David Gauntlett says that the media provide us with 'tools' or resources that we use to construct our identities. An aspect of a sociologically postmodern society, Gauntlett wrote his ideas on the ability to choose our identities in 200 and they remain relevant today.
Since his writing, there have been great moves towards greater equality for people of all identities and definitely improvements in the societal view on those previously deemed outside of the 'norm.' With changes in society, it is inevitable that there will be changes in media and representations and even though there is more diverse media now than ever, there is still very limited and heteronormativity remains strong. Being young and active on social media in the 2020s means I am regularly exposed to new and different identities and people, mainly gender identities and sexual orientations. A very prolific LGBTQ social media influencer is Matt Bernstein [user mattxiv].
Matt Bernstein is an American social media influencer who rose to fame by using makeup to spread 'sociopolitical agendas' and messages of acceptance especially those surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, being a member of the community themselves. Whilst sometimes being criticised for performative activism and, on occasion, doing more harm than good by 'dumbing down' and almost trivialising important problems in society, he boasts an instagram following of 892k and is well loved within their own social media community. It is clear that Matt receives a lot of love on instagram when he posts screenshots of dms from followers especially those received during his weekly segment 'manifest monday' in which followers send in via instagram dms what they are manifesting for the coming week.
Using the tools the media provides us with, Matt has structured his own identity around being queer, a love of coffee (featured in a recurring series on their instagram called 'sip4u' in which audience members are offered a virtual sip from his drink), having long nails (often with impressive and attentive designs) and being jewish. As a follower of Matt, you are often reminded of these traits and Matt's pride of them as well as any issues that relate to them personally (e.g homophobic or anti-semitic issues). The fight for equality is presented to audiences through - previously, makeup designs but more recently, - graphically manufactured posts that featured Matt himself somewhere in the frame with informative slides (all sources cited).
Gauntlett goes on to say that in the past the media tended to convey singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offer us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas.
Matt Bernstein uses both he/him and they/them pronouns. If we were to assess these using traditional ideas that gender = pronouns then we could say that Matt falls under the gender fluid identity bracket. Years ago, fluidity of gender identity would not have been much accepted in wider society and people would have been confined to very specific boxes - male or female. However, in this day and age, most of society accepts new and different gender identities (although if you read up on the history, they have actually been around longer than a lot of people would have you believe) and non-binary identities are becoming very widely known in society. There are more high profile people being open about their own identities and how we should approach others (with kindness, acceptance and love always) such as Sam Smith and Demi Lovato both coming out as non-binary - both having fame that exists separately from social media - and many people on social media sights such as tiktok gaining fame because of their identities.
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