A Dhoest
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 22173 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | A Dhoest |
| NOMBRES | A |
| APELLIDO | Dhoest |
| FIRMA | DHOEST A |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Antwerp |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6656-6125 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 62 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 178 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 62 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2003 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
The meaning of ‘normal’ – children’s negotiation of (normal) masculinity, femininity, and LGBTQ media representations in Flanders
This study examines how 55 children (aged 10–12) in Flanders interpret LGBTQ media representations and negotiate related norms of gender and sexuality. Drawing on twelve focus groups across four different schools, the research investigates the dynamics of their peer interactions, focusing on how meanings were affirmed, contested, and redefined. The findings reveal the dominance of respect and inclusion as social norms, while also highlighting the…
‘I Never Thought Gender Would Be a Campaign Theme.’ Political Communication on Sexual and Gender Diversity during the 2024 Elections in Belgium
This article examines political communication on sexual and gender diversity by seven major Flemish political parties during the 2024 pre-election period in Belgium. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examines (RQ1) to what extent Flemish party manifestos for the 2024 elections address themes related to sexual and gender diversity, and (RQ2) the rhetorical strategies used across different communication channels (manifestos, social media, …
Them! Ingroup-outgroup dynamics in Flemish anti-woke discourses on X
Meat & Greet
Sizzling steaks and manly molds
Feeding masculine norms
The association between meat and masculinity is a historically and culturally constructed relationship, prevalent in western cultures through various forms of media and popular culture, including advertisements. This study examines how Flemish TV food advertisements represent masculinities in relation to both meat and non-meat alternatives, shedding light on how advertising contributes to the construction of meat as a symbol of masculinity. Throu…
From grill to gram
Covering inclusion
This article investigates how LGBTI topics are framed in the news and who is given a voice in this coverage by analysing the Dutch-speaking Belgian press. An inductive framing analysis and quantitative content analysis were applied on 1570 articles about LGBTI topics published in 2021 by 13 Dutch-language news outlets. Seven inclusive and two exclusionary frames were discerned. The study shows that primarily gay men serve as voices of the LGBTI c…
La liberté d’expression, c’est juste pour moi
“Go eat some grass”
Legacy media contribute to gendered depictions of culinary themes by associating meat with masculinity, influencing social realities. The current research examines whether similar gendered representations can be found on social media, reinforcing gendered patterns in food consumption. Using content analysis, we examine how men and women tweet about the (non-)consumption of meat. Results confirm gender stereotypes: men tweet more about meat and ar…
The mediated construction of “woke
From 2021, “woke” became an omnipresent term in Flemish public debate. In this paper, we explore how the mainstream press contributed to the emergence and construction of discourses on wokeness. First, we ask how the topic of “woke” reached the media agenda in Flanders. Second, we analyze the respective role of journalists and their sources in constructing discourses on “wokeness”, drawing on the notions of “primary” and “secondary definers” . We…
Balancing boundaries
In today’s global media landscape, the integration of LGBTQ characters and storylines in children’s television has transformed media representations for young audiences. However, little is known about the way parents evaluate this on-screen presence. By means of interview with 53 Flemish parents, this study uncovered a complex interplay of considerations related to children, media, gender, and sexuality. In terms of possible opportunities associa…
From #AltErLove to #LoveIsLove
SKAM (2015-2017) and its Flemish adaptation wtFOCK (2018-2021) use several digital platforms to provide viewers with content, enabling different types of audience engagement. By means of a social media analysis, this study investigates how producers utilise transmedia tools to enhance viewers' involvement with the depicted storyline and how viewers interact with the provided content on LGBTQ issues. An analysis of Instagram comments and posts ill…
Achieving Destigmatizing Outcomes by Overcoming Resistance to Persuasion through Combined Entertainment Experiences
Drawing on theory from entertainment experiences and (narrative) persuasion research, this study investigates destigmatizing responses to a genre-hybrid (human-interest and stand-up comedy) nonfiction television program about minority groups. Using an online between-subjects experiment with 417 participants, we found that the combination of human-interest and stand-up comedy can simultaneously stimulate hedonic and eudaimonic experiences, and tha…
The vulnerable old-old versus the dynamic young-old
Research shows that older people tend to not only be underrepresented on television (TV), but also to be represented within a number of fixed types. These correspond to cultural myths about ageing, which emphasise vulnerability and decline but also increasingly stress the individual's responsibility for successful ageing. This paper analyses the representation of older people on Flemish public TV, using qualitative content analysis to identify pa…
Ambiguous gaze
The study of masculinity has recently become relevant to the field of fashion studies. However, fashion is still underrepresented in the field of men’s studies, which hardly takes into account its importance in the cultural construction of masculinities. This article aims to build a bridge between these two fields through the analysis of fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs. Known as part of the internationally established ‘Antwerp Six’ and for his …
