Intersectional identifications

Ondertitel:ethnicity and sexuality among diasporic queer women in Belgium

While research on migration and diasporas tends to be heteronormative, research on sexual minorities tends to ignore migrants and ethnic minorities. The current paper aims to problematize both tendencies by taking a queer perspective on migration and a diasporic perspective on sexuality. As part of a larger project on diasporic LGBTQs living in Belgium, this paper discusses the social positions and identifications of six non-heterosexual women with a migration background, as narrated in individual in-depth interviews. Drawing on intersectionality theory, the relative importance and mutual interplay between their sexual and ethno-cultural identifications are analysed. This analysis discloses the irreducible individuality of each narrative, where the balance and interaction between ethno-cultural and sexual identifications is part of an intricate interplay of social positions and contexts. The participants’ migration background is a key structuring element, leading to a combination of geographic and/or social distance from their family and ethno-cultural community in which religious, family and gender norms lead to a range of expectations and pressures. Sexual identifications tend to be more salient when they are strongly rejected, in which case they lead to more social and often also geographic distancing. This is further modulated by race, as non-white participants tend to identify more strongly along racial lines because they are continuously reminded of their otherness.

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Trefwoorden:A1 Journal article

BOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:1

CSS-citation score:1

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open