Deconstructed male? Music videos, gender issues and masculinities under tension

Abstract

Considering the audiovisual network as a communicational dimension through which it would be possible to map various political, identity and cultural disputes, including those related to gender issues, this article investigates the meanings of masculinities activated around the image of the "deconstructed male", using as a case study the network of identity engagements mobilised on Instagram around the music video "Masculinidade" by Tiago Iorc. The music video is understood as an expanded audiovisual form whose consumption experience involves comments, memes, parodies, etc. Based on a theoretical-methodological protocol that articulates the notions of performance and performativity, we mapped out how the disputes over masculinity performed by the singer point to possibilities for rethinking gender identities.