Adam Smith Business School, U. of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Prior research highlighted that organizations can thrive by showcasing stigma, instead of concealing it. However, we do not know much about how the showcasing can help to normalize stigma and help stigmatized audiences of organizations to feel more accepted within society. In this paper, we explore this new domain of research, explaining how both organizations and stigmatized audiences can benefit from showcasing stigma. In addition, we explain how stigmatized audiences can contribute to normalization, by engaging allies. In this preliminary version of the paper, we collected semi-structured interviews from the audiences of RuPaul’s Drag Race, exploring how the showcasing of stigma influenced the perception of audiences regarding the acceptance and well-being within the society. We will extend our findings by including different organizations that showcase LGBTQ+ stigma and their audiences.