Generations and Shifting Sexual Identifications Among Flemish Non-Straight Men
This paper explores age-related differences in non-straight identities, using the concept of "generations" to investigate shared contexts and experiences contributing to processes of sexual identification. The process of identity construction is focused upon, existing research noting a shifting attitude toward identity categories among the youngest generations. Using a mixed-method design, first an exploratory survey of 684 Flemish men was used t…
Negotiating Platforms and Sexual Identities
Building on the extensive literature highlighting the key role digital and social media play in the lives of LGBTQ people, this article adds a generational perspective by studying the importance of the internet and social media for different generations of men who have sex with men (MSM). Focusing on issues of identity exploration and the search for information as well as social connection, two periods are distinguished: the time of sexual identi…
The prevalence, context and perceptions of sexting among non-heterosexual men from various generations in Belgium
Intersectional Challenges
It’s not just meat, mate! The importance of gender differences in meat consumption
Most meat-related research focuses on binary differences between men and women, ignoring differences within both genders. Through an online survey (N = 870), we investigate meat consumption behavior and how this is related to gender identity and new masculinity norms. The results confirm differences in meat consumption behavior between men and women, but also disclose more complicated differences within both groups, related to gender identity and…
No room for hate in our country’
This article analyses othering discourses in the news media coverage of an alleged homophobic murder in Belgium. The case study is based on a critical discourse analysis of news articles published in Dutch-speaking Belgian news media. Using the framework of homonationalism, this analysis finds that Belgium's LGBTI-friendly status is deeply anchored in the national identity. Discourses in mainstream news media following the murder appeal to a unif…
Ticking off the (pink) diversity box? Production views on LGBT+ in children’s fiction
This article provides insight on the perceived importance Flemish producers attach to including sexual and gender diversity in their productions targeting children. Drawing on the frameworks of the ‘production ecology’, ‘cultures of production’ and ‘queer production studies’, this article considers the different internal and external influences that might impact why and how producers depict these LGBT+ narratives. Through qualitative in-depth int…
Dating in Motion
‘Lost in Mainstreaming’? Ethnic Minority Audiences for Public and Private Television Broadcasting
Learning to be gay
Within the wider population of forced migrants, LGBTQs face particular challenges. While sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) are recognised grounds for asylum, academic and civil society observers are critical of the imposition of Western identity labels and liberation narratives on asylum seekers. This paper explores the situation in Belgium, where an increasing number of people obtain asylum based on SOGI claims. First, the relevant r…
Negotiating Images of the Nation
Textual analysis of Flemish television drama produced by the monopolistic public service broadcaster discloses strong representational patterns constructing a homogeneous discourse about the nation, focusing on rural Flanders in the early 20th century. Using document analysis and expert interviews, the production context of this discourse is reconstructed. The drama on offer turns out to be the product of a cultural-educational and Flemish-minded…
Meat and masculinities. Can differences in masculinity predict meat consumption, intentions to reduce meat and attitudes towards vegetarians
Still ‘Watching’ TV? The Consumption of TV Fiction by Engaged Audiences
There is no denying that television, as a medium and an institution, has drastically changed in the age of digitization and convergence. For audiences, this has not only opened up multiple opportunities to watch television content at other times and on other devices, but also to interact with its cross-media extensions. However, while much has been written about the new opportunities for audience engagement, we do not know much about the actual a…
Navigating Online Selves
Social media not only create new opportunities but also pose new challenges for the ways people navigate their online selves. As noted by boyd, social media are characterized by unique dynamics such as collapsed contexts, implying that one’s distinct offline social worlds meet online. This creates particular challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, at least those who find it crucial to maintain distinct contex…
The Pfaffs Are Not Like the Osbournes
This article investigates the ongoing importance of national culture as a context to understand variations in television formats. To this end, it uses the example of the docusoap, a recent addition to the broad category of “reality TV” that crosses the border between fact and fiction and, in particular, between documentary and soap opera. The docusoap conventions have quickly spread internationally, but national variations can be distinguished. T…
Establishing a Multi-ethnic Imagined Community
■ Television is often conceived as a unifying force, creating a national ‘imagined community’. This article tries to apply this concept to the audience of domestic fiction in Flanders, in particular ethnic minority viewers. Based on in-depth interviews with 80 young adults of both Flemish and ethnic minority backgrounds, it focuses on the viewing of domestic soaps. The findings show very similar patterns of reception, both groups preferring Ameri…
Quality television' in the making
Generations and Shifting Sexual Identifications Among Flemish Non-Straight Men
