“I Just See a Lot of Skinny, Muscular, White People in Those Ads”

Walking Focus Groups on LGBTQIA+ Representation in United States Outdoor Media

Bibliographic Data

ID24029809
AuthorsCody Hays (0009-0003-7375-0734, Arizona State University, corresponding author), Chelsea Julian Reynolds (0009-0007-6387-8186, Arizona State University)
Year2026
Pages1-23
Publication date2026-08-13
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Homosexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-8369 • E-ISSN: 1540-3602
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00918369.2026.2705591
PMID42593833
OpenAlexW7202376515
LanguageEN
References cited34

This study explores how queer people respond to androcentric and heteronormative representations in marketing and advertising content for outdoor brands. Using a novel qualitative research method we call "walking focus groups," this research examines barriers, gendered norms, and the role of strategic communication in reclaiming queer relationships with nature. We held five walking focus groups-semi-structured interviews with 17 participants in the desert southwest. These conversations illuminated how U.S. outdoor lifestyle brands alienate queer consumers, while at the same constructing a script about socially-acceptable LGBTQ+ lifestyles in branded content. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from queer ecology and critical approaches to strategic communications, we underscore how access to the outdoors is framed in media through lenses of access and capital rooted in whiteness, able-bodiedness, masculinity, and good health.

Focus (optics) · Focus group · Representation (politics) · White (mutation) · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Sports, Gender, and Society

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