Editing Queer theory (section)

==Queer theory in online discourse==
One of the ways queer theory has made its way into online discourse is through the popularity of [[Adrienne Rich]]'s 1980 essay "[[Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence]]". Rich's theory regarding [[compulsory heterosexuality]] (or comp-het)—the socio-cultural expectation that women must be attracted to men and desire a romantic heterosexual relationship<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rich |first=Adrienne |date=1980 |title=Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173834 |journal=Signs |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=631–660 |doi=10.1086/493756 |jstor=3173834 |s2cid=143604951 |issn=0097-9740 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2022-11-16 |access-date=2022-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116045923/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173834 |url-status=live }}</ref>—inspired the creation of the "[[lesbian masterdoc]]", a 30-page [[Google Document]] originally written in 2018 by Anjeli Luz, a [[Tumblr]] user who was in the midst of questioning her own sexuality as a teenager.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cortés |first=Michelle Santiago |date=2022-06-24 |title=Can a PDF Really Tell You If You're Queer? |url=https://www.thecut.com/2022/06/what-is-the-lesbian-masterdoc.html |access-date=2022-10-15 |website=The Cut |language=en-us |archive-date=2022-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015190444/https://www.thecut.com/2022/06/what-is-the-lesbian-masterdoc.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Katelyn McKenna and John Bargh's studies of online groups consisting of marginalized groups found an interesting phenomenon called "identity demarginalization" — how participation in a group consisting of people with shared marginalized identity can lead to a higher level of self-acceptance, which could lead to eventually coming out to their friends and family.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McKenna |first1=Katelyn |last2=Bargh |first2=John |date=1998 |title=Coming Out in the Age of the Internet: Identity "Demarginalization" Through Virtual Group Participation |url=https://wrlc-gu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01WRLC_GUNIV/1hdki3o/cdi_apa_psycarticles_psp_75_3_681 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=681–694 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.75.3.681 |via=Ovid PsycARTICLES|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Online groups and interactions also contribute to normalizing queerness and challenging heteronormativity by serving as a networked counterpublic. Sarah Jackson, Moya Bailey, and Brooke Foucault Welles' discourse analysis of the [[Hashtag activism|hashtag]] #GirlsLikeUs shows how trans women have used the hashtag to build community in ways that normalize being trans and offering counter-narratives to the often stereotypical and caricatured portrayal of trans people's lives in popular mainstream media.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Sarah J |last2=Bailey |first2=Moya |last3=Foucault Welles |first3=Brooke |date=May 2018 |title=#GirlsLikeUs: Trans advocacy and community building online |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/bitstreams/d2af83bd-5212-45d2-b197-c23c6321f675/download |journal=New Media & Society |language=en |volume=20 |issue=5 |pages=1868–1888 |doi=10.1177/1461444817709276 |s2cid=21663014 |issn=1461-4448 |url-access= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817102106/https://repository.upenn.edu/bitstreams/d2af83bd-5212-45d2-b197-c23c6321f675/download |archive-date=2024-08-17 |access-date=2023-09-02 }}</ref>