This paper explores age-related differences in non-straight identities, using the concept of "generations" to investigate shared contexts and experiences contributing to processes of sexual identification. The process of identity construction is focused upon, existing research noting a shifting attitude toward identity categories among the youngest generations. Using a mixed-method design, first an exploratory survey of 684 Flemish men was used t…
Engaging the Audience in a Digitised Television Production Process
This article discusses producer practices and the reasons why they engage their audience in the production process. In a digitised media context, audiences have become more visible, mainly through social media, and have more means to participate. Our research deconstructs the production process of a particular television programme by means of the “hierarchy of influences” model, which separates micro and macro levels that influence production. It…
Audiences out of the box
Much has been written about the representation of sexual minorities in the media, but the meanings of such representations for audiences have hardly been explored to date. Moreover, most of this writing only addresses Western representations and White, Western audiences, so the current picture is limited and culturally specific. This article draws on in-depth interviews with (children of) migrants living in Belgium, discussing their readings of r…
The National Everyday in Contemporary European Television Fiction
Ambiguous gaze
The study of masculinity has recently become relevant to the field of fashion studies. However, fashion is still underrepresented in the field of men’s studies, which hardly takes into account its importance in the cultural construction of masculinities. This article aims to build a bridge between these two fields through the analysis of fashion designer Dirk Bikkembergs. Known as part of the internationally established ‘Antwerp Six’ and for his …
No room for hate in our country’
This article analyses othering discourses in the news media coverage of an alleged homophobic murder in Belgium. The case study is based on a critical discourse analysis of news articles published in Dutch-speaking Belgian news media. Using the framework of homonationalism, this analysis finds that Belgium's LGBTI-friendly status is deeply anchored in the national identity. Discourses in mainstream news media following the murder appeal to a unif…
Netflix speaks Arabic, Arabs speak Netflix
While subscription of video-on-demand (SVOD) services has become increasingly popular across the world in recent years, the arrival of Netflix to the Arab world was transformational. As it stepped up to produce original Arabic series, Netflix-modelled services from the region proliferated, promising to challenge the existing Arabic series’ ( musalsalat ) routines in content and form. Since the Arab World is scarcely mentioned in the growing schol…
Digital (dis)connectivity in fraught contexts
The key role of digital and mobile media for refugees is increasingly acknowledged, but while the literature on the topic tends to celebrate the advantages of digital media, it is important to also acknowledge limitations. Thus, the focus on the creation and maintenance of connections through digital media may obscure experiences and practices of disconnection. This is certainly the case for forced migrants with non-normative sexual orientations,…
Identifying with the nation
This article investigates viewer memories of former Flemish television fiction in order to research how its representation of Flanders has influenced national identification. Viewer memories show strong patterns, as the same serials are positively remembered by most respondents. The strength and fondness of these memories suggests that these serials became part of collective memory. The importance of `Flemishness' also becomes apparent through th…
Dating in Motion
Complicating cosmopolitanism
Contemporary migrants are described as “connected migrants,” as they maintain multiple connections using digital and social media. This article explores how this leads to processes of cosmopolitanism and/or encapsulation in a particular group, voluntary gay migrants in Belgium, focusing on the intersection between ethno-cultural and sexual identifications and connections. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the cosmopolitan outlook of the participant…
Production perspectives on audience participation in television
This article adds an empirical production perspective to the widely discussed concept of audience participation. It studies how audiences are integrated in the production of television and what motivations producers have to do so. Increased opportunities for audiences to produce or contribute to media content may change the way television is produced, as audience perspectives can be more easily integrated. Theoretically, the notions of corporate …
Audience retrospection as a source of historiography
This article argues that oral history interviews constitute an invaluable source for reconstructing audience experiences of television in the past. Taking into account the limitations of human memory, as well as the constructive, structuring activities involved in 'memory work', these narratives provide useful, first-hand insights into the significance of television for audiences of the past. Starting from a discussion of audience historiography …
Reconstructing Flanders. The representation of the nation in Flemish period drama
To study the possible role of Flemish period drama in the formation of national identity, this article primarily analyses its textual representations. A qualitative content analysis of all period serials discloses a clear discourse about Flanders. Mostly based on literary sources, these serials portray the poor, rural Flanders of the early 20th century. They reconstruct a particular phase in Flemish history, focusing on folkloric culture, and the…
The mediated construction of “woke
