"Dijital ınfluencer" Miquela Sousa'yı "Takiplemek": Sosyal medyada kadın beden temsili üzerine düşünmek
"Following" the "Digital influencer" Miquela Sousa: Reflecting on female body representation on social media
Yazar: GÜLCAN UYSAL
Danışman: PROF. DR. NİLÜFER TİMİSİ NALÇAOĞLU
İstanbul Üniversitesi / Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü / Kadın Çalışmaları Ana Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2024
Konu: Felsefe = Philosophy ; Sosyoloji = Sociology ; İletişim Bilimleri = Communication Sciences
Dizin: Feminizm = Feminism ; Sosyal medya = Social media ; İnstagram = Instagram

Özet:
Son yıllarda kadınların beden imajlarını sergilemesi üzerine sosyal medya yeni bir alan açmaktadır ve hem başka hayatları ve yaşam tarzlarını hem de yaşamı seyretme deneyimi giderek dönüşmektedir. Bu bağlamda bu çalışmada, sosyal medya platformlarında kadın bedeni ile cinsiyet temsillerine yönelik öne çıkan söylemler, görseller ve idealize edilen kadınlık imajına ait mesajların günümüz kadınının benlik algısındaki etkisi tartışılmaktadır. Araştırma, artan internet kullanımı ile teknolojik gelişmeler sayesinde toplumsal hayatın içindeki yeni medya ortamlarının toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri üzerinden yeni anlam inşalarını şekillendirmeye başladığı ve bu rollerin sürekli olarak yeniden üretildiği gözlemlerinden yola çıkmaktadır. Çalışmada, reklamcılıkta geleneksel olarak kadın temsillerini inşa eden ünlü oyuncular ve modeller yerine alternatif bir yaklaşımla yeni medya ortamı Instagram ve dijital olarak yaratılan influencer (etkileyici) Miquela Sousa mercek altına alınmaktadır. İlk ortaya çıktığı dönemde gerçek bir insan mı yoksa sanal olarak yaratılmış bir karakter mi olduğu sosyal medyaca tartışılmış olan Miquela Sousa araştırmanın bulabildiği kadarıyla ve temsil edildiği üzere dijital etkileyicilerin ilkidir. Çalışmada yapay zeka gibi teknolojik olarak geliştirilen araçlarla yeni boyutlar kazanan kitle iletişim araçlarının zemininde oluşturulan robot kadın karakteri etkileyici, şarkıcı, Youtuber Miquela Sousa'nın kadınların kendilik imajının ve sunumunun bir değerlendirmesi sunulmaktadır. 
Yöntem olarak temelde nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden kategorisel içerik analizi ve göstergebilimsel çözümleme kullanılmaktadır. Miquela Sousa'nın Instagram hesabında yer alan ve yaşayan bir insanın gerçek birer fotoğrafıymış gibi paylaşılan görsellerin çalışma kapsamında oluşturulan tematik kategorilere uygun birer örneği göstergebilimsel çözümlemeyle irdelenmektedir. Bu kapsamda sosyal medya hesabına en çok uyacağı düşünülen sekiz kategori seçilmiştir: (1) Nesneleşen Kadın İmgesi (Seyirlik Beden) (2) Bedenin Parça Olarak Sunulumu (3) Nesneleşen Kadın İmgesi (Soyunan Beden) (4) Nesneleşen Kadın İmgesi (Saf Güzellik Vurgusu) (5) Tüketici Rolünde Konumlandırılan Kadın (6) Egzotik ve Gerçeküstü Beden İmgeleri (7) Duygusallaştırılmış Kadın Bedeni (8) Nesneleşen Kadın İmgesi (Bükülmüş Beden). Göstergebilimsel çözümleme araştırmacının özgün seyretme deneyimi ve feminist bir bakışla birlikte ele alınmaktadır. Başka bir deyişle, kadınların, dijital influencer'ın kadın beden temsilinde nasıl algılandığı sorunsalı üzerinden, aslında pek de dillendirilmeyen bir konu olarak bu bedeni izleme deneyimleri araştırmacının kendi deneyimleri üzerinden dökülmektedir. Dijital etkileyicinin sosyal medya hesabı -bir araştırmacı olarak seyretme deneyiminin başladığı- 2021 Ocak ayı ile 2024 Ocak ayı arasında incelenmektedir. Aynı zamanda etkileyicinin paylaştığı fotoğraflardan sadece kendini içerenler üzerinden analiz edilmektedir. Araştırma sonuç olarak hem yeni medya çalışmaları hem de feminist çalışmalarda henüz ele alınmamış bir konuyu ele almaktadır ve öz düşünümsel seyretme deneyimleriyle sosyal medya, yeni dijital araçlar, kadın bedeni ve toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri ilişkisine dair yeni bir okuma ortaya koymaktadır. Bununla birlikte ileride gerçekleştirilecek yeni medya çalışmaları kapsamında sosyal medya üzerine feminist bir bakış geliştirmeyi hedefleyen yeni sorunsallar ortaya atmaktadır. Bu bağlamda hep aynı yaşta gösteren Miquela Sousa'nın kendilik imajı, toplumun cinsiyet rolleri ve kadın bedeni algısının bir ürünü müdür yoksa toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri ve kadın bedeni algısı üretiminin bir parçası mıdır sorusu sorgulanmaktadır.

