The purpose of this study is to understand queer women's experiences when shopping for clothing, looking for style inspiration, and if they experience minority distress or discrimination during these processes. Three research questions guided our study: (a) Where do queer women look for fashion style inspiration? (b) What are queer women's experiences with shopping in brick-and-mortar stores for clothing and accessories? and (c) Do queer women experience minority distress or discrimination while shopping or looking for fashion style inspiration? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 queer-identifying females with two follow-up interviews. Four themes surfaced from the data: (a) awareness of or attention to queer styles, (b) frustration with or feelings of alienation with the current apparel marketplace and media, (c) minority distress or subtle acts of heterosexism related to queer visibility and crossing gender boundaries, and (d) interest in an LGBTQ-friendly shopping environment.
The purpose of this study was to explore LGBTQ women's experiences with unwritten or formal dress codes at work. I asked: What are LGBTQ women's experiences in the workplace with appearance management, and what are LGBTQ women's experiences navigating the written and unwritten dress codes in the workplace? To answer the research question, interviews were conducted with 24 self-identifying LGBTQ women. Six key themes emerged from the data. Themes included (1) expressed sexual identity in appearance, (2) unwritten dress codes in work environments did not always allow for expression of sexual identity in appearance, (3) motivations for pressure or desire to conceal expression of sexual identity in appearance at work, (4) negotiations of revealing or concealing sexual identity in appearance in the workplace impacted levels of comfort and confidence, (5) verbal and nonverbal negative experiences related to appearance at work, and (6) received compliments about appearance at work.
The purpose of the study was to critically analyse the images in fashion design and apparel product development textbooks to determine if they reflect a lack of diversity in fashion magazine, the fashion industry, and other college textbook images. While using intersectionality theory and a feminist lens as our frameworks, we critically analysed these texts for representations of race, body size, and body position. We used visual content analysis to examine 3124 images of women in books published since 2000. Each woman in the text was coded in three categories including race, body size, and body position. The findings from our study highlight the need for more diversity within the discipline's textbooks. Future studies should examine representations of men and textbooks from other areas in the field such as textile science or dress history.
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