From 2021, “woke” became an omnipresent term in Flemish public debate. In this paper, we explore how the mainstream press contributed to the emergence and construction of discourses on wokeness. First, we ask how the topic of “woke” reached the media agenda in Flanders. Second, we analyze the respective role of journalists and their sources in constructing discourses on “wokeness”, drawing on the notions of “primary” and “secondary definers” . We…
It’s not just meat, mate! The importance of gender differences in meat consumption
Most meat-related research focuses on binary differences between men and women, ignoring differences within both genders. Through an online survey (N = 870), we investigate meat consumption behavior and how this is related to gender identity and new masculinity norms. The results confirm differences in meat consumption behavior between men and women, but also disclose more complicated differences within both groups, related to gender identity and…
Queer media generations
This paper explores the role of media among different generations of non-straight men. Based on generational theory, combining the notions of “queer generations” and “media generations,” it empirically explores the role of both legacy and digital media in the processes of sexual identity formation in four post-war generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z). A mixed-method approach was used, combining a quantitative su…
Reconstructing Flanders. The representation of the nation in Flemish period drama
To study the possible role of Flemish period drama in the formation of national identity, this article primarily analyses its textual representations. A qualitative content analysis of all period serials discloses a clear discourse about Flanders. Mostly based on literary sources, these serials portray the poor, rural Flanders of the early 20th century. They reconstruct a particular phase in Flemish history, focusing on folkloric culture, and the…
Quality and/as National Identity
Period drama was the predominant domestic fiction genre on Flemish TV until the late 1 980s. It was very popular, but the press reviews were mostly negative, complaining, above all, about its low quality. 7 his article investigates the press discourse on television quality and situates it Within several relevant contexts: academic writinog on television quality; the Flemish broadcasting and social context; and broader discourses about cultural va…
Negotiating Images of the Nation
Textual analysis of Flemish television drama produced by the monopolistic public service broadcaster discloses strong representational patterns constructing a homogeneous discourse about the nation, focusing on rural Flanders in the early 20th century. Using document analysis and expert interviews, the production context of this discourse is reconstructed. The drama on offer turns out to be the product of a cultural-educational and Flemish-minded…
The Pfaffs Are Not Like the Osbournes
This article investigates the ongoing importance of national culture as a context to understand variations in television formats. To this end, it uses the example of the docusoap, a recent addition to the broad category of “reality TV” that crosses the border between fact and fiction and, in particular, between documentary and soap opera. The docusoap conventions have quickly spread internationally, but national variations can be distinguished. T…
Identifying with the nation
This article investigates viewer memories of former Flemish television fiction in order to research how its representation of Flanders has influenced national identification. Viewer memories show strong patterns, as the same serials are positively remembered by most respondents. The strength and fondness of these memories suggests that these serials became part of collective memory. The importance of `Flemishness' also becomes apparent through th…
The National Everyday in Contemporary European Television Fiction
Establishing a Multi-ethnic Imagined Community
■ Television is often conceived as a unifying force, creating a national ‘imagined community’. This article tries to apply this concept to the audience of domestic fiction in Flanders, in particular ethnic minority viewers. Based on in-depth interviews with 80 young adults of both Flemish and ethnic minority backgrounds, it focuses on the viewing of domestic soaps. The findings show very similar patterns of reception, both groups preferring Ameri…
When Regional Becomes National
Reporting Catalonia in Belgian newspapers
As two regions with national aspirations for autonomy, Catalonia and Flanders are often compared. This article analyses how this is reflected in the press, focusing in particular on Belgian press reports about Catalonia. On the one hand, we analyse how much Catalonia is written about, as an indication of the perceived relevance of Catalan news to Belgian readers; in particular, we investigate whether Flemish newspapers (which may feel more proxim…
Audience retrospection as a source of historiography
This article argues that oral history interviews constitute an invaluable source for reconstructing audience experiences of television in the past. Taking into account the limitations of human memory, as well as the constructive, structuring activities involved in 'memory work', these narratives provide useful, first-hand insights into the significance of television for audiences of the past. Starting from a discussion of audience historiography …
It's Not HBO, it's TV
Since the turn of the century, serial television drama is increasingly associated with quality. This reappraisal has been widely documented, but such accounts are strongly Anglocentric. Is this rise (or return) of 'quality TV an international trend? Is it also present in smaller markets with lower budgets? To answer these questions, this article focuses on the small television market of Flanders (Dutch-language North Belgium). Nine successful pro…
Connections That Matter
Most research on diasporic media use in Flanders (Belgium) focuses on second-generation adolescents belonging to the two largest non-European groups of migrants, Moroccans and Turks. This leads to a limited knowledge of the broader diasporic population and makes it difficult to ascertain how media use is related to age and generation (both in terms of migration and in terms of digital media access), independent of belonging to a specific ethnic-c…