Abstract:
In recent years, social media has opened a new space for women to display their body images, and the experience of watching other lives and lifestyles, as well as the experience of watching life, is gradually transforming. In this context, this study discusses the prominent discourses and images on the female body and gender representations on social media platforms, as well as the impact of messages about the idealized image of femininity on the self-perception of today's women. The research is based on the observations that, thanks to the increasing use of the internet and technological developments, new media environments in social life have begun to shape new constructions of meaning through gender roles and that these roles are constantly reproduced. The study focuses on the new media environment Instagram and the digitally created influencer Miquela Sousa with an alternative approach instead of famous actors and models that traditionally construct female representations in advertising. An evaluation of women's self-image and presentation is presented through Miquela Sousa, an influencer, singer, Youtuber, a robot woman character created with mass media that has gained new dimensions with developing technology.
Basically, categorical content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, is used as the methodology of the research. The digital influencer's social media account—the beginning of the viewing experience as a researcher—is examined between January 2021 and January 2024. At the same time, the photos shared by the influencer are analyzed only on those containing themselves. A sample of the images on Miquela Sousa's Instagram account, which are shared as if they were real photographs, are analyzed with semiotic analysis in accordance with the thematic categories created. With a feminist perspective, semiotic analysis is handled together with the researcher's unique viewing experience. In other words, through the problematic of how women perceive the digital influencer in the representation of the female body, the researcher's own experiences of watching this body, which is actually an unspoken issue, are poured over the researcher's own experiences. As a result, the research offers a new reading of the relationship between social media, the female body and gender roles through self-reflexive viewing experiences. The research also poses new problematics for future new media studies aiming to develop a feminist perspective on social media.
In the light of this brief summary, I would like to extend the content of the research for the international audience. At the beginning of this research process, while examining gender roles on social media, I came across the Instagram account of Miquela Sousa, the first digital robot "influencer" in the world. This encounter made me think about the produced body and the representation of the female body, which has an important place in social assignment of gender roles. In my study, first of all, I question how I perceive this representation of the digital phenomenon I follow so that the self-reflexivity suggested by the feminist method can permeate every stage of the research. It is not easy to discuss some concepts in everyday life and to think about our own lives, which are intertwined with social media, through our bodies and the bodies that surround us. I think that the questions that accompany this research will transform me as a feminist researcher who is a newcomer to feminist knowledge production. In this context, I construct the main question of my research as follows: "What can "following" (takiplemek) a digitally produced female body on social media and the experience of watching this body teach us about gender roles, social media and the representation of the female body?"
