Sự tự nhận định và biểu hiện danh tính queer bởi giới trẻ thuộc nhóm lgbtq tại hà nội

ABSTRACT This qualitative research project studies the way in which the Vietnamese queer youth including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and genderqueer conceptualize their i

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS & CULTURES OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

HANOI - 2019

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA NGÔN NGỮ VÀ VĂN HÓA CÁC NƯỚC NÓI TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

SỰ TỰ NHẬN ĐỊNH VÀ BIỂU HIỆN DANH TÍNH QUEER BỞI GIỚI TRẺ THUỘC NHÓM LGBTQ+

TẠI HÀ NỘI

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Th.S, Đỗ Thị Mai Thanh

HÀ NỘI - 2019

ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Nguyễn Thanh Phương, class QH2015.F1.E3, being a

candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Honours program, accept the

requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation

Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in

the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in

accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the

care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Nguyễn Thanh Phương

Date

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This graduation paper is one of my crucial first steps in realizing the lifelong dream of living my truth Since I decided to take less travelled a path, I knew I would face constant hardships However, there were moments when the research project seemed

to exceed my emotional and academic capacity Luckily, I was not without saviors and delightful moments But for these people, I could not manage to pull through to the submission day So this acknowledgement is a token of my gratitude to those who have supported me for the last six months

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Ms Do Thi Mai Thanh for her continuous support of my study and her knowledge and experience that guide me to the end of the graduation paper I will always treasure her patience, motivation, and tolerance for my procrastination Furthermore, I would also like to send the deepest thank to Ms Phung Ha Thanh for having been my academic advisor and supporter of my seemingly overachieving ideas I could not have imagined where this study could have been destined to without my supervisor and advisor

Secondly, I deeply appreciate the participants of this research project, the young queer people of Hanoi, many of whom have become my friend, for their enthusiasm and truthfulness

Thirdly, I would like to sincerely thank my close friends, Minh Hang, Thai, and Peishan, who have supported me mentally and academically despite the geographical distance I have to admit that I benefited a great deal from exchanging my difficulties with them, even though we are different in research fields

Fourthly, I owe my family members an endless gratitude for their mental support

in times of hardship and especially my brother for being my constant proof-reader Without them, I would not have managed at all, let alone finish the graduation paper

Finally, I thank my friends and classmates who have taken time to listen to my difficulties and helped me when I am in need Thanks for being sleeplessly supportive and together during those final days of our university life

ABSTRACT

This qualitative research project studies the way in which the Vietnamese queer youth (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and genderqueer) conceptualize their identities, and the interplay between their self-conceptualization, gender performance, and their interpretation of roles in relationships The collected data involves qualitative interviews conducted on nine young queer people in Vietnam This research also includes the author’s observations and notes on the interactions with the informants in interview settings and on their social media profiles Data from semi-structured interviews suggests that many informants only loosely follow the model of homonormativity, gender norms, and an essentialist characterization of queerness, while a constructivist viewpoint was also in place for those who get more exposure to Western literature The findings also reveal the emergence of a queer subgroup that does not conform to the homonormativity shown in the majority of LGBTQ+ discourse in Vietnam The findings suggest that there exists a dissonance between queer representation in the media and the real picture of their various identities Guided by feminist methodology, this qualitative study aims to explore marginalized identities and question the dominant gendered structures that grant social acceptance to some queer identities while further marginalizing other queers through the regulation of gender performance Further analysis is suggested to yield results of a higher level of significance for the study

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

Table of content iii

List of tables and figures v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Background 1

2 Statement of problem and research questions 2

3 Scope of the research 3

4 Significance of the study 3

5 Organization of the research 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Being queer in Vietnam 5

2 Theoretical concepts 10

2.1 LGBTQ+ 10

2.2 Queer 12

2.3 Queer Theory 12

2.4 Identity 14

2.5 Identity performance 14

2.6 Gender performance 15

3 Research gap 16

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 1 Research design 18

2 Data collection 20

3 Data analysis methods 22

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

1 Data analysis 25

2 Major findings and discussion 26

2.1 Queer self-identification: not so much a pressing need 26

2.2 Performing a mix of essentialist and constructivist queer identity 28

2.3 Queer identity, a private matter 37

2.4 Destabilization of the binary mindset 39

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 BACKGROUND

I am not a straight person By now, that statement has ceased to terrify me anytime I think about it I had undergone an unfathomable amount of distress as a teenager growing up in a world where social belonging is highly valued while this sense of belonging prevails in the majority group, which most of the time means the heterosexuals, the ―straight‖ people The agony of never feeling like I fit in has propelled me to start reading more into what it means to be a ―non-heterosexual‖, with an aim to prepare myself for whatever hardship that might entail I encountered the term LGBTQ around the age of fifteen, from one of the shows I had been watching on television Since then, my struggle shifted its focus, from denying my difference so that I can be a part of the majority to embracing myself and trying to fit into the LGBTQ community I started seeing myself as a lesbian since seventeen, when I had my first girlfriend in high school I had only been interested romantically and sexually in girls before that so I felt it was only natural that I should be a lesbian, a female person who is attracted to other same-sex people (note that ―sex‖ here is distinguished from ―gender‖) With that new-found sense of identity, I was relieved because I had finally found where I belong, but I was also worried for fear that I might be discriminated against, the same way that

my girlfriend at the time was bullied As I progressed to knowing more lesbians, it became less relatable to me what the ―community people‖ were portraying as belonging to lesbianism The division into ―butch‖ and ―femme‖ lesbians (with the butch being ―the man‖ and the femme ―the woman‖ in a relationship) baffled me

as I could not stop myself from thinking these people are trying too hard to become ―normal‖, to fit in to the hetero-normative notion of roles in relationships Then it struck me as I started questioning my own lesbian status What if there is more to my sexual identity than being the more feminine one, being ―the girl‖

because my partner tends to be a bit more masculine? Feeling out of place once again, I was determined to make sense of my own identity I did rigorous research into sexualities and gender, aiming to find out a place for myself This ongoing process ultimately led me to this point where my knowledge accumulation has freed me from the need for any label for my sexual orientation, and also provided

me with a great sense of curiosity towards the issue of identity formation and performance of LGBTQ+ people in my surrounding environment, which is becoming increasingly more accepting towards non-traditional sexualities and gender performances

