Working Closets: Mapping Queer Professional Discourses and Why Professional Communication Studies Need Queer Rhetorics

Abstract

This article examines the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rhetorical approaches in professional communication theory, introducing the theory of working closets as central to understanding how LGBT professionals navigate and succeed. The author presents case studies of LGBT professionals at the headquarters of a national discount retail company as examples of working closets and asks what the implications are for professional communication studies. He also looks at the need to learn from and through queer rhetorics, cultural rhetorics, and social justice frameworks, especially given the cultural turn of professional communication studies in the early 21st century.

Sex Work and Professional Risk Communication: Keeping Safe on the Streets

“…TPC has shown a growing interest in supporting and intervening on behalf of minoritized and marginalized groups (e.g., Acharya, 2019;Cox, 2019;Evia & Patriarca, 2012;Jones & Williams, 2018;Jones et al, 2016;Moore et al, 2018). Further, researchers in other fields have already shown interest in working with sex worker organizations to support safety and risk mitigation.…”

“…Calling for a social justice stance in TPC, Jones (2016) argued that a social justice stance for TPC is a grassroots way for integrating considerations of diversity (a focus on the inclusion of varied perspectives and viewpoints) and social justice (critical reflection and action that promotes agency for the marginalized and disempowered) into TPC pedagogy and scholarship. (p. 343) As such, a growing body of work engages in activism and amplification of "traditionally marginalized and excluded perspectives and positions" in research and pedagogy (Agboka, 2013(Agboka, , 2014Colton et al, 2017;Cox, 2019;Edenfield et al, 2019;Evia & Patriarca, 2012;Haas, 2012;Jones, 2016;Jones et al, 2016;Sun, 2006;Walton & Jones, 2013;Walton et al, 2015Walton et al, , 2017Williams, 2010Williams, , 2012.…”

Curricular Efforts in Technical Communication After the Social Justice Turn

“…Recent scholarship in this line of inquiry is widespread in TPC-and it keeps growing. To be clear, scholars have addressed considerations of social justice as they relate to plain language (Jones & Williams, 2017); gendered experiences (Bivens et al, 2019;Brasseur, 2005;Frost, 2015;Petersen & Walton, 2018); queer rhetorics (Cox, 2019;Cox & Faris, 2015;Edenfield et al, 2019); civic engagement and public rhetorics (Bowdon, 2004;Eble & Gaillet, 2004;Simmons & Grabill, 2007); translation and localization (Agboka, 2013;Dorpenyo, 2019;Gonzales & Turner, 2017;Shivers-McNair & San Diego, 2017);race, ethnicities, and technologies (Banks, 2006;Haas, 2012;Jones, 2014;Jones et al, 2014;Savage & Mattson, 2011;Savage & Matveeva, 2011); disability (Colton & Walton, 2015;Yergeau, 2010); social justice theory (Colton & Holmes, 2016); and research in disenfranchised contexts (Agboka, 2013(Agboka, , 2014Durá et al, 2013;Walton et al, 2013;Walton et al, 2015).…”

“…Of course, social justice issues are not new to the field of TPC, in which scholars have discussed the theme of social justice for more than two decades, with issues such as power, privilege, inclusivity, and injustice being well recognized, documented, and investigated as significant sites of interest and inquiry (Cox, 2019;Cox & Faris, 2015;Edenfield et al, 2019;Jones & Williams, 2017). Although the term "social justice" was not specifically (and necessarily) used in earlier scholarly work perhaps until around the 2000s (see Agboka, 2013), scholars such as Miller (1979), Faigley (1986), Sullivan (1990), Herndl (1993), Sauer (1993), Thralls & Blyler (1993), Limaye (1994), Johnson (1997), Durack (1997), Grabill and Simmons (1998), and Blyler (1998) had long begun the difficult work of investigating and addressing the social, ideological, ethical, and political implications of technical communication, establishing TPC as a site of empowerment and emancipation (Blyler, 1998).…”

Always Already Geopolitical: Trans Health Care and Global Tactical Technical Communication

“…Nevertheless, at the time of writing, even with this turn to social justice interests, TC has limited research on LGBTQ+ issues to AIDS/HIV research and communication (Bowdon, 2004; Brouwer, 1998; Grabill, 2000), with some recent exceptions (Cox, 2018; Ouellette, 2014). While this work is critical and must continue, a closer look at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and TC shows that trans-specific medical communication and literacy are important research areas and also means to move beyond instrumental acts of communication and to enact social justice and advocacy in research.…”