From Boyfriend to Boy’s Love: South Korean Male ASMRtists’ Performances of Digital Care

Abstract

YouTube-based ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) has become widely popular in South Korea as a readily accessible mode of self-care. However, ASMR scholarship in South Korea has largely overlooked a discussion of its engagement with gender norms. This essay fills the gap by analyzing South Korean male ASMRtists performing digital care through “boyfriend role plays” and “boy’s love (BL) role plays.” Probing into these examples from the perspective of digital gender, I argue that the ASMR’s haptic encounter has the potential to turn the ASMRtist, the audience, and the Internet itself into active performers rehearsing the possibility of subverting the offline society’s normative expectations of gender roles.