2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM & QUESTIONS

This qualitative research project studies the way in which the Vietnamese queer youth (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and gender-queer) perceive their identities, and the interplay between their self-conceptualization, identity performance, and their interpretation of roles in relationships In the context when positive changes are taking place in the Vietnamese public opinion regarding queer perception and reception, I believe it is timely and critical to look into the matter of identity politics, as a shift in LGBTQ+ paradigms seems to be slowing taking place This study also examines the participants‘ self-perceived interaction on social media sites such as Facebook, for its position as the most popular social media platform in Vietnam, focusing on their personal disclosure of how they express themselves on the site I will examine how Vietnamese LGBTQ+ youth struggle to identify themselves as a queer person and at the same time, express themselves to the outer world, through the analysis of their disclosure

After the process of data collection and preliminary analysis, the research question has been revised as following:

“How is Queer identity perceived, constructed and performed among the queer youth in the LGBTQ+ community in Hanoi?”

3 SCOPE OF RESEARCH

The research aims at understanding the conceptualization and manifestation

of ―queer‖ identity in LGBTQ+ youths in Hanoi from the age of 15 to 30, with a wide diversity in gender, ethnicity, occupation, family background, academic background and marital background

4 SIGNIFICANCE

Employing the concept of ―identity performance‖ by Erving Goffman

(1959) in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (as cited in Cunningham,

2013), the research explores the ways in which young Vietnamese LGBTQ+ people form their identity and their interaction in daily life and on social media, revealing their identity performance through their narratives The research hopes

to provide further insights into these young people‘s identity work, to gain understanding of how they present themselves, thus provide information that might serve to decrease the misunderstandings and biases that have been used to stigmatize this community Employing feminist methodology, especially Queer theory, the study also reveals the problems of queer politics where particular queer identities are more widely sanctioned while others are still having a hard time being the minority inside and outside of the LGBTQ+ community This is illustrated by a disscussion on the revelation of ―queer identity‖ by research participants The paper is also expected to contribute to the repertoire of knowledge for the LGBTQ+ community in Hanoi, to be used as a source of reliable information for their reference

5 ORGANIZATION OF THE RESEARCH

This research paper is divided into five chapters The Introduction

first chapter also presents the research problems accompanied by its questions, scope, significance and organization The second chapter, Literature Review provides background knowledge about the topic including the current situation of LGBTQ+ presentation in the media, how it reflects public view on this group and social movements surrounding LGBTQ+ rights and empowerments, along with certain problems regarding these actions It also aims at explaining terminologies relating to the topic as well as introducing theoretical background about identity, queerness and Queer Theory Subsequently, data collecting, sampling and analysis methods will be elucidated in chapter three In the fourth chapter, the researcher will reveal major findings involving the conceptualization of queer identity in research participants as well as the presentation of their ―queer‖ selves The study finishes with the Conclusions which comprises of findings summary, research

limitations and some propositions for further studies

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 BEING QUEER IN VIETNAM

Previous studies on gender and sexuality in Vietnam revealed the significant influence Confucianism had on the Vietnamese construction of traditional values This Chinese-originated philosophy though has lost its effects overtime, still left traces in the modern Vietnamese discourse and practice, including traditional gender roles, sexual dimorphism, and the continuation of familial lineages (Blanc, 2005; Feng et al., 2012) What‘s more, the prohibition of same-sex marriage by the state started in 2000 due to it being a social evil (―tệ nạn

xã hội‖) furthered the existing cultural stigmatization of homosexuality in Vietnam (UNDP & USAID, 2014) Disapproval of homosexuality, transgender and non-binary people is the cause of various degrees of suffering among sexual minorities

in Vietnam (Nguyen & Blum, 2014) Traditional gender values, stereotypes and prejudices of homosexuality and transsexuals have influenced the representation (or misrepresentation) of LGBTQ+ people on various media platforms (iSEE & Academy of Journalism and Communication, 2011) The issues of misrecognition

of LGBT people in Vietnam have contributed as a cause for the marginalization of this group according to Horton (2014) There remain instances where queer people are looked down upon or mistreated based on their gender identity or sexual orientation They are reported on both mass media and social networking platforms, where the stereotypes are either scrutinized or perpetuated For instance, in 2016, Thanh Nien News Online reported that an LGBT student named

Le Minh Triet was bullied to the point where he attempted suicide ―When they beat me, they insulted my parents‘ names for having a gay son,‖ he said ―Nobody helped me.‖ Lewis (2016) wrote a report on the Time, stating that although Vietnam became the leader in gay-rights movements in South East Asia when it lifted the ban on same-sex marriage in 2015, there remained discrimination and

opposition from the public regarding LGBT issues even a year later A report from UNESCO (2015) referred to recent studies findings that nearly half of Vietnamese LGBT students said they faced ―serious stigma‖ in schools, even by school staffs These instances could be attributed to the public‘s lack of knowledge and awareness of what ―being queer‖ actually means As stated by Horton (2014), since queerness is considered a sensitive topic, it is rarely mentioned in the educational context of Vietnam Through his interviews with queer people in Hanoi, it was revealed that sexual-related knowledge was not carefully taught in schools despite being a part of the curriculum When sexuality was discussed, it was strictly in the domain of reproduction and HIV prevention Within these contexts, homosexuality was portrayed as a pathological disease (Horton 2014; Khuat, Le & Nguyen, 2009)

