Representations of Virgin Young Adult Men in Internet Macro Memes

Lamoureux, Julie et Boislard, Marie-Aude (2023). « Representations of Virgin Young Adult Men in Internet Macro Memes ». Sexuality & culture, 27, pp. 1527-1555.

Fichier(s) associé(s) à ce document :

	Doc (Représentations adultes vierges dans les memes) Télécharger (119kB)

Résumé

Virgin young adult men (VYAM) are often stigmatized for deviating from the social clock. Despite the importance of media in young adults’ lives, few studies have examined media representations of VYAM, and none have yet examined the numerous memes about virgin adults. Memes are sets of visual and cultural elements diffused and replicated on the internet. An increasing number of studies reveal the importance of memes in youth identity construction through the memorable messages they often convey. This is especially prominent for communities whose values or behaviors (or, in the case of VYAM, lack thereof) diverge from mainstream tendencies, such as the social clock. While memes are abundant online discursive tools, they tend to reproduce stereotypes and misrepresent marginalized groups. The objective of the present exploratory study was to describe the memetic representations of virgin young adult men (VYAM) published on the platform 9GAG, which is particularly popular among VYAM. Our hybrid analytical strategy combined content analysis, textual analysis, and tenets of dialectical team-coding, taking inspiration from a past study on media representations of VYA—both men and women—in films and TV series. A sample of 47 memes showed the emergence of three categories grouping 10 VYAM profiles: (1) virginity as a mark of belonging (the integrated and the notorious virgin), (2) virginity as a subjective experience (the voluntary, the sublimated, the naive, and the subversive virgin), and (3) virginity as a burden (the stigmatized, the resigned, the anxious, and the gender double standard-affected virgin). The different profiles support stigma and self-determination discourses relative to virginity experiences. This study sheds light on the stigma surrounding sexual inexperience in adulthood in the memetic culture.

Type:	Article de revue scientifique
Informations complémentaires:	Projet VisaJe
Mots-clés ou Sujets:	memes, vierges virginité, représentation, hommes, masculinité, analyse qualitative, internet
Unité d'appartenance:	Faculté des sciences humaines > Département de sexologie
Déposé par:	délégation Isabelle Turcotte
Date de dépôt:	26 mars 2026 12:25
Dernière modification:	26 mars 2026 12:25
Adresse URL :	https://archipel.uqam.ca/secure/id/eprint/19831

Modifier les métadonnées (propriétaire du document)

Statistiques