Queering #MeToo: Russian media discourse on same-sex sexual harassment in the context of a global antiharassment movement

This chapter investigates how contemporary digital Russian media approach the task of communicating non-heteronormative masculinities in the context of an anti-harassment campaign. The research presented in the chapter reveals how, within media discourses on sexual harassment and within the framework of the global movement against sexual harassment in the workplace, sympathetic and positive media portrayals of non-heteronormative men are created despite the restrictive legislation banning any positive or neutral discourses on ‘non-traditional’ sexuality. A Critical Discourse Analysis of a selection of articles and TV programmes covering an unprecedented case of a gay male journalist coming out as a victim of sexual harassment demonstrates that positioning Russia as opposed to the global West in terms of media discourses on sex and sexuality is problematic. The findings presented in this chapter clearly show that Russian media support global media trends even when those trends contradict the discourses on ‘traditional values’ advocated by Russia’s political establishment.