In 2011, an analysis of 502 news articles from well-known printed and online newspapers in Vietnam done by iSEE in collaboration with the Academy of Journalism and Communication of Vietnam provided a framework to understand how the media helped shape the public prejudice against queerness (Mai, 2016) Using content analysis, the study revealed that the stigmatization against queer identities came from both negative language use and the context in which queerness was mentioned Only 29% on the articles focused on queers as the main topic, while the rest merely used them as a tactic to attract readers, mainly because they appeared in a foreign context, which was considered to be more acceptable According to Mai (2016), ―when positioned in the context of Vietnam, queers were portrayed as young people who ran after a Western style of life and expressed gender differently from the norm to be seen as trendy or fashionable.‖ (p 16) Moreover, 109 news articles also attempted to provide an explanation to homosexuality, with 80% of them claiming that homosexuality is a form of disease or an unhealthy lifestyle which young people use to attract attention from the public, while only 20% attributed the cause of homosexuality to a variation in biology The depiction of homosexual relationships as short-lived and only used to

satisfy an abnormal sex drive reflected a belief that homosexuality posed detrimental threats to moral values, as it would also put the traditional familial lineage continuation at risk (Horton, 2014) The study also pointed out that the mentioned news articles built a profile of homosexual people based on gender expression, which ―reflected the Vietnamese cultural conceptualization of gender and sexuality which did not distinguish between non-normative sexuality (homosexuals) and non-normative gender body (transgender)‖ (Mai, 2016, p 17)

In most of the papers, there was no distinction among ―gender identity‖, ―gender expression‖, ―sexuality‖ or ―sexual orientation‖, just as in the local construction of queerness All of these concepts were framed under the notion ―giới‖, and the queer people are often referred to as belonging to ―giới tính thứ ba‖ [direct translation would be ―the third gender‖, however, the term ―giới‖ can also represent sex and sexuality] In this view, gay men were portrayed as having feminine self-expression such as talking in a soft tone, wearing women‘s clothing, and using cosmetics products, while lesbians were portrayed as looking masculine, tough, and not having their breast developed (ISEE & Academy of Journalism and Communication, 2011) This contributed to a Vietnamese local discursive construction of a queer population who were considered ―half man half woman.‖ (Mai, 2016, p 17)

Despite the public indifference or disapproval, there have been waves of various social supports emerging from both within and without the LGBTQ+ community, especially in recent years A transformation in the Vietnamese social construct can be seen as it has become more and more engaged in the global context, with the introduction and popularization of international mass media, rapid technological development and the establishment of LGBT right organizations The influx of internet information paved way to a more diverse understanding of gender and sexuality, including a viewpoint in which homosexual and transgender people are neither criminalized nor condemned (Mai, 2016) According to the country report from UNDP and USAID in 2014,

documentaries as well as radio programs about the life of homosexual and transgender people have been broadcasted in an increasing number, both from negative and positive viewpoints In 2010, Tuổi Trẻ, one of the largest newspapers

in Vietnam, published a letter by an 18-year-old gay student expressing his desire

to be accepted by his family The positive responses this article received from the queer readers generated a lively and open discussion about homosexuality, also an opportunity for people to share their personal stories on the next issue of the newspaper Hoai, N (2016) also delivered a romanticized love story of a middle-aged Vietnamese lesbian couple on Dân Trí Online Newspaper The article portrayed the victory of the love that started 33 years ago, had overcome discrimination and disapproval from families and the society, and resulted in the two women living happily together in Canada where they can be legally married

In the comment section, there was a mix of responses from the public While some expressed admiration for the couple, others showed a lack of understanding as they stigmatize the two women for not being able to have children Most recently, Tuổi Trẻ TV, a branch of Tuổi Trẻ News, delivered a story on the development of the LGBTI+ Awards for people who have made significant contribution to raise public awareness on queer issues (Thu, Huu & Mai, 2019)

Pro-LGBT organizations in Vietnam, specifically ICS and iSEE, are critically impacting this dynamic atmosphere With the main goal of bringing impact and change the Vietnamese laws regarding the LGBTQ+ community, the two aforementioned organizations aim to realize it by means of education, published research papers and social events A report from UNDP and USAID (2014) states that many universities, social hubs and youth groups in Vietnam have worked with ICS in recent times to make available lectures and workshops

on gender, sexual diversity and LGBT rights for their students and others Thanks

to this effort, tremendous amount of awareness about queer identities has been raised in Vietnam and a group consisting of heterosexuals that align with the cause has been formed (UNDP & USAID, 2014) Furthermore, iSEE and ICS present

educational programs with scholarships to young people within the LGBTQ+ community who display aspiration to bring about social change such as ViLead, Next Gen and Hanoiqueer These programs aim to foster its participants into leaders and innovators that will influence the social progress of the queer community and the whole of Vietnam in the future (ISEE, 2015) ICS also provides service for parents of LGBT youths and a considerable amount of families have used their counseling service Because of this, an activist group, the PFLAG Vietnam [Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays in Vietnam], managed by parents of homosexuals was established in 2011 iSEE and ICS formed a tight bond with PFLAG Vietnam to write and publish materials on the experiences of families with people in the LGBTQ+ community Among the materials is a book detailing personal anecdotes accounting the struggle as parents changed their disposition from denial to acceptance of the sexuality of their children (ICS, 2014) Moreover, they publish booklets in Q&A format to tackle the ―misconceptions‖ about the many communities and aid with the coming-out process of LGBT youths The difference between homosexuals and transgenders and the soundness of queers are two focal points of these training materials Thus, queerness is starting to see validation in the Vietnamese society, as indicated by the new laws regarding same-sex marriage and sex-reassignment surgery in 2014 and 2015

With the emergence of such social movements, with the majority portraying homosexual couples with heteronormative terms, there exists an increasing need for the queer young people to establish their ―queer‖ identity In the context of Vietnamese scholarly research, there has been very little attention to this matter; despite more and more people are admitting as gay, lesbian, bisexual

or transgender while still receiving insubstantial recognition from the society This leads to an imbalance in self-conception and social-conception of these people, thus perpetuating the existing prejudices and inequality This research hopes to

contribute to some extent deeper inner-perspectives from this group of people, as well as foster understanding among different social groups

2 THEORETICAL CONCEPTS

The following chapter gives an overview of theories and concepts from which this study develops ―Queer‖, which is used predominantly throughout this research as an umbrella term for LGBTQ+ identities, will be examined and elaborated Queer theory, which classifies sexuality and gender as social constructs, will be discussed in relation to this term as well as the concept of identity

