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

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS & CULTURES OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

GRADUATION PAPER

SELF-PERCEPTION AND PERFORMANCE OF
QUEER IDENTITY BY YOUNG LGBTQ+ PEOPLE
IN HANOI

Supervisor: Đỗ Thị Mai Thanh, M.A
Student:

Nguyễn Thanh Phương

Course:

QH2015. F1. E3

HANOI - 2019


ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
KHOA NGƠN NGỮ VÀ VĂN HĨA CÁC NƯỚC NĨI TIẾNG ANH

KHĨA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

SỰ TỰ NHẬN ĐỊNH VÀ BIỂU HIỆN DANH TÍNH
QUEER BỞI GIỚI TRẺ THUỘC NHĨM LGBTQ+
TẠI HÀ NỘI

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

Nguyễn Thanh Phương

Khóa:

QH2015. F1. E3

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

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.

i


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 semistructured 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
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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 5: CONCLUSIONS
1. Summary of major finding.....................................................................44
2. Implications............................................................................................45
3. Limitations and suggestion for further studies.......................................46

REFERENCES
APPENDICES

iv


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Interview participant profiles …………………...……………..….17
Table 2. Selective coding scheme and themes finalized…………………….25

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Analytical procedure ……………………………………………..23
Figure 2. Mai’s Matrix of Oppression in the Vietnamese Queer
Youth Community (2016) ………………………………………………….39

v

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‖

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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 genderqueer) perceive their identities, and the interplay between their selfconceptualization, 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?”

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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
is intended to give rationale as to why the research was conducted. In addition, the

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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.

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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 nonbinary 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
5


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
6


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,
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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 middleaged 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
8


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

9

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).

10

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 selfidentify 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).

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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.
2.3. QUEER THEORY
In scholarly research, queerness has established a discipline of its own.
After an examination of works most frequently cited in queer studies, I have found
the two foundational works of Queer Theory which are Foucault‘s (1978) A
History of Sexuality and Butler‘s (1990/2006) Gender Trouble.
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,
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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

13


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
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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
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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
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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.

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