ABSTRACT
Coming out videos have become an increasingly popular genre on social media among queer youths and YouTube celebrities, and a few most popular ones have generated tens of millions of views combined that have also caught wide public attention from traditional mass media. This paper considers and compares two (sets of) coming out videos on YouTube from the Rhodes brothers in the United States and the Huang brothers in Taiwan that both became landmark social media and mass media events. It questions the normative narrative of coming out and the uneven flows of youth cultures and celebrity cultures online, where the visibility of certain social groups has masked the invisibility of other marginalized people. The critique extends to the “YouTube celebrity economy” and video-based female queer fandom, as well as the parents’ responses and reactions to their children’s coming out that have been recorded on video—an important part of coming out that is often overlooked in queer studies and youth studies. This paper offers a unique lens that connects online stardom and fandom to parental responses to coming out, shedding further light on global youth cultures, YouTube economy and queer celebrities, and parent-youth relations in Asia and America.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Videography
- Connor Franta. 2014. Coming Out. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYodBfRxKWI
- Huang Brothers. 2020a. About the news report, I want to tell my family … (關於報導, 我想跟家人說). Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo7ggR1f54s
- Huang Brothers. 2020b. When did Wei-wei realize he liked boys? Does he have a partner? Q&A with the Huang brothers on a roller-coaster! (瑋瑋哪時候發現喜歡男生?現在有沒有對象?在雲霄飛車回答Q&A!). Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJH2UEh3ec
- Ingrid Nilsen. 2015. Something I Want You to Know (Coming Out). Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh7WRYXVh9M
- Rhodes Brothers. 2015a. Meet our Dad. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD6Ulqie0ho
- Rhodes, Brothers. 2015b. Twins Come Out to Dad. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3K0CJ8usPU
- Rhodes Brothers. 2016. Coming Out to Each Other. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPbsDbVgbPo
- Rhodes Brothers. 2018. Reacting to our Coming Out Video w/ Dad. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V_y24OAdNU
- Tao Talk Show. 2020. Matilda Tao feels awkward when watching the @Huang Brothers videos? Wei-wei talks about the impact of his “forced coming out” for the first time—explosive remarks shock everyone? (陶子姊看@黃氏兄弟 感覺很尬?瑋瑋初談「被出櫃」影響, 爆炸性言論震驚全場?). Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxkBjD1fWSs
- The Ellen Show. 2015. Twins Aaron and Austin Meet Ellen. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE-rW-9n2-4
- Tom Daley. 2013. Tom Daley: Something I want to say. Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJwJnoB9EKw
- TVBS. 2020. Wei-wei of the Huang brothers confessed his sexual orientation in tears, met with warm support from his mother (“黃氏”瑋瑋淚崩坦承性向 媽媽暖回:支持你). Accessed March 12 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuD7p-5d2m4
Additional information
Notes on contributors
John Wei
Dr John Wei is a lecturer in Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Otago. He is the author of Queer Chinese Cultures and Mobilities: Kinship, Migration, and Middle Classes (HKUP, 2020; US: Chicago UP). He serves on the New Zealand Ethics Committee (NZEC). His Syllabus+ and PhD+ initiatives explore new possibilities in tertiary education and graduate training.