2.1 LGBTQ+

While in various discourse, the abbreviation ―LGBT‖ is widely used and accepted, in this research, the term ―LGBTQ+‖ is adopted as the official word to refer to the queer community for its inclusivity and acknowledgement of the marginalized minorities (namely pansexual, gender queer, non-binary, asexual, intersex, and so on) within this inherently marginalized group ―LGBTQ+‖ stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual and Queer (and/or Questioning) The ―+‖ (plus) signifies any other groups that have not gained widespread recognition or have yet to emerge to the common discourse According to Mai (2016, p 21), it also ―indicates the endless possibilities of identity conceptualization, the underpinning idea of ―queer‖‖.Other terms that will

be used interchangeably with this one includes ―queers‖, ―the queer community‖,

―the LGBTQ+ community‖ and ―queer people‖ Despite the derogatory use of the term ―queer‖ in the past, there is an on-going trend within the community to embrace this word to show pride in the progress made during their struggles for equal rights and freedom of expression (Daley, 2017)

The terminologies for LGBTQ+ categories stated below are emported from New York University‘s student diversity acknowledgement:

Bisexual - An identity for people who are attracted emotionally, erotically, and/or

sexually to some men and women Other identities such as ‗pansexual‘ and

‗queer‘ may have this same explanation, but this may vary depending on the person

Gay - An identity for people who identify as men and who are attracted

emotionally, erotically, and/or sexually to some other men

Lesbian - An identity for people who identify as women and who are attracted

emotionally, erotically, and/or sexually to some other women

Genderqueer - An identity for people who do not identify and/or who do not

express themselves as completely masculine or feminine Genderqueer people may or may not identify as transgender

Queer - An umbrella term to refer to all LGBTQ people as well as an identity

which advocates breaking binary thinking and seeing both sexual orientation and gender identity as potentially fluid While it has been reclaimed as a unifying, celebratory, and neutral term among many LGBTQ people today, historically it has been derogatory and can still be viewed negatively by some

Transgender or Trans - A broad umbrella term that can be used to describe

people whose gender expression is non-conforming and/or whose gender identity

is different from their sex assigned at birth Transgender people may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically People must self-identify as transgender in order for the term to be appropriately used to describe them

The university also further noted that people should ―try not to think of them as definitions, but as a begin point for further research and listening.‖ (LGBTQ Terminology, 2019)

2.2 QUEER

It is difficult to grasp the idea of ―queer‖, especially with its lack of a unanimous meaning (Callis, 2009) For the purpose of this research, ―queer‖ adopts two meanings First, it refers to ―whatever [that] is at odds with normal, the legitimate, the dominant‖ (Halperin, 1995, p 62) Deriving from this meaning,

―queer‖ can be identified as the identity category of those who challenge the societal dominance of heterosexuality and heteronormativity or have the desire to

be fluid and flexible in their own self-conceptualization (Callis, 2009; Jagose, 1996) Identity category of ―queer‖ warrants those who identify with it the ability

to be uniquely ―queer‖ and to embrace their ―queerness‖ via sexual orientation, gender performance or gender identities (Daumer, 1992) The word‘s second meaning is not unlike its first Because ―queer‖ indicates anything that diverges from the norm, in this study, it can be understood as a terminology that signifies any and every gender and sexual minorities

Michel Foucault is believed to be the forefather of Queer Theory because of

his groundbreaking work in 1978, The History of Sexuality The book presented

Foucault‘s opposition towards the repressive theory which implies that many form

of sexualities had been repressed by the society Foucault argued that sexuality was a historical construct, and an explosion in discourse regarding sex and sexuality was in place of repression The construction of the ―truth of sex‖ had the ability to govern and subdue bodies and lives; through the advancement of medical categories associated with sex, ―the truth of sex‖ was realized, recreated and validated, making sexual behaviors steady and fundamental identities (Foucault,

1978, p 57) Unwittingly, brands of sexualities that differentiated the mass such as

―heterosexual,‖ ―homosexual,‖ ―bisexual,‖ ―transgender,‖ or ―gender normals‖ were considered a result of the biopower that aimed to group and categorize individuals around the norms By stigmatizing these populations certain

―biological speciations‖, modern society could manifest information on the deviants, the lessers and the perverteds versus the sound, ―normal‖ identity, essentially creating an ―Us vs Them‖ mentality Sexual identities, then, became the mechanism through which power and control could be exerted According to Foucault, homosexuality was simillarly a biopower-generated medicalized discourse As stated by Foucault (1978, p.43), despite the fact that same-sex practices were already established before the advent of this concept, the actualization of the ―homosexual‖ as a ―species‖ led people to identify with it as a stiff and permanent core of the self

Judith Butler is another key character that worths a mention in the

discussion of gender and sexualities In her major work Gender Trouble, she stated

that ―gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts‖ (1990, p 179)

Judith Butler authored Gender Troubles in 1990 and Bodies that Matter in

1993, two highly influential texts to the evolvement of Queer Theory In Gender Trouble, Butler (1990, p 6) writes about the ―compulsory order of

sex/gender/desire‖: the notion that these phenomena are interconnected and organizing each other through societal expectation for consistency She emphasizes that sex itself is s social construction, and its ―internal essence‖ was created by the repeated act of gender performance Her view on gender is that it would only be culturally appropriate when established in a stable and coherent relationship with sex and heterosexuality In her 1990 work, the heterosexual matrix concept was developed to present the ways that identities are constructed and interpreted through the three aspects sex/gender/desire This matrix asserts

that certain identities are only coherent if ―a stable sex [is] expressed through a stable gender [and] the compulsory practice of heterosexuality‖ (Butler, 1990, p 151) ―Gender trouble‖ then would be seen as a result of failure to adhere to this matrix We can see this ―trouble‖ in the case of both homosexual and transgender people While a gay men‘ sexual desires deviate from the commonly accepted heterosexual practice, a transgender woman‘s body would disturb the expected coherence of sex and gender This ―queering‖ is a phenomenon to be noticed as it would be applied into analysis of the research data

