Explorations - Introduction: Towards Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Perspectives in Economics: Why and How They May Make a Difference

Abstract

The economics profession has only recently begun to include research on lesbians and gay men, but we argue that a lesbian economics has long existed, with documentation of anti-lesbian discrimination, discussion of its private and social costs, and practical work for change. This tradition, along with the newer traditions built upon work with gay men and bisexual people, provides a basis for feminists to expand work in economics on lesbian and gay issues. The articles in the symposium propose ideas for future research, for learning from other disciplines, and for creating a more welcoming academic climate.Sexuality, Lesbian, Gay, Gender, Discrimination, Social Construction,

The ‘neat concept’ of sexual citizenship: a cautionary tale for human rights discourse

“…For example, Lee Badgett's (1997Badgett's ( , 1998Badgett's ( , 2007 growing body of work consistently calls for a more detailed and nuanced consideration of the economic placement of lesbians and gay men. She specifically questions the myth of gay and lesbian DINKs (double income, no kids) with larger-than-the-average-heterosexual amount of disposable income (Badgett 2001).…”

If Queers were Counted: An Inquiry into European Socioeconomic Data on LGB(TI)QS

“…3 Thus, queer and lesbian-feminist writers have interrogated the heteronormative bias of most feminist theorizing by also pointing to the material and socioeconomic effects of heteronormativity. Nonnormative genders, sexualities, and self-identified LGB(TI)Qs not only lack cultural or legal acknowledgment, but also face different forms of socioeconomic discrimination, such as experiences of mobbing, (sexual) harassment in the workplace (Ryniker 2008;Gates and Viggiani 2014;Colgan and Rumens 2015), or differential labor-market outcomes (regarding employment, earnings, job progression, and occupational representation; Badgett and Hyman 1998;Giddings 2000Giddings , 2003Badgett 2001Badgett , 2007Robinson 2002;3 ARTICLE Weichselbaumer 2003;Frank 2006;Takács 2006;Badgett and Frank 2007;Carpenter 2007Carpenter , 2008Rothblum et al 2007;Antecol, Jong, and Steinberger 2008;Badgett, Gates, and Maisel 2008;Wilcox and Marquardt 2009). 4 In the last decades, a number of feminist economists have contributed to bringing these critical interrogations into the field of feminist economics, aiming at queering (feminist) economics' approaches, theories, and methodologies (Danby 2007;Jacobson and Zeller 2007;Bergeron 2009).…”

“…4 In the last decades, a number of feminist economists have contributed to bringing these critical interrogations into the field of feminist economics, aiming at queering (feminist) economics' approaches, theories, and methodologies (Danby 2007;Jacobson and Zeller 2007;Bergeron 2009). As a plentitude of studies in feminist economics has shown (Agarwal 1997;Badgett and Hyman 1998;Charusheela and Danby 2006;Hewitson 2013), queer frameworks, as well as a focus on LGB(TI)Qs, contribute to a more complex and multi-layered understanding of the gendered division of labor, the household, the family, and kinship structures and provide new insights on how gender differences are still constitutive for the functioning of capitalist economies. Recent studies of feminist and queer economics have voiced concerns for LGB(TI)Qs being economically and socially punished for failing to conform to heteronormative gender and sexual norms (Griffith and Hebl 2002;Blandford 2003;Essig 2008;Wright 2008).…”

Feminism and Same-Sex Marriage: Who Cares?

“…With reference to political economy, the heterosexual nuclear family model reflects the foundation blocks of political theory (Bryson 2003; Patemen 1988; A. Wilson 1994) as well as economic theory, particularly regarding male employment and women's unpaid labor. (See Cook, Roberts, and Waylen 2000; Ferber and Nelson 1993; Peterson 2002; Prügl 2002; Strober 1994; for a reading of lesbian and gay economics, see Badgett 1995, 1997, 1998; Gluckman and Reed 1997; Posner 1992.) For example, Colin Danby (2007) explains the impact that heteronormativity has on economics, and Spike Peterson (2003, 179) draws attention to the “deafening silence” about gender in studies of political economy.…”