Abstract
This is a statement from Simon, put forth in a video blog (vlog), recorded in his home. We can barely see Simon because of the low-level light as he speaks straight into the camera with a rather timid look on his face. In this quote Simon suggests that the camera is an integrated part of his self — documenting his thoughts and inner dialogue. But the camera also serves as an external interlocutor, a companion you can trust and tell everything. The camera becomes ‘the eye that sees and the ear that listens powerfully but without judgement and reprisal’ (Renov quoted in Matthews, 2007: 443). Here, the vlog seems to work as a therapeutic tool that enables Simon to locate and release powerful emotional energy in ways that are not possible off-screen.
I’m really shy, and these videos are easy because right now all I do is talking to a camera, talking with self, which I do in my head anyway, talk to myself […] I hold back more in real life than on the computer.
(Simon, a 22-year-old Female to Male (FTM), USA, 7 October 2007)
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© 2012 Tobias Raun
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Raun, T. (2012). DIY Therapy: Exploring Affective Self-Representations in Trans Video Blogs on YouTube. In: Karatzogianni, A., Kuntsman, A. (eds) Digital Cultures and the Politics of Emotion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230391345_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230391345_10
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