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A gay reflection on microaggressions, symbolic normativities, and pink hair

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  • Aleksi Soini

Abstract

This autoethnographic essay addresses microaggressions and normativity of gendered performances in relation to gay employees' and their sense of organizational belonging. In my puzzled account, through retrospective fragments, I explore my daily experiences in an organizational context as a homosexual person: the story includes reacting to intentional and unintentional microaggressions, navigating my sense of belonging, and finding my way through symbolic boundaries of gendered normativities. In particular, this paper sheds light on microaggressions as symbolic expressions of iterative gendered norms, which repeatedly lead to some employee experiences being cast as ‘normal’ and some as ‘the other’. Methodologically, this paper furthers scholarly discussion on the use of autoethnography in understanding the daily struggles of lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer employees, whereas theoretically it elucidates the harmful effects of both microaggressions and iterative gendered norms on one's sense of belonging and the performance of the self, as well as discusses the difficulty of reacting to discursive violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksi Soini, 2022. "A gay reflection on microaggressions, symbolic normativities, and pink hair," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1594-1611, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:5:p:1594-1611
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12851
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Renan Gomes de Moura, 2025. "A gay autoethnography: Gender, sexuality, and organizations," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1392-1406, May.
    2. Joseph Mellors & Valerie Egdell, 2025. "Affected and Intrinsic Authenticity: Navigating Internalized Gay Ageism on LGBTQ+ Homestay Platforms," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1569-1579, July.

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