Wots Not Queer: the Search for Sexual Representation in Audience Research

Abstract

‘New audience research’ is a well established field within media and cultural studies. However, an analysis of audience studies since the 1970s demonstrates that issues of sexual identity have rarely been addressed. In this article, I argue the dominance of class and gender in the development of new audience research, and the influence of poststructuralism in queer studies, have contributed to the ‘queer’ being ‘sidelined’ in audience research. By critically analysing existing textual queer media research, I attempt to demonstrate why we need more audience research which addresses both the queer audience and representations of sexuality and sexual identity.