Within interpersonal and family communication, researchers have tended to construct and describe LGBTQ relationships in regard to a heterosexual norm. A review of recent research reveals the conceptual limitations of this framework, “outing” heteronormativity's influence on our understandings of nonheterosexual relationships. I outline the challenges of “queering” interpersonal and family communication research and argue that feminist theory can contribute to this process by (a) revealing the heteronormative assumptions perpetuated by dyadic models of communication, (b) challenging the public/private bifurcation, (c) complicating notions of identity, and (d) emphasizing intersectionality. The article concludes by discussing the implications a feminist queer perspective holds for interpersonal and family communication pedagogies and research.
Thick description
, innovated by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1973), who adopted the term from British philosopher Gilbert Ryle (1971), provides a conceptual framework for interpreting culture that changed the face of qualitative research. Geertz (1973) describes thick description as an ethnographic method in which researchers write as they immerse themselves within the context of a certain culture, noting specific, detailed references about social actions and behaviors of participants. Acclaimed qualitative researcher and professor of communication, humanities, and sociology Norman Denzin (1989) is credited with expanding and clarifying the definition of thick description which initially proved confusing to some scholars.
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