Catastrophic Progress: A Queer Materialist Analysis of the 2023 Trans/Bud Light Controversy
On April 1, 2023, Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman and social media influencer, made a March Madness post on Instagram sponsored by Bud Light. The response from the conservative right was swift and extreme, galvanizing protests against Anheuser-Busch InBev and resulting in a massive loss in sales that is still discussed in news and pop culture circles today. The event offers unique analytic value, particularly through the nexus of queer and materialist theoretical frameworks, providing a glimpse into the growing conflict between big business and queer-allied consumers. From a materialist perspective, the Bud Light/Mulvaney controversy demonstrates how social media – a visual and primary domain of the trans community – has the mobilization potential to disrupt the xenophobic, white supremacist, and misogynist forces that fuel our capitalist economy.
Bud Light, Materialism, Queer Theory, Transgender, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies, Rhetoric, Social Justice
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations