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Through the media it is clear that the number of people who are openly identifying as transgender is growing. Some of those people who are identified as transgender are adults but many times they are younger and sometimes young children (under the age of eight). As young children are sharing with family and school personnel that their gender and the assigned gender at birth are not an exact match, families and school personnel need the tools to support these children. Since most teacher training programs do not currently have preparation in working with children who are transgender or gender fluid, it is up to teachers and administrators to seek out materials and resources until such time as teacher preparation programs include this in the curriculum. In this chapter, the author shares basic terminology, ideas about changing curriculum, language, and environment in early childhood settings to help welcome young children who are transgender or gender fluid into these spaces. In addition, possible questions children and adults may ask are included along with resources and books about people who are transgender that are age appropriate for early childhood settings.

This study aims to examine how variations in the perceived gender (a)typicality of front-line staff impact on consumer spending. Gender typicality is defined here as traditionally masculine-looking men and feminine-looking women, whereas gender atypicality, in contrast, refers to feminine-looking men and masculine-looking women.

Using an experimental design, the authors use simulated consumption scenarios across two separate studies, one in the USA and the other in South Korea. In each study, the authors investigate main and interaction effects in relation to front-line employees’ race (white vis-à-vis Asian) and baseline gender (originally male vis-à-vis originally female).

Across the two studies, consumers spent more money with gender-typical female front-line staff or, alternatively stated, less money with more masculine-looking female front-line staff. The effect of the male service staff was more complicated. In both countries, the authors found a significant consumer preference for gender-atypical (i.e. more feminine-looking), Asian male employees, compared to more masculine-looking Asian men.

The experimental design strengthens claims of not only good internal validity but also weakens the generalizability of the findings. Field research is needed to explore these effects in various workplaces and sectors. The authors also acknowledge the limitations of operationalizing the gender (a)typicality of front-line staff by manipulating facial structures. Future research should manipulate gender (a)typicality using sociological and performative indicators.

The authors contribute to ongoing debates surrounding the legality and ethics of regulating employee appearance in the workplace. Employers must consider whether this type of “lookism” is legally and morally defensible.

This is, to the knowledge, the first-ever study to examine the effect of front-line employee gender non-conformity on consumer behavior and decision-making. The authors show how variations in perceived gender (a)typicality can, variously, promote or retard consumer spending. The study is original in that it shifts the debate from traditional studies of between-gender differences to a focus on within-gender differences. The key value of the research is that it shines a much-needed light on the changing role of gender in the workplace.

Anyone who has recently watched television or movies can tell you that transgender, gender nonbinary or gender expansive people are becoming more visible in these media. This trend reflects the reality that younger generations are increasingly identifying with more fluid and nonbinary gender and sexual identities and are progressively expressing those identities in a more flexible and changing manner (Herman et al., 2022; Wilson & Meyer, 2021). Unsurprisingly then, those individuals are also more visible at work, including in workplaces with employer-mandated dress codes. Indeed, in 2020 the US Supreme Court decided a case involving a transgender woman, Aimee Stephens, who was fired because her employer, a funeral home, required her to conform to its gender-binary dress policy and wear clothing mandatory for people assigned male at birth, rather than appropriate for her female gender identity ( Bostock v. Clayton County, 2020).

However, as the description of Aimee Stephens's own experience illustrates, often these employer appearance codes are based on a binary and fixed conception of gender and gender identity and expression at odds with the increasing number of workers who do not identify within those rigid parameters. Moreover, even when an employee, like Aimee Stephens herself, could have fit within her employer's dress code, the improper application of that policy to her, or employer concerns about customer or co-worker discomfort with an employee's appearance under the policy may mean that a worker's identity and expression may still conflict with a workplace appearance code. For gender nonbinary or nonconforming individuals, these complications are magnified.

This chapter explores the practical problems and barriers that employer dress codes have on employees whose gender identity and/or presentation move beyond the traditional male/female binary. Using insights from queer theory, gender expansive employees serve to interrogate fundamental assumptions behind workplace dress policies and the formal and informal ways in which these policies are policed. The chapter will explore that discordance, examine possible employer resolutions, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of those responses.

to examine consumers' perceptions of retail brand representations of gender-oriented and/or sexuality-oriented identities. The authors explore the value of developing more progressive, inclusive brand values to support more effective retail brand communications and imagery.

Photo elicitation, utilising LGBTQIA+/sexuo-gendered imagery from retail brand marketing communications, facilitated discussion within focus groups representing various genders, age generations and sexualities.

Younger generations indicate a preference for fluid gender and sexuality and endorse retail brands that represent this progressive understanding. Gender and age moderate preferences for representative imagery, with older males more resistant to sexuo-gendered messages and females of all ages more accepting.

The research is limited in generalisability, geography and demographics. The focussed approach did, however, enable collection of rich, insightful data to underpin evaluations of communicative brand values.

The inclusion of diverse and fluid sexuo-gendered identities within the brand values of retailers would enable effective targeting of consumers across a range of more traditional cohorts.

The evolving ideology towards inclusiveness, identified within the generational cohorts, demonstrates social change through progressive acceptance of more fluid gendered and sexual identities.

The research adopts a novel approach to examining diverse, sexuo-gendered imagery within gendered and generational cohorts, offering qualitative examples of a progressive social ideology.

This research explores the experiences of self-identified queer victims of intimate partner violence, their personal encounters with violence-response organizations, and the extent to which their gender/sexual identity impacted their willingness to disclose their abuse.

Eleven respondents were recruited from online queer social networking sites and were interviewed via e-mail or Skype.

