Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the politics of intimacy through an analysis of the representation of gendered selves, potential partners, and romantic relationships by PNG women using online dating sites, arguing that these suggest increasing expectations of intimacy in relationships.

Paper long abstract:

The politics of intimacy in online dating rely partly at least on the understanding that images and presentations of self during online communication is more malleable than that of face-to-face communication, given that personal characteristics listed online are not always obvious or verifiable. At the same time, however, online daters seek to maintain a level of authenticity and consistency between online and offline 'selves' in order to be able to form intimate relationships offline. This paper explores the politics of the presentation of gendered selves by Papua New Guinea women using a variety of online dating sites, including global sites utilised by daters from many different countries as well as small, localised sites within PNG. But it seeks to focus also on the ways in which potential partners and romantic relationships are also key elements in this process of self-presentation. It examines the ways in which these women represent not only themselves as certain kinds of gendered persons and potential partners, but also the types or characteristics of the male partners they are seeking in order to bring about a certain kind of relationship. I argue that these PNG women present themselves, their desired partners, and the relationships they seek online in ways that indicate transformations of not just experiences but also expectations of intimacy in personal relationships in PNG.