2026-09-22T01:28:31Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/130168 2026-02-10 col_2142_5131 col_2142_14811 com_2142_5130 com_2142_9166 com_2142_8903

application/pdf en text Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01 The student, Breanna Escamilla, accepted the attached license on 2025-07-11 at 10:22. The student, Breanna Escamilla, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-07-11 at 10:33. This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-07-11 at 16:19. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22504 on 2025-10-25 at 15:53:45 The social media practices and politics of queer Latinas Escamilla, Breanna Sophia 2025-07-11 Davis, Jenny L. Smalls, Krystal A. Davis, Jenny L Smalls, Krystal A Harrison, Faye V Velez, Emma Anthropology Latinx Studies Latina Feminist Studies Digital Studies Queer Studies eng This dissertation examines how queer Latinas located in the United States engage the social media platforms of Instagram and Twitter to express and theorize their lived experiences. Chapter 1 is the introduction and situates the dissertation in the fields of Anthropology, Latinx studies, and digital studies. It further establishes the methodological framework of the dissertation including, participant recruitment, ethnographic methods, and my approach to semi- structured interviews. Chapter 2 examines how the #NoSaboKid operates as a figure of U.S Latinidad that reveals the interplay between linguistic insecurity and authenticity. It further examines how gendered and heteronormative expectations inform how participants are positioned within Latinidad. Chapter 3 follows a singular participant as she narrates and theorizes her own lived experiences through interviews and her use of Instagram. This chapter is grounded in topical nodes that emerged in her narration that include her parentification, language acquisition, schooling, and mental health. Chapter 4 analyzes the ambivalent relationship participants have with social media platforms because of its implications for user mental health, the profitability of user attention, and extraction of user data. Chapter 5 is the conclusion and examines how the photographic practice of one participant generates a discussion of whose artistic practices are elevated and are not, and that methods of storytelling exist beyond the parameters of disciplines. It further offers a methodological frame and reflection of the dissertation. The conclusion concludes by offering future research directions that build upon the dissertation. 2025-08 Text https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130168 Copyright 2025 Breanna Escamilla Anthropology Anthropology University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Ph.D. Dissertation