Work

Lost in Representation

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This contribution explores LGBTQIA+ adolescents’ perceptions of the representations and self-representations of LGBTQIA+ subjectivities in digital media, with particular attention to the tensions between visibility, authenticity, and recognition. Drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with young people aged 16 to 18, the study investigates how online queer visibility is received, filtered, and sometimes rejected by LGBTQIA+ individuals. In this context, selectivity, silence, and disengagement emerge as active strategies of communicative agency, capable of negotiating belonging and redefining the conditions of recognition. The paper invites us to rethink visibility not as an absolute value, but as a negotiated space between authenticity, desire, and the complexity of queer experiences during adolescence.

Source: Cambio Rivista sulle Trasformazioni Sociali

DOI: 10.36253/cambio-18714

Authors: Raffaella Maiullo, Francesca Comunello, Lorenza Parisi, Cosimo Marco Scarcelli, Vittoria Bernardini

Language: Italian

Topic: LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W7128735340

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