BBC’s move on Strictly Come Dancing leads us to question: To what extent has BBC’s featuring of same-sex dance couples encouraged increased societal acceptance of diverse partnership typologies and LGBT+ ballroom dance cultures, and is this enough to promote inclusive participation in ballroom dancing? The University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR) has secured ESRC SeNSS Postdoctoral Fellowship funding to address the above question. The project, led by Dr Yen Nee Wong (SSPSSR) under the mentorship of Professor Carolyn Pedwell (SSPSSR), seeks to examine the relationship between the lived experiences of LGBT+ equality dancers in the UK and popular media representations of same-sex couples on Strictly Come Dancing and how it could identify what more needs to be done to increase representational diversity in the media and greater acceptance of LGBT+ dancers in non-heterosexual dance partnerships.
“What people see on television, film and in news media can have a significant impact on how they understand the world, interact and empathise with others in their everyday lives,” Yen says, “In sports and leisure entertainment, media representations can influence how people treat LGBT+ individuals, and the extent to which LGBT+ people have equal access to participation in leisure opportunities”.
Congratulations to Yen on this achievement.
To learn more about the project, email Dr Wong at: y.n.wong@kent.ac.uk, or view their work online.