, body goals differ among men and women because whereas the male body images reflect those of large and defined muscles, women images are both slim and muscular (Baker et al., 2018). While male celebrity influencers are allowed to present themselves in a revealing manner, female celebrities are banned form presenting themselves in a semi-nude fashion (Caldeira, De Ridder, & Van Bauwel, 2018). As such, masculinity and femininity are two concepts which are clearly demonstrated in the Instagram posts. From the many studies which have focused on the manner in which Instagram and other social media Apps have been used for promotional purposes, only a few have explored the demonstration of masculinity and femininity by celebrity influencers. The proposed independent project will seek to discuss how femininity and masculinity are portrayed on Instagram. Additionally, it will seek to illustrate how Instagram is giving their political copyright bans on any nipples shown from females and not males.

Provisional Research Questions

1. How do Instagram users promote themselves and their brands using their bodies?
2. How do the methods of promotion by the users of Instagram link with masculinity and femininity?

• How do famous celebrities on Instagram influence their followers and how does it affect the social aspect view of femininity and masculinity?

Literature Review

The use of social media has resulted in organizations turning to the deployment of celebrity influencers to promote their products. According to Fitzsimmons (2017), Instagram users promote themselves and their brands by posting semi-nude photos which are attractive to their audiences especially those of the opposite gender. Idealized body types have thus been developed based on the emphasis on body types which are attractive to the opposite sex. Cassidy (2017) asserts that male celebrities have focused on building their male body parts such as their chests, arms, and shoulders so that they look strong and attractive to the opposite sex. Dwiputra et al. (2018) add that female celebrity influencer is turned to more superficial desires and have started to exhibit the traditional masculine traits in their online self-representation. According to Caldeira, De Ridder, and Van Bauwel (2018), although Instagram allows male users to be more revealing of their body parts such as their nipples, female users have been banned from revealing their nipples. For instance, Marisa Papen’s account was deleted from Instagram after she posted nude photos at Jerusalem’s Wailing (Lindsay, 2018) Wall. However, men are allowed to post their uncovered nipples which then demonstrates the presence of gender discrimination in the use of Instagram. Sexism as an aspect of the feminist theory is displayed whereby women have to use superficial ways to change their identities by making themselves attractive and likable (Cassidy, 2017). In Instagram, celebrity women’s bodies are performative and not their authentic identities. Palmer (2012) warns that the postfeminists sensibility which is based in the perceived gender equality does not apply based on the digital media culture where men are allowed to reveal some body parts but women banned from doing the same. Although most studies have been focusing on the use of male and female bodies of celebrities for promotional purposes, only a few have integrated the links between those bodies to masculinity and femininity as well as gender discrimination.

Methodology

The proposed study will deploy a qualitative methodology in the quest to find answers to the research questions. The choice of a qualitative design is based on the fact that it consumes less time and is also less costly compared to quantitative studies (Crowe, Inder, & Porter, 2015). A systematic review of literature will be used in seeking to achieve the research objectives. Various research articles will be explored which touch on the aspects of masculinity and femininity in the use of social media. A systematic literature review was chosen based on its ability to save time and costs. However, according to Lewis (2015), it can lead to the use of subjective and biased information which can lead to wrong conclusions. However, the criteria for the selection of the articles to be used will be that they are relevant to the topic of discussion and published within ten years. Additionally, the articles will be peer-reviewed and scholarly. In the analysis of the information obtained from the articles, a thematic analysis will be deployed. In specific, the common themes will be identified from the systematic review and grouped together to make sensible conclusions from the information.

Ethical Issues

In the various stages of the proposed study, the researcher will face various challenges right from designing to reporting. Some of these include confidentiality, informed consent, and potential subjectivity and bias. In specific, according to Sanjari et al. (2014), research ethics demand that information obtained from the participants should be kept confidential and only released to authorized parties. Additionally, a research is required to provide informed consent before they can participate in a study. Moreover, the researcher is required to be objective to increase the credibility and reliability of the fining. The ethical issue of confidentiality will not arise as only a systematic literature review will be used. However, the issue of informed consent will be addressed by ensuring that every author is accredited with any of his/her information used in the study.