All respondents identified as gender variant or had an abusive partner who identified as gender variant. All study participants reported having experienced physical abuse. Several reported sexual and emotional abuse. Respondents reported a reluctance to seek institutional support and intervention. Several respondents were unable to recognize abuse as abuse until much later. When asked about whether or not they sought intervention, most respondents in this study described a sort of isolation, where they perceived that they were facing prejudice and stigmatization, and risked being dismissed and delegitimized. Several respondents sensed that there simply were no organizations that were sensitized and available to queer-identified victims. Even if they had pursued help from existing institutions, several respondents communicated a doubt that they could truly be of service, since these institutions likely operated with heteronormative narratives and practices. Collectively, the respondents in this study describe experiences as victims of IPV that are clearly mediated by homophobia and cissism.

We emphasize the need for an “intersectional awareness” in scholarship and organizing surrounding IPV. We critique the state’s gender-based practices of violence intervention and propose alternative possibilities for more inclusive intervention and organizing on behalf of queer victims of violence.

The body of literature that exists on IPV among LGBTQ persons is small, and much of this literature is focused on how patterns of IPV differ from heterosexual violence. In exploring IPV among self-identified queer victims, we depart from most research on IPV in that our analysis is not so much concerned with the gender or sex assignment of the victim, but rather the gendered context in which the violence is playing out.

Biological sex is an important segmenting variable in marketing. Yet its ability to meaningfully distinguish beyond the female/male dichotomy is limited. With traditional gender roles continuously shifting and contemporary fluid conceptualizations of gender altering the consumption mainstream, the diverse and multi-faceted behaviours related to gender elude market segment distinctions that are based on biological sex alone. Thus far, researchers have had only limited success applying the concept of gender identity and gender schema theory to inform marketing research and management. The purpose of this study is to further develop a consumer decision-oriented scale that addresses this gap by providing a more sensitive method of segmentation.

The scale was validated according to common psychological scale development techniques.

Not only does the Consumption Gender Scale predict the behaviours and media preferences of traditional, gender-schematic male and female consumer segments, but it also accounts for the variance in the behaviours of gender-aschematic non-traditional men and women. We demonstrate the scale’s predictive power in two experimental studies and discuss its potential to serve as an intermediary variable that can predict product attitudes and purchase intentions on social media.

The Consumption Gender Scale was based on surveys and experiments conducted in the USA. Future research could examine the suitability of the scale in other cultural contexts.

The Consumption Gender Scale provides a finer taxonomy for organizations to use in segmenting their target market on the basis of consumption-relevant gender rather than biological sex. Consequently, it also provides opportunities for managers to fine-tune their media-planning efforts.

Biological sex as the main segmenting variable has become inadequate because of ongoing shifts in gender roles and changes in associated consumption behaviours. To address the shortcomings of traditional methods, we advocate for and validate a continuous measurement scale.

Perspectives on gender, gender expression, sexuality identity, and sexual orientation differ within and between generations given the great extent to which these concepts are embedded within social, cultural, and historical context. Across contexts, questions of authenticity are critical. This research compares generational perspectives about authenticity, gender and gender-related constructs, and sexuality. Through semi-structured interviews with a nonprobability, purposive sample of heterosexual and LGBTQ younger (aged 18–22) and older (aged 65+) adults, how a sense of authenticity is experienced and the degree to which individuals experience authenticity around sexual and gender identities are compared. Data were analyzed using the constant comparison method of analysis, and results indicate that while younger adult respondents held expansive terminology and knowledge related to sexual and gender identities, older adult participants lacked such fluidity, and that lack was an inhibiting factor in older adults being able to name and embody their authentic sexual selves. In conclusion, both position in one’s life course (age) and one’s generational cohort (historical, cultural, and social context) influence how individuals experience authenticity around gender and sexual identities.

Conversations surrounding gender are sweeping the globe as the voices and lived experiences of people are being heard and shared at unprecedented rates. Discourses about gender in advertising are embedded in cultural narratives and legitimatized by a broad system of institutional structures and actors, at both macro and micro/consumer levels. This study aims to explore how consumers (one type of institutional actor) engage in legitimizing/delegitimizing messages of gender in the marketplace.

This research draws on a qualitative approach, specifically the use of in-depth interviews with men across three global contexts.

This research identifies the ways in which men engage in (de)legitimizing messages of masculinity in advertising such as reiteration, reframing, ascribing to alternate logics and prioritizing personal norms.

Across three contexts, this research theorizes the (de)legitimization of gender ideals in advertising and situates consumer narratives within broader institutional forces, providing a holistic understanding of the phenomenon.

Understanding the ways in which individuals either accept or reject gendered ideals in media aids advertising and marketing professionals in tailoring messages that resonate with audiences.

Understanding how individuals negotiate their gender and the messages they deem as legitimate are crucial to understanding gender issues related to consumer welfare and public policy.

While research has examined advertising practitioners’ views regarding gender from an institutional perspective, research on how consumers construct and maintain the legitimacy of gendered messages in the marketplace is scarce. This research theorizes and illustrates the (de)legitimization of gender ideals across three contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the methodological implications of queering organizational research. The author examines three related questions: what does queering organizational research entail?; how have organizational scholars queered research to date?; and how does queering organizational research and methodologies advance our understandings of organizing processes?

The paper begins with an overview of queer theory, which is followed by a review of the ways in which organizational research and methodologies have been and can be queered. The paper concludes with a discussion of the value of queering organizational research and methodologies and offers research questions that can guide future research that draws from queer theory.

The author claims that methodologies are queered through a researcher’s commitment to enacting the philosophical assumptions of queer theory in a research project. Much of the value of queering methodologies lies in its disruption and critique of conventional research practices, while enabling us to explore new ways of understanding organizational life.

Queer theory is still nascent but growing in organizational research. To date, there has been little consideration of the methodological implications of queering organizational research. This paper discusses these implications and can thus guide future research that is informed by queer theory.