Strategy of Livelihood among Persons Having Social Stigma in Sexual Orientation

Grant Nixon*    -  School of Strategic and Global Studies, Master in Gender Studies Program, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Mia Siscawati    -  School of Strategic and Global Studies, Master in Gender Studies Program, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
Juliana Mohd Arpa  -  Department of Theology, Faculty of Theology, Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Ekumene, Jakarta, Indonesia
Eliza Christabella Phuanerys    -  Department of Management, Faculty of Social and Humanities, Universitas Bunda Mulia, Jakarta, Indonesia

(*) Corresponding Author
The dilemma of bisexual identity not only brings existential problems for their identity but also their livelihood. This article focused on the pandemic time and showed the challenges and strategies of Christian bisexual groups to maintain their livelihoods before and after the pandemic. This article aimed to expose the strategy of livelihood among the persons having social stigma in sexual orientation in a heteronormative hegemonic system such as Indonesia. Applying a qualitative method with a case study of two Christian bisexuals, this study showed two main findings: first, gender and bisexual orientation have an impact on rejection, oppression, and job transfer in the period before and after the pandemic due to unequal power relations in heteronormative structures. These power relations also lead to the neglect of non-heteronormative contributions to the informal sector in a heteronormative economic structure. Secondly, bisexual individuals developed a particular resilience strategy during a pandemic, one of which is by utilizing informal networks with non-heteronormative groups. Another finding is the influence of religion which simultaneously provides support and oppression to the livelihoods of non-heteronormative groups.

Keywords: bisexual; Christian; COVID-19; gender and sexuality studies; livelihood

  1. Badgett, M. V. Lee. 1995. “Gender, Sexuality, and Sexual Orientation: All in the Feminist Family?” Feminist Economics 1(1):121–39. doi: 10.1080/714042217.
  2. Badgett, M. V. Lee, Christopher S. Carpenter, and Dario Sansone. 2021. “LGBTQ Economics.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 35(2):141–70. doi: 10.1257/jep.35.2.141.
  3. Bonaventura, Luigi, and Alessio Emanuele Biondo. 2016. “Disclosure of Sexual Orientation in the USA and Its Consequences in the Workplace.” International Journal of Social Economics 43(11):1115–23. doi: 10.1108/IJSE-01-2015-0014.
  4. Cech, Erin A., and William R. Rothwell. 2020. “LGBT Workplace Inequality in the Federal Workforce: Intersectional Processes, Organizational Contexts, and Turnover Considerations.” ILR Review 73(1):25–60. doi: 10.1177/0019793919843508.
  5. Compton, Cristin A. 2020. “Co-Sexuality and Organizing: The Master Narrative of ‘Normal’ Sexuality in the Midwestern Workplace.” Journal of Homosexuality 67(7):1013–39. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2019.1582220.
  6. Danby, Colin. 2007. “Political Economy and the Closet: Heteronormativity in Feminist Economics.” Feminist Economics 13(2):29–53. doi: 10.1080/13545700601184898.
  7. Einarsdóttir, Anna, Helge Hoel, and Duncan Lewis. 2015. “‘It’s Nothing Personal’: Anti-Homosexuality in the British Workplace.” Sociology 49(6):1183–99. doi: 10.1177/0038038515582160.
  8. Embrick, David G., Carol S. Walther, and Corrine M. Wickens. 2007. “Working Class Masculinity: Keeping Gay Men and Lesbians out of the Workplace.” Sex Roles 56(11–12):757–66. doi: 10.1007/s11199-007-9234-0.
  9. Gahan, Luke, and Kathryn Almack. 2020. “Experiences of and Responses to Disempowerment, Violence, and Injustice within the Relational Lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer People.” Journal of Sociology 56(4):507–15. doi: 10.1177/1440783320958812.
  10. Levy, Denise L., and Jennifer Harr. 2018. “‘I Never Felt like There Was a Place for Me:’ Experiences of Bisexual and Pansexual Individuals with a Christian Upbringing.” Journal of Bisexuality 18(2):186–205. doi: 10.1080/15299716.2018.1431169.
  11. Marçal, Katrine. 2012. Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner? A Story About Women and Economics. Edinburgh: Portobello Books.
  12. Nelson, Julie A. 1995. “Feminism and Economics.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(2):131–48. doi: 10.1257/jep.9.2.131.
  13. OHCHR. 2020. “COVID-19 and the Human Rights of LGBTI People.” Retrieved (https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/LGBT/LGBTIpeople.pdf).
  14. Ripley, Matthew, Eric Anderson, Mark McCormack, Adrian Adams, and Robin Pitts. 2011. “The Decreasing Significance of Stigma in the Lives of Bisexual Men: Keynote Address, Bisexual Research Convention, London.” Journal of Bisexuality 11(2–3):195–206. doi: 10.1080/15299716.2011.571985.
  15. Rodriguez, Diego Garcia, and Khanis Suvianita. 2020. “How Indonesia’s LGBT Community Is Making a Difference amid COVID-19.” The Conversation. Retrieved (https://theconversation.com/how-indonesias-lgbt-community-is-making-a-difference-amid-covid-19-140063#:~:text=Looking at the future,against in their everyday lives.).
  16. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. 1990. Epistemology of the Closet. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  17. Shepherd, Carol. 2017. “Bisexual Christians & Mental Health: Why the Church Needs to Be More Welcoming [Doctoral Thesis].” Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS), University of Winchester.
  18. Speice, Travis. 2020. “The ‘Okay’ Gay Guys: Developing Hegemonic Sexuality as a Tool to Understand Men’s Workplace Identities.” Journal of Homosexuality 67(13):1864–80. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2019.1616428.

Open Access Copyright (c) 2022 JSW (Jurnal Sosiologi Walisongo)
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Publisher:
Sociology Laboratory - Department of Sociology
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences
Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo Semarang
Central Java, Indonesia

 

 
apps