[[alternative]]The Embodiment of Homosexual Desires in Cyberspace: The Use of Online Personals and The Identity Formation among Gay Men in Taiwan

[[abstract]] 2003年起，台灣地區男同志族群掀起一波使用網路交友網頁的熱潮，同時在交友網頁的平台中大量地展現身體。研究者以民族誌的研究角度進入交友網頁場域，並實地參與觀察男同志線上與線下交友活動，以瞭解男同志參與、使用交友網頁的行為，是否有助於男同志取得自身的性別認同。 本研究發現有三：第一，男同志使用交友網頁的確有助於擴展人際脈絡，也能藉由交友網頁組成虛擬社群，但由交友網頁中所構成的虛擬社群向心力薄弱，並不如過去男同志實體社群來得穩固；第二，同志在網頁中展現身體的意涵，涵括情慾、自我展演以及性別操演等概念，而藉由操演身體，男同志也的確能藉此獲得性別認同。又，本研究亦說明，純粹的情慾流動並不能全然等同於性別認同；第三，比對男同志實體空間與交友網頁的發展，交友網頁具備了線下同志實質空間的意涵，而交友網頁讓男同志在內在產生自我培力的能量，但比對過往經驗，使用交友網路反而讓男同志型塑了一種「既顯又隱」的自我認同狀態，在擴展性別認同時不如交友網頁出現之前來得積極，因而產生性別認同上劃地自限的可能。[[abstract]] Since 2003, online personals have surged in popularity among gay men in Taiwan. Gay male users of online personals, in the meantime, have displayed a great deal of their bodies in their online personal profiles or ads. In this paper, the researcher studied the field of online personals from the ethnographical perspectives and personally participated in the online personals websites in the attempt to understand whether these gay male users' online and offline activities, as well as their motivation of participation and the use of such websites, helped them acquire their gender identity. There are three observations in this study. First, the use of online personals indeed helps gay men extend their social networks, and future develops virtual communities. However, such virtual communities lack coherence; hence, not as solid as physical communities of gay men in the past. Second, the meaning of gay men's displays of their bodies involves eroticism, self performance and gender performativies, etc. Through body performativies, gay men indeed acquire their gender identities. However, this study will demonstrate that the flows of pure eroticism do not entirely are not equivalent to gender identities. Third, comparing the development of gay men's physical community spaces and online personals, online personals potentially contribute to the development of gay men's offline community spaces and their self-empowerment inside; however, in comparison to the past experience, the use of online personals has created a ＂blatantly visible yet subtly hidden＂ state of self-identity for gay men, so that they have become less active in expanding their gender identity comparing to the time before they made use of online personals; hence, a self-imposed limit in respect to self identity is possibly created