2.4 IDENTITY

Identity reflects how people view themselves within the social structure (Campbell, 2010; Hill &Thomas, 2000) This definition provides the researcher with sufficient ground for viewing the matter of identity as a social phenomenon, rather than a strictly personal issue One‘s identity will transform according to the social context they are put in Therefore, it can be argued that only in a social context where there are gender and sexuality norms can the ―queer‖ identity exist This identity coexists alongside many others, just as they are constructed for the different settings that the hosts are put in and will emerge when the need arises The concept of identity work here resonates with Erving Goffman‘s vision on identity performance, as well as Judith Butler‘s concept of gender performativity

2.5 IDENTITY PERFORMANCE

Inspired by the concept of ―identity performance‖ coined by Goffman

(1959) in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (as cited in Cunningham,

2013), the research aims to study the ways in which the young queer people express their identity and their queerness, especially on the social media platforms

To Goffman, identity–as–performance is seen as part of the flow of social interaction as individuals construct identity performances suitable for their

surroundings In The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman analyses

interpersonal interaction and how individuals 'perform' in order to project a

desirable image, using the theatre to illustrate individuals‘ contrasting front stage and back stage behaviour During interaction, those participating are viewed as actors When in front stage, an actor is conscious of being observed by an audience and will perform to those watching by observing certain rules and social conventions, as failing to do so means losing face and failing to project the image/persona they wish to create As Bullingham and Vasconcelos (2013) stated,

―the actor‘s behaviour will be different in a private, backstage environment, however, as no performance is necessary.‖ (p 101) It is evident from this model that only in social interactions will there be a need for an individual‘s identity performance From this framework, the research hopes to study social networking sites as the ―stage‖ where the subjects perform their ―queerness‖

2.6 GENDER PERFORMANCE

When discussing LGBTQ+ issues, gender and sexuality are the two key concepts to be mentioned Gender identity is, without a doubt, a pervasive matter that has been enticing attention from the public and academia alike A concept to

be discussed here is ―gender performativity‖, coined by Judith Butler in her 1990

work Gender Trouble According to Butler (1990, pp 140-141), gender is ―a

stylized repetition of acts‖ and a ―performative accomplishment‖ She also emphasizes that a stable and invariable gender identity is a mere misconception for both the actors and the audience, invented by the performative, repeated acts Furthering the argument, Butler (1990, 1993) opposes the norm of gender/sex differentiation that believes gender is ―social‖ and the body is ―biological‖ As a matter of fact, she contends that both the body and gender are social constructs and ―sex is gender‖ (as cited in Mai, 2016) In light of this, the body presents not only the groundwork upon which gender is constructed, but also aligns and is shaped accordingly to the how gender is accepted and enacted This essentially presents that the sexed body is ―discursively constructed‖; while categorization has it as something ―natural‖, the body is realistically sexed through the course of

gender conditioning, which ensures its cultural intelligibility Butler (1993) asserts that the ―norms‖ are innately volatile, which resulted in the continual revamping in the meaning of sex and sexual categories throughout different societal structures and eras Furthermore, Butler (2012) notes commanding logics that form the way people perceive and understand the world does not have room for particular modes

of sexuality to be conveyed by language Thence, specific modes of living remain

―unrecognizable‖ as they fade into obscurity, dwelling on the marginalized sections of the discursive normative framework

3 RESEARCH GAP

While there has been research done on the conception of ―queerness‖ and there is an established ―queer theory‖, the majority of academia has yet to reach a consensus as to what it means to be ―queer‖, let alone the common public discourse, especially Vietnam This very fact has caused a great deal of misunderstanding and has resulted in the degradation in living standards for individuals belonging to the LGBTQ+ community here According to Mai (2016),

―research on queers in Vietnam is rather an understudied area‖ (p 44), and through my process of examining the literature, I have not found rich and updated publications on the subject Foucault (1978) and Butler (1990, 1993) both study the methodology which categorizes gender and sexuality (and, similarly, all other form of identity characterizations) as cultural product However, this view directly opposes the tendency of queer politics in Vietnam, in which the LGBTQ identity

is treated as ―natural‖ and legitimate (Mai, 2016) Much of the information derived from Mai‘s research (which also includes a wide range of previous studies on LGBTQ people in Vietnam) revealed that gender performance and other queer identities have been ―cultivat[ed], polic[ed], and enforc[ed]‖ (Butler, 1992, p 10)

by a centralization on a ―natural‖ queer identity Involuntary, this forms new social reality with novel and adjusted standards, which relates to the form of gender

police that Butler (1990, 1992, 1993) previously mentioned Nevertheless, several participants in my study revealed that they constructed and updated their identity performance according to the knowledge they attained, which disassociates with the former findings Therefore, in this research, I aim at exploring how my informants perform their genders in relation to the essentialist and constructivist self-conceptualization of queerness Along with this main theme, issues regarding queer identity (or rather, identities) perception and disclosure will also be studied

As someone who possesses an increasing concern for the humanities in general and has undergone to some extent the drawbacks for being queer in Vietnam, I am determined to contribute to the best of my power and abilities, which at the moment happens to be this graduation paper

a public Facebook post in December, 2018 Out of the 22 positive responses towards the participation in the study, 13 people were chosen based on their proximity to the researcher and their schedules The 13 people were interviewed for the research; however, by the time the data collection process was over, only 9 interviews yielded an amount of data significant enough to be used for analysis The significance of the data was based on the amount of information disclosed and the number of questions participants chosed not to answer

The sample includes 9 people between the age of 15-30 who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or gender-queer; and have access to the Internet, as well as social media I aimed to have a diverse sample thus no restriction of gender, family, academic, legal, occupational and marital background was applied in the sampling process

Below is a brief deconstruction of the participants‘ background, with their names altered to preserve anonymity

Interview

number

Participant

(pseudos)

Age Occupation Self-identification

1 Kiên 22 Student Male Gay

2 Hương 22 Student Female Bisexual

3 Thư 21 Student Female Refuse to define

sexuality (have had both male and female partners)

4 Minh 26 Writer Male Gay (sexually and

Table 1 Interview participant profiles

1.2 Data collection

Data was collected through in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews since this instrument have proven to be suitable for a qualitative research involving the perception of the participants (Sutton & Austin, 2015) Dahlberg and McCaig (2014) also stated that semi-structured interviews enable researchers to

