Gay men in the performing arts: performing sexualities within 'gay-friendly' work contexts

Article


Rumens, N. and Broomfield, J. 2014. Gay men in the performing arts: performing sexualities within 'gay-friendly' work contexts. Organization. 21 (3), pp. 365-382. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508413519766
TypeArticle
TitleGay men in the performing arts: performing sexualities within 'gay-friendly' work contexts
AuthorsRumens, N. and Broomfield, J.
Abstract

Building on emerging research on ‘gay-friendly’ organisations, this article examines if and how work contexts understood and experienced as ‘gay-friendly’ can be characterised as exhibiting a serious breakdown in heteronormativity. Taking the performing arts as a research setting, one that is often stereotyped as ‘gay-friendly’, and drawing on in-depth interview data with 20 gay male performers in the UK, this article examines how everyday activities and encounters involving drama school educators, casters and peers are informed by heteronormative standards of gay male sexuality. One concern is that heteronormative constructions of gay male sexualities constrain participants’ access to work; suggesting limits to the abilities and roles gay men possess and are able to play. Another concern is that when gay male sexualities become normalised in performing work contexts, they reinforce organisational heteronormativity and the heterosexual/homosexual binary upon which it relies. This study contributes towards theorising ‘gay-friendly’ places of work as heteronormative.

Research GroupDiversity and Gender group
PublisherSage
JournalOrganization
ISSN1350-5084
Publication dates
Print01 May 2014
Online28 Apr 2014
Publication process dates
Deposited29 Apr 2015
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright Statement

Nick Rumens and John Broomfield, Gay men in the performing arts: Performing sexualities within ‘gay-friendly’ work contexts, Organization, Vol 21, Issue 3, pp. 365 - 382. Copyright ©2014 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508413519766
LanguageEnglish
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