A Conceptualization Framework of Allyship: Bidirectional Allyship Between Black Heterosexual Women and White Gay Males

Abstract

Allyship is a complicated idea laden with multiple, layered assumptions. One should not presume that allyship conceptually permeates all social justice movements. One should not presume that allyships develop to combat or dismantle a predefined socially constructed ism. A critical interrogation of allyship and allyship constructions necessitates recognition of broader, universal tenets of allyships anywhere. This must go further to embrace the nuanced, situated, dynamic, critically problematic, and complex dimensions rooted in individual lived experiences intersecting multiple marginalizations which contribute as praxis toward an actualizing of individual allyships. Although we will blur constructed distinctions as we progress, here, we endeavor to surface and deliberate upon the derivations and functions and shapes of allyships between two demographic categories, made arbitrarily distinct here for the purposes of engaging in discursive analysis: cisgender heterosexual Black women and cisgender gay White men. In short, we are proposing a way to view this allyship as bidirectional allyships, grounded in social justice frames of existing: a way to see each respective group as traveling within their own lane down a collectively traveled highway. Each traverses the space along their own course, traveling down “their own road.”

(Conditionally) Supporting polycultural organizations through bidirectional allyship

“…Bidirectional allyship encapsulates how different social groups, of varying privilege and marginalization, may aid one another in fighting for justice and the rights of their own and each other’s interrelated communities (e.g., Black heterosexual females and cisgender White gay males; Scaramuzzo et al, 2021). As described by Scaramuzzo et al (2021; p. 395), within bidirectional allyship, each minoritized group is “traveling within their own lane down a collectively traveled highway” where allyship develops intuitively and organically and involves open communication, empathy, and respectful awareness of the othering of each social identity represented.…”

“…Drawing from the works of scholars like Salter and Migliaccio (2019), we argue that allyship, specifically bidirectional allyship—as conceptualized by Scaramuzzo et al (2021)—can serve as a proactive diversity management tool for enhancing inclusion, redressing discrimination, and challenging inequities in the workplace. Given this, we expand on this focal article by discussing how bidirectional allyship aligns with and diverges from the principles of polyculturalism—namely, its increased emphasis on the interconnectedness of cultures and decreased emphasis on cultural differences—as well as how this kind of allyship can serve as a mechanism through which polycultural organizations can be constructed, supported, and fortified.…”