―probe for further information‖ (p.119) This justifies the purpose of using this type of interview for this research, as it allows for freedom in expression for both

the researcher and participants An addition of explorations and observations of participants‘ public Facebook profile was employed to reveal their social network identity performance

Interviews were most ideally conducted face to face in a private and safe space, between only me and the participants However, since there occurred obstructions that prevented some interviews to be in real life, virtual online calls were thus employed Every detail regarding the participants‘ feelings, perceptions and opinions were audio-recorded then transcribed and translated into English for quotations should the participant choose to speak in Vietnamese

1.3 Data analysis

The analytical framework for this type of data is narrative analysis, specifically thematic analysis for its flexibility and depth when taking the participants‘ stories into investigative focus The focus is on ―what‖ is said rather than ―how‖ it is said (Riessman, 2007) The content of the interviews should be the center for analysis The transcripts of the interviews are categorized and analyzed

2 DATA COLLECTION

2.1 Interviews

I conducted nine semi-structured interviews in which, through convenience sampling, participants who self-identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-queer were chosen Due to time and geographical constraints, some of the interviews were conducted online, through the medium of Facebook messenger and Skype calls I sent the subjects the set of questions along with instructions on the purposes of the reserach, they then agreed on starting the interview After the participants had answered all questions in the set, I asked some follow up questions to clarify certain points However, the online environment prevented me

from fulfilling all of my inquiries, therefore, subsequent face-to-face interviews with the subjects were arranged and conducted In total, 7 interviews were both online and face-to-face, while 2 were completely online

The tool used for data collection is a set of semi-structured interview questions developed from the one used in the Master thesis titled ―Constructing the Vietnamese Queer Identities: A Hierarchy of Class, Gender, and Sexuality‖ of

Ms Mai Thao Yen (2016) from University of Helsinki This researcher had developed the set of question throughout her project with multiple editions, incorporating the assistance of both other researchers and LGBTQ+ activists to ensure data depth and richness I have adapted the questions to be better-suited for the context of this research, with an emphasis on language and self-understanding

of identities The questions aimed at creating in-depth interview sessions in which the participants can talk about their feelings and experiences in a secure and private space Rather than a direct look at the reality of what is going on, I was able to gain insights into the ways informants construct meanings of their social reality, which is more valuable and aligned with the nature of the research This view is supported by Warren (2001) where he asserted that qualitative interview is

―rather constructionist than positivist, in which the researchers are interested in the interpretation of reality rather than reality itself‖ (as cited in Mai, 2016, p 43) In this constructivist research paradigm, informants actively construct their meanings and not passively answer a set of guided questions posed by the researcher (Hostein & Gubrium, 1995) Consequently, the data collected from these interviews has a particular rich quality of personalization and contextualization

―which offers the researchers access to the marginalized voices that most of the time are silenced or unheard‖(Hesse-Biber, 2006, p 134)

2.2 Field observations

The observations made of interview interactions were also incorporated as a way to supplement the participants‘ answers These observations were recorded in

the form of field notes that were later combined in the transcriptions of the interviews This type of data consists of elements such as partcipants‘ non-verbal cues, the way they dress, and the tone of their voices To further examine participants‘ social network queer identity performance, Facebook observation was included As permitted by the participants, I had access to their public Facebook profile and could gather data including timeline posts, photos/videos, post shared from other pages and comments The anonymity of the data is kept throughout Even though initials impressions could be made, I was not able to find

an effective way to analyse this type of data While four subjects do express themselves as belonging to the LGBTQ+ on Facebook through means of public posts, sharing of LGBTQ+ news and , others hardly show any information relating

to the fact that they are queer

3 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS

As mentioned above, the main methodology for data analysis is narrative analysis, particularly thematic analysis As Riessman (2007) illustrated, there are multiple functions of narratives, from telling stories to aid individual and group identities construction to mobilizing people into action through logical arguments Data were gathered through the interview and transcribing process According to Duque (2009), "interviews are narrative occasions" (p 23), and that transcription inevitably involves interpretation This is seen as the most suitable methods for its rigor in requiring the researcher to interpret and reconstruct the participants‘ stories following the concepts established in the data analysis framework After the informants‘ narratives have been reviewed two times with incorporated observation notes, the themes gradually emerged With a projection of theoretical concepts such as gender identity and identity performance, the themes were thus finalized, developed, and analyzed

The data used in this research was gathered from both the qualitative interviews and my observations While the interview suggested many ideas for theme development, my observation notes contributed the much needed background information that helped structure and interpret the interview data The themes were realized using preceding theoretical literature This process was learned also from the Master thesis of Ms Mai Thao Yen, due to its suitability with my research design The steps are demonstrated below:

Figure 1 Analytical procedure

In the first stage, I utilize narrative analysis to come at different codes from the interview data Narrative analysis is a qualitative data analysis that calls for researchers‘ familiarization with the original data to determine a multitude of codes which then reveals common themes among these codes According to Chase (2005), for researchers who compile narratives through extensive interviews, a key problem is how to view the interviewees as story-tellers, both during the process

of the interviews and the interpretation My process of going from the interviewer

to the transcriber and ultimately the interpreter of each interview has allowed me great understanding of the data Hand-ons observation also contributed to the development of codes and themes of the study Additionally, once I have determined the best thematic analysis for coding, the themes are realized, using axial coding method Firstly, it demands the researchers to delve into both the given and the subliminal meanings behind the text, culminating in a more profound conceptualization (as compared to other qualitative techniques) of the

Interview data sorted into categories + observation data

Themes developed + Existing theoretical concepts

Final analytical themes

data Secondly, thematic analysis provides great flexibility; as it is not grounded

by any epistemological foundation, the methodology can be utilized in a myriad of ways (Braun & Clarke, 2006) Lastly, the researcher have autonomy over how it will be used, either inductively (content-driven) or deductively (theory-driven) (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Howitt & Crammer, 2011; as cited in Mai, 2016)