While establishing the theoretical framework, I draw on the literature that discusses the relationship between mass media and gender. My main problematic that establishes the basic framework of the research and initially led me to conduct this research is; "How is the representation of the female body, which also produces gender roles, on social media?". My sub-questions that can generate answers based on this problematic are based on Miquela Sousa (@lilmiquela), who emerged as a mysterious young woman profile in 2016 and became an Instagram icon. Miquela, a 19-year-old Brazilian Hispanic young woman born in Los Angeles, California, attends fashion shows, visits popular venues, models for famous brands and even posts photos of herself with celebrities as a real person, sharing photos, messages and stories with content creators. Lil Miquela, who is indistinguishably real at first glance but created with computer-generated imagery technology (CGI), even has brand agreements with major companies such as Samsung, Calvin Klein, Prada and Youtube. Lil, who clarified the virtual or real debates that emerged in 2018, announces from her Instagram account with a long post stating that she is actually a robot but wants to be human. Lil Miquela is currently on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Spotify with her songs. She promotes products, sings, makes music videos and models for many famous brands. Such a virtual personality is expected to lead to significant changes in many sectors in the future, especially in marketing. Lil, a singer, social media phenomenon and a computer-generated virtual person, is also a woman who is very sensitive to social and social issues. She posts about the challenges faced by women, racism, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ and youth issues. My sub-questions on how Miquela, a female fashion icon of Generation Z, as an object of representation on social media and through her body image, turns into an object of identification are shaped as follows. How does Miquela's idealized self create discourses on gender while becoming a representation of bodies? How is Miquela, the digital phenomenon as a cultural object, reproducing many problems such as women's representation in the media, social stereotypes of women, objectification, and body dissatisfaction? How can Miquela, as a digital culture character with her discourses sensitive to social events, be evaluated through digital feminism? What is the impact of social media influencers presentation of their identities, their messages on beauty and femininity stereotypes, and the presentation of arguments about whether popular culture is de-sexing or not in digital culture? 
By analyzing Miquela's photos on her Instagram profile, I explore the idealized representations of women in social media. I highlight what kind of femininity traits are commonly emphasized in a digital robot influencer in the mainstream culture of social media. I analyze the identities imposed on women through representations on digital platforms from a feminist perspective, through the roles of femininity that the media creators behind Miquela and the advertising teams of big brands assign to Miquela in the public and private spheres. Are Miquela's photographs that produce real meaning or do they contain codes that contain certain meanings of the language of photography? I find myself asking the questions of what these photographs say to me and how representations of the female body are realized through these photographs. I evaluate the images of Miquela's self-perception as a woman from my own female perspective with the acceptance that photography is a practice of producing meaning rather than showing reality as it is, just like other visual arts, especially painting.
With the developing use of the internet, social media has replaced the mainstream media and now offers people a platform where they can create their own profiles and dijital identities. Based on my own Instagram profile, I can say that although I think that I choose the photos I present as an image, I actually reproduce many patterns imposed by the media. The images and identity representations of famous women are also shown to us by their managers and producers as if they are quite natural and unique profiles of their own, while there is a great team work behind the scenes. In the case of Miquela, we are asked to believe that she is a real woman, when this is clearly not the case. Her "sincerity" finds meaning in the reproduced roles of womanhood imposed by the media. With this work, I want to contribute to the critical positioning of young women in particular and to their thinking about representations of the female body.
In my research process, I adopted a self-reflexive attitude. While evaluating the images on Instagram in which discourses on gender find expression, I found myself self-criticizing. I realized that in my own representation in my profile, as in many profiles, I legitimized the roles of femininity assigned to women. I confronted the transformative effect of realizing that I was imitating the roles of sporty woman representation, woman positioned as a consumer, housewife and pure beauty, which I presented my body as a part of the womanhood roles I assumed in my profile. Although I admit that I cannot easily get out of the effect of stereotypical visions such as perfecting and objectifying myself, my body and my womanhood profile, I can at least say that I now stand with a more critical perspective and constantly question myself in this process.
I believe that with my research, social media users and content producers will be able to contribute to a more critical evaluation of the images they produce for a wide range of people addressed by this platform. I find it important to evaluate the platforms where popular media reproduces gender discourses through the representation of women's bodies by examining the images that have become part of the public sphere in the specific case of Instagram, based on theories within the framework of social sciences, in order to raise awareness, especially for the new generation.
In my work, I question myself through the content of the digital influencer Miquela, who is famous and followable for many. For me, it is important to analyze the codes that the body image of famous influencers like the Miquela model on social media tells about the representation of identity and the presentation of femininity in a theoretical framework from a feminist perspective. In this context, I suggest that we should critically question whether the self-image of Miquela Sousa, who is a woman constantly showing at the same age, being "young, healthy, cute, sexy and fit," is a product of society's gender roles and perception of the female body or is a part of the production of gender roles and female body perception.