User:OsaRosa/2. Queer Communication Studies Foundations

LGBTQ+ Communication Studies Histories and Foundations
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Queer Communication Studies Foundations
Queer Communication Studies foundations further examines how the field started and where it is going. Its foundations as a field in the broader Communication Studies discipline are rooted in ideas of feminism and gay and lesbian studies. Queer Communication Studies seeks to destigmatize LGBTQ+ people's societal experiences and communities and create new ways to examine their social interactions in their communication. Queer Theory relates to how people are assumed to be heterosexual unless otherwise stated and seeks to reconstruct ideas of difference (difference being that they do not fit into society's preconceived notions of normal). Closeting communication refers to how people disclose information regarding their stigmatized identities, such as sexuality, gender, or other non-visible identities, to others. Queer methods takes aspects of queer theory and applies it to research and analysis that is happening to create new research possibilities beyond traditional methods. Researchers today are moving towards a more inclusive use of the LGBTQ+ acronym and being more aware of tokenism and its effects on not just the community but also societies perspectives.

Queer Theory in Communication Studies
Although not a communication scholar, Teresa de Lauretis is responsible for the creation of the term queer theory and communication theorist have expanded on the term. Queer Theory challenges the idea of heterosexuality being the benchmark for sexual formations, and distinguishes the different groups that are under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Queer theory seeks to break down heteronormative ideals and reconstruct ideas of difference (that is to change the idea that people are assumed to be straight unless otherwise stated and change the way that people view others not fitting into this ideal). It offers a new way to view and evaluate sexualities and social interactions. This theory also seeks to challenge strict identity categories which can lead to oppression of certain individuals. In Communication Studies research, queer theory is rooted in ideas of feminism and gay and lesbian studies and breaking down the ideas of the normative, e.g., how people are assumed to be heterosexual unless they say otherwise and that people fit into only two genders when there are a spectrum of genders. Queer Theory as an idea seeks to admire queerness and not just look for acceptance. There are discussions between communication queer theorists of how queer theory should be practiced in Communication Studies and other disciplinary fields, such as questioning: should it be only about queer people and their lives or should it focused on breaking all ideals of the normative.

There are some challenges that communication research using queer theory faces like how scholars include race, gender, and class. Race poses a problem as much of the research being conducted on the LGBTQ+ community revolves around white gays and lesbians. Some of this scholarship has also overlooked gender, including transgender identities and lesbian identities. Middle class ideals are overrepresented in queer theory while working-class ideals are overlooked and covered up. One response to queer theory critiques in Communication Studies is to look at transnational queer studies which is the study of queer theory around the world and how the discussions of queer theory differs between countries. Looking at queer theory from a globalized view can help change the research on predominantly white heterosexual populations in the communication field by including different cultures especially non-westernized cultures, and seeks to change the white normative center of research in the communication field.

Closeting Communication
Closeting communication refers to how people choose to disclose their stigmatized identities to others such as sexuality, gender, political stances, criminal past, and more. Queer Communication Studies research theorizes closeting communication as a form of self-defense that protects people from discrimination whether it be online, in job interviews, or in person for a variety of identities. LGBTQ+ identities are seen as stigmatized because of the heteronormative society that assumes people have a heterosexual and cisgender identity, leading to closeting communication to be used by queer people. Closeting communication begins to dissect how the assumption of identities relates to the amount of self-disclosure one gives to others and in turn how the assumptions affect LGBTQ+ people. For LGBTQ+ people, coming out is a form of self-disclosure where they communicate their identity or identities to someone they trust. Closeting communication is not limited to in-person interactions, as researchers have also examined how queer people present themselves online through social media. Through social media, social distance from discriminatory people becomes limited which could lead to further closeting because of the potential viewers of the profile.

Queer Methods in Communication Studies
There are a few key ideas that are present in queer methods like deviating from traditional research methods to explore data by applying queer theory to research methods and findings. Queer methods consists of finding new types of data, using queer theory to adapt research methods, and pushing back against the normal methods assumptions of generalizations and data being reliable. To examine data differently, communication researchers must look into people's interconnecting identities, belonging, and differences.

Big Data adds to the discussion of queer methods as it is comprised of much larger datasets than most scholars utilize in Communication Studies. These large datasets allow for the data to be analyzed in a new way to find other commonalities connecting groups of people. Queer methods is also about reviewing existing research to see the way that gender identities and sexual identities are not accounted for in research. Queering research methods is not about creating a new standard of research, but about challenging the traditional approaches to research and creating new methods that do not include any strict categories to label participants. These methods use queer theory to critique traditional research and find different ways to conduct, categorize, and evaluate research. One way that queer methods works in quantitative research to by finding new ways to count people and include a wider variety of genders.

Queer Communication Studies Today
Queer communication research focuses on precise and specific language use regarding gender and sexual orientation. It is important to only use the LGBTQ+ acronym when addressing issues that impact the community as a whole. The article, “Looking for truths in the stories we tell in queer communication studies” states that researchers should only use the full LGBTQ+ acronym when all identities are included in the study itself. Scholars call for research that not only addresses sexuality and gender but also ace, ethnicity, sexuality, and nationality, which includes moving away from heteronormative language use in the discipline of Communication Studies and not using LGBTQ+ individuals for tokenism in research. Queer communication research challenges existing norms within society and embraces queer theory's potential. Scholars have different unique specializations within Communication Studies, which helps to bring a more diverse application to Queer Communication Studies. They engage in interdisciplinary dialogues (which is the process of studying/researching several academic fields), bring perspectives from queer intercultural communication, study critical/cultural performance, and study health communication and interpersonal communication.