ABSTRACT
Marketers have long been aware that what we consume shapes our sense of who we are, and that a person's gender and sexuality associations comprise important parts of this identification. This chapter discusses the evolution of work on gender within consumer research, by focusing on two time periods, pre 1990s and post 1990s, and specifically on how feminist perspectives shape the scholarship. It explores two emerging research areas influencing contemporary debates on gender and consumption. They are masculinity and consumption; and LGBT consumption. The last two decades have seen a surge of interest in understanding masculinity as it intersects with consumption, advertising, shopping behavior and branding. LGBT consumption is a key area for future research on gender, sexuality and consumption. It could benefit from an expanded research agenda, one extending beyond the rather narrow focus on how advertising and the media portray LGBT characters in the media.
