Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2019

Working Closets: Mapping Queer Professional Discourses and Why Professional Communication Studies Need Queer Rhetorics

Matthew B. Cox East Carolina University

Abstract

This article examines the importance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rhetorical approaches in professional communication theory, introducing the theory of working closets as central to understanding how LGBT professionals navigate and succeed. The author presents case studies of LGBT professionals at the headquarters of a national discount retail company as examples of working closets and asks what the implications are for professional communication studies. He also looks at the need to learn from and through queer rhetorics, cultural rhetorics, and social justice frameworks, especially given the cultural turn of professional communication studies in the early 21st century.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2019-01-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651918798691
CompPile
Open Access
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