“You Can’t Go to the Dance Because You Don’t Have a Male Role Model in Your Life”: Heteronormativity, Stigmatization, and Daddy-Daughter Dances

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender-specific community and school events such as father-daughter dances are being challenged across the United States for stigmatizing diverse families. Taking the cue from communities that have problematized gender-specific events, the authors investigated the function and impact of these events and how excluded families perceived and responded to their stigmatization. The authors conducted archival media research and semi-structured interviews with parents and stakeholders. The archival research finds that gender-specific events produced formal and informal exclusion through a stigmatizing ideology of heteronormativity and gender stereotyping. The interview research finds the exclusion of children and families produced experiences of emotional distress, devaluation, and missed social opportunities. Parents challenged gender-specific events to disrupt heteronormative stigmatization for themselves and their communities and because they believed public institutions should practice inclusion. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study on gender-specific community and school events in the United States. By bringing together stigma process and stigma management theories, the findings reveal the multifaceted harm gender-specific events can cause and suggest a need for policy changes to create more equitable school and community practices. This study reveals how communities can improve equity, as well children and families’ well-being, by adapting gender-specific events to be inclusive.