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LGBT+ mainstreaming on strictly come dancing: Queering the norms of ballroom dancing.
- Source :
- Media, Culture & Society; May2024, Vol. 46 Issue 4, p816-833, 18p
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- This paper proposes that LGBT+ mainstreaming on reality television programme Strictly Come Dancing creates space for audience demand for radical, authentic representations of same-sex desire and intimacy, both of which challenges normative representations of ballroom dancing. Integrating concepts of normativity and authenticity explored in existing scholarship, I argue against the encountering through a defensive stance, of reality TV's normalization of queer narratives to promote authentic, inclusive representation. Focusing on dance-themed British reality TV programme for family entertainment, I draw on a queer reading of 285 newspaper articles on Strictly Come Dancing's same-sex dance partnerships and 35 interviews with LGBT+ equality dancers in the United Kingdom, to conclude that active engagement with mechanisms of normalization can open up spaces for a reclamation of queer representation in its authenticity. The article makes a contribution to media and cultural studies and queer television scholarship through a troubling of anti-normativity, proposing a working with normativity to achieve queer inclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 01634437
- Volume :
- 46
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Media, Culture & Society
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 177037232
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437231219141