During step two, thematic analysis was inductively applied After finishing amassing field data and establishing the first set of themes, I then make comparisons to the precursive literature to formulate the ultimate analytical themes This process was carried out using selective coding method Even though

a great portion of my analysis is data-driven, theorizing has a profound role in the making of my finalized themes and in the way I construct the data presented in the thesis The themes in the following parts are therefore informed by theory and the research question, with emphasis on gender performativity, identity performance, and identity construct In the final stage, the themes present in this research paper are formulated with a combination of thematic analysis and observation Then, after referencing preceding literature and concepts, the themes are finalized In the next chapter, I will provide different analytical themes from my data by applying these methods into the analysis of the interview data, together with my observation notes

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

1 DATA ANALYSIS

As previously written, axial coding and selective coding were employed to ensure that the data could be thoroughly examined The themes emerged from the data analysis process can be illustrated in the following table

research

Properties

Queer identity The aspect of identity

that the participant feels

at odd with the society‘s

Need for identification of queerness

Performance of the self-conceptualized queer identity

Essentialism Constructivism

Queer identity

performance on

social media

The frequency of disclosure of information relating to queerness on social media

Queer identity, a private matter (not

to be shown on social media)

Social media disclosure (unable

Destabilization of the binary mindset

Refusal or hesitations in labeling

Table 2 Selective coding scheme and themes finalized

2 MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Initially, only narrative analyses were intended for this type of data Nonetheless, after the interviews and observations, I felt it was necessary to incorporate thematic analysis into the process to gain further insight into the matter As the research unfolds, it is expected that the analysis method will bring meaning that fosters deeper understanding of the subject matter The names of the informants are kept confidential throughout

2.1 Queer self-identification: not so much a pressing need

In my initial objectives for the research, I had in mind a vision of participants who would be eager and certain about their queer identity, or at least show a level of enthusiasm different from what I received Overall, it is the gay males that seem to be the most confident of their queer identity, which only took

up one third of my sample size The other informants displayed either varied levels

of hesitations or gave inconsistent answers when questions concerning the ways they see themselves were raised One common theme emerged, depicting their lack of a need for expressing their sexual orientations or gender in every day conversations

Thư (21, female, no specification): I can‘t locate my position in the LGBT community Right now I only know I have a girldfriend, and I can love both men and women I have never tried to label myself or to give myself an ―identity‖ So,

I don‘t know [laugh] LGBT or whatever, as long as you are human, you can‘t live unless you can ―breathe‖ [having an asmosphere to live and function in society]

Vinh (23, male, queer): Sometimes I just don‘t see the need to express my own gender identity or sexual orientation It‘s too cumbersome having to ―come out‖ to everyone I meet Do you see a straight person ever introduce themself as

―straight‖? That‘s my point

When asked about their experience of coming out, only three out of nine participants reported having let their families know about their sexual orientation The process was specific to each case, however, they all faced initial disapproval from their parents, due to the stigmatization the parents still hold on homosexual and transgender people This attitude changed overtime, with the effort of my informants in educating their loved ones about sexualities and gender In the case

of Kiên, his life as a gay man is pretty comfortable as he is now completely at ease with his parents welcoming his expression of gay identity

Kiên (22, gay): Pretty much all of the people, who are close to me, know

of my sexuality, including my parents Until now I haven't confronted any hostility yet, as they are all accepting of me […]Actually, my parents knew about the fact that I am gay before I officially came out to them […] I was dating a guy

in university and my parents were suspicious of my actions so they confronted

me At that moment, I decided to come out to them It felt as if I had gotten rid of the weight from my chest My mom was unsupportive at first and my dad tried to listen She was afraid that I would become a girl because she had no idea that gay men are different from transgender men As I explained to my parents, their worries were alleviated

While some achieved acceptance and support from their families, others encountered greater difficulties, with one of my interviewees recounted their experience of being disowned by their father The rest of the participants reported they only disclose their sexual orientation to those they feel would understand and accept them They also actively seek environments where they can express this side of their identity and gain knowledge as well as recognition

Hương (22, bisexual): I‘m a girl currently having a boyfriend So no one would guess I belong to the LGBT community I also don‘t feel the need to tell everyone that I‘m bisexual […] It‘s not shame It‘s just unnecessary to me Even when talking to people I know that are homosexuals, I don‘t always tell them

Khuê (23, female, queer): I see sexuality and gender as things that naturally attached to my identity I have always been this way, I feel no need to share For example, when you contradict yourself, you need to elaborate, solve a problem or help you friend, etc., then the disclosure can be meaningful But generally my problems do not concern those issues

When asked about their definitions of concepts relating to ―queerness‖, the participants also reported a discord in a common understanding of what it means

to be queer To those who demonstrated interest in expressing their queer identity gave various definitions of the main ―queer‖ identities such as ―gay‖, ―lesbian‖,

―bisexual‖ and ―transgender‖, either from their own knowledge or from different sources, mostly unofficial ones Meanwhile, for the partcipants who are less adamant about their identity, the questions concerning the definition of

―queerness‖ were often glossed over or answered with a great amount of uncertainty The majority of their claims could be traced back to a lack of need and interest to invest more into the matter

The reasons for this was not the main focus of the interview question, therefore, it leaves room for further research This very fact also leads to the limit

in the amount of literature provided to compare with the finding The impression is clear from the participants, however, there is little to be made about how their tendency to avoid a definitive gender and sexuality identity category can represent

a trend in the LGBTQ+ community in Hanoi As of now, it seems that for most of

my informants, their queer identity does not play so big a part in their overall identity performance

2.2 Performing a mix of essentialist and constructivist queer identity

Identity is innate

An essentialist view of identity is prevalent in not only research but also the media, supported by pro-LGBTQ+ organizations Mai (2016) has made a point on

the issue in her thesis I hereby present an excerpt from a booklet made by the ICS, discussing the coming-out experience, as adapted from Mai‘s thesis (pp 57-58):

Q: Is homosexuality a ―choice‖?

A: Sexual orientation and gender identity are not choices Similarly, a person is not heterosexual, nor right-handed, nor brown-eyed by choice The choice lies in whether this person is willing to explore themselves, to live true to themselves and to other people

Q: Are heterosexual people the ―normal‖ ones?

