Gender and Class in Online Funeral Tributes: Survey of a Memorial Platform
Online funeral tributes are subject to differentiated use by gender and social class. A quantitative and qualitative survey, paired with the study of an online memorial website, highlights the feminine and popular component that emerges from digital uses as part of mourning. The study of the memorial website shows us how gender roles and their territories are reproduced online, in the approach to mourning, expression of emotions, tribute paid to the dead and writing... It also reveals the correlation, in terms of uses and tastes, linking online participation and position in the social hierarchy, with the memorial platform, defined as a space of solidarity and community, distinguishing itself by its popular uses. While online funerary tributes are geared to gender roles and class positions, however, this case study shows how a digital device might contribute to the reconfiguration of masculine and feminine processes of mourning.