Audiences out of the box
Much has been written about the representation of sexual minorities in the media, but the meanings of such representations for audiences have hardly been explored to date. Moreover, most of this writing only addresses Western representations and White, Western audiences, so the current picture is limited and culturally specific. This article draws on in-depth interviews with (children of) migrants living in Belgium, discussing their readings of r…
Quality television' in the making
LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe
Written media have an important role in the development and consolidation of gay and lesbian communities and subcultures. Creating a space where gays and lesbians are able to share, discuss and value their experiences, the gay and lesbian press has also been instrumental in their political consciousness (Hanson, 2011; Howes, 2004; Streitmatter, 1995). As such, it represents an implicated vision of the world that is characteristic of alternative m…
Media, visibility and sexual identity among gay men with a migration background
While media are generally acknowledged to play an important role in processes of sexual identity formation among sexual minorities, little is known about migrant audiences. This article explores the roles of mass and online media for a group of men with a migration background living in Belgium. Based on in-depth interviews, their sexual self-identification is discussed, as is their use and assessment of media as a source of representations, infor…
Identifications, communities and connections
This paper explores sexual and ethnic-cultural identifications among first- and second-generation gay migrants in Belgium. Based on a theoretical framework highlighting the multiple, fluid and intersectional nature of identifications, 29 in-depth interviews are used to study self-identifications and connections to different communities. Drawing on a diverse sample, three clusters of participants can be distinguished: second-generation migrants, w…
Navigating Online Selves
Social media not only create new opportunities but also pose new challenges for the ways people navigate their online selves. As noted by boyd, social media are characterized by unique dynamics such as collapsed contexts, implying that one’s distinct offline social worlds meet online. This creates particular challenges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, at least those who find it crucial to maintain distinct contex…
Negotiating national unity and diversity in public broadcasting
In the context of globalization, national unity or identity are problematic and even contested concepts. The inherent diversity of most nations, furthermore, complicates the notion of a national unity or identity. Within this struggle to define the nation, mass media are generally regarded as playing an important role in ideas around nationhood. This article explores contemporary struggles to define ‘the nation’ as unified by comparing the divers…
Still ‘Watching’ TV? The Consumption of TV Fiction by Engaged Audiences
There is no denying that television, as a medium and an institution, has drastically changed in the age of digitization and convergence. For audiences, this has not only opened up multiple opportunities to watch television content at other times and on other devices, but also to interact with its cross-media extensions. However, while much has been written about the new opportunities for audience engagement, we do not know much about the actual a…
Engaging the Audience in a Digitised Television Production Process
This article discusses producer practices and the reasons why they engage their audience in the production process. In a digitised media context, audiences have become more visible, mainly through social media, and have more means to participate. Our research deconstructs the production process of a particular television programme by means of the “hierarchy of influences” model, which separates micro and macro levels that influence production. It…
Complicating cosmopolitanism
Contemporary migrants are described as “connected migrants,” as they maintain multiple connections using digital and social media. This article explores how this leads to processes of cosmopolitanism and/or encapsulation in a particular group, voluntary gay migrants in Belgium, focusing on the intersection between ethno-cultural and sexual identifications and connections. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the cosmopolitan outlook of the participant…
Production perspectives on audience participation in television
This article adds an empirical production perspective to the widely discussed concept of audience participation. It studies how audiences are integrated in the production of television and what motivations producers have to do so. Increased opportunities for audiences to produce or contribute to media content may change the way television is produced, as audience perspectives can be more easily integrated. Theoretically, the notions of corporate …
Subversive Ludic Performance
Kilian Biscop, Steven Malliet, Alexander Dhoest, Subversive Ludic Performance: An Analysis of Gender and Sexuality Performance in Digital Games, DiGeSt. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, Sexuality, politics and digital media infrastructures: Challenges for diversity (2019), pp. 23-42
Digital (dis)connectivity in fraught contexts
The key role of digital and mobile media for refugees is increasingly acknowledged, but while the literature on the topic tends to celebrate the advantages of digital media, it is important to also acknowledge limitations. Thus, the focus on the creation and maintenance of connections through digital media may obscure experiences and practices of disconnection. This is certainly the case for forced migrants with non-normative sexual orientations,…
Sociology (49 obras) · Political science (38 obras) · Psychology (28 obras) · Gender Studies (26 obras) · Flemish (22 obras) · Art (21 obras) · Media studies (20 obras) · Gender Studies (19 obras) · Social Psychology (17 obras) · Law (16 obras)