A: When people refer to heterosexuals as ―normal‖, it creates the

impression that homosexuals are ―not normal‖ In reality, different sexual orientations exist naturally, normally, and equally The fact that LGBT people are the minority and that society does not have sufficient knowledge about them does

not mean that they are any less normal than the majority (heterosexual people) (ICS, 2013, pp 14-15, emphasis in italics)

This text is obtained from a segment debating the popular misapprehensions and prejudices against LGBT people The Q&A format was utilized to efficiently deliver the message: The questions posed as examples of a ―misconception‖ and the answer presented counteracting knowledge to its respective question The excerpt above displays phrases and sentiments which capture the concept of

sexuality and gender identity in italics, whether fully or just partially The first

Q&A, for instance, argued against the belief that one can choose sexuality and gender identity The author went on to compare sexuality with physical features like eye color, suggesting that the differences are caused by natural diversity and, thence, should be seen as natural and equal Also within the answer, the writer touched on the notion of ―exploring and living true‖ to oneself, implying that sexuality and gender identity, as considered a feature of character, could be reside deep underneath and require significant determination in order to make them

shown and be ―true‖ to them Likewise, the second Q&A backed up the notion that (homo-)sexuality was legitimate and normal

These are exemplary cases of Foucault‘s (1978) reverse discourse, when medically-recognized categories such as LGBT are characterized as normal so as

to gain validity and public support These answers are also reminiscent of Foucault‘s (1978) theory on bio-power and how said power operates For instance, the idea that one should delve deep within to find one‘s ―true self‖ supports the Freudian idea that (non-normative) sexuality is enigmatic and needs deliverance from repression This is a direct exhibition of the coercive hypothesis that Foucault (1978) explicitly criticized, as it allows to happen common practices that control sexuality through categorization and, consequently, upkeeps bio-power Attempts to ―liberate‖ queers unwittingly characterizes this community into categories (e.g LGBTQ) based on how they deviate from the normal, and shapes sexuality and gender into a kind of identity

Biological determinism and homonormativity are abundant within the narratives of the interviews, particularly with those who identify as gay or bisexual I divide them into three groups: self-discovery, identity, and relationships Self-discovery of queerness here should be regarded as the self-discovery narrative which describes the process of acknowledging and accepting the ―true‖ sexual/gender identity Some answers referred to their early childhood, when they ―already‖ experience a inconspicuous and unexplainable difference:

Ngọc (23, gay): I felt something different since I was in kindergarten I couldn‘t explain what that is, but definitely I was not like other boys I was only interested in hanging out with girls

Others expressed an explicit yearning for self-expression that is at odds with their gender roles, or their infatuation for same-sex friends:

Minh (26, gay): In elementary school, I think around grade 3 or 4, I started developing a liking for boys around me It was normal for boys to play with boys of course But I really really liked being around them

Vinh (23, male, queer): I used to be teased for having mild and somewhat feminine demeanor But I thought it was worth it I wouldn‘t change it because it matches my look and some boys are attracted to it as well I‘m proud I have partners because I was not afraid to be myself

A process of attempting to figure out their sexual orientation is shared among

my homosexual and bisexual informants They wanted to make adamantly clear that it was not ―a phase‖ The information they got on homosexuality is based on a multitude of different sources, which includes words of mouths, online researches and more traditional sources like newspapers Therefore, most of them only started

to consider themselves gay at an adolescent age, typically during their high school

or university years:

Kiên (22, gay): I started finding out I was more attracted to boys when I first watched porn with some of my guy friends back in secondary school It was heterosexual porn, but I was only paying attention to the male actor while all of my friends focused on the girl I found it weird so I look up more on the Internet and by the time I was in high school I was sure I‘m a gay person

Khuê (23, female, queer, formerly lesbian): I have only been totally sure of

my sexuality since grade 12 Before that I already had feelings for my female friends, but I only thought I liked them because they were cute and nice I thought I would still be attracted to boys So far, no boys But I‘m not excluding any future possibility though

It can be noted here that even though Khuê seemed certain of her attraction towards females, she lets herself be open to the opposite sex In some case, the realization of their same-sex attraction encountered feelings of denial Some

engaged in attempts to ―revert‖ that felt repudiation of homosexuality, either through self-persuation or heterosexual relationships

Minh (26, gay): I only accepted that I was gay when I had my first boyfriend at college Thanks to him, I‘m comfortable living as myself Before that,

I was too afraid to accept I even agreed to date some girls because I didn‘t, I couldn‘t believe I was gay I tried bactingmore ―manly‖ and in fact my girlfriend was very happy with that image of us I just wasn‘t I was acting I felt something missing It wasn‘t natural Until I met my boyfriend We instantly clicked!

Minh stated that the ―internalization of homophobia‖ from his surroundings led him to experience denial of his own sexuality He initially went though a ―sort

of denial‖ phase, similar to those reported by Mai (2016) in her research, however

at a more subtle level since he did not force himself to ―become‖ heterosexual This process of contradiction and refusal displays ―a reaction to the widespread cultural notion that considered homosexuality to be a ―sinful‖ choice or a temporary lifestyle‖ (Phạm, 2013; Weber, 2012; as cited in Mai, 2016, p.63) According to Mai (2016), homosexuality, through the lense of folk constructionism, is illegitimate because of its chaotic and spontaneous interactions It is common in the public view that gay men have short-lived relationships and change partners frequently, with higher incidents of infidelity, which is frowned upon by the society standards The common reaction against this stigmatizing construction of homosexuality would be to ―slide to the opposite extreme: they assert that there is something real about their identity, and then try to locate that felt reality in their genes, or their earliest experience, or their mystical nature‖ (Epstein, 1987, p 25) The accentuation to feeling distinctive at youth and the reported inability to affect sexual attraction to the opposite sex even with different means were the two most crucial parts in ―locat[ing] that felt reality‖: they provide credibility to the idea that identity is fundamental and invariable and rigid Hence, ―nature‖ arised as a key word used among my interviewees when they were asked to conceptualize their sexual or gender identity