Pink capitalism

Pink capitalism (also called rainbow capitalism or gay capitalism) is a term used to describe, from a critical perspective, the incorporation of the LGBTIQ movement and sexual diversity to capitalism and the market economy; especially as this incorporation pertains to the gay, cisgender, western, white, and upper middle class communities and market.

Specifically, the term refers to the targeted inclusion of the gay community, which has acquired sufficient purchasing power (referred to in this context as pink money) to generate a market focused specifically on them. Examples of such targeted inclusion are bars and nightclubs, LGBT tourism, or specialized culture consumption.

The term is often used in discussions of the conflict between an increasing opportunity for homosocialization and the drive towards a normalization of sexual diversity caused by companies' definition of new consumption patterns. The new body aesthetics and fashion trends set by advertising canons employing pink capitalism, for example, are sometimes argued to push gender-diverse communities towards socially accepted sexual standards.

According to some authors, the global evolution of "pink capitalism" has been parallel to the development of modern capitalism in the West. Although historical evidence shows that diversity of sexualities has always existed, different periods in businesses development targeted at the LGBTI community, which have contributed to the construction of diverse sexual identities, can be distinguished.

Since the last decades of the 19th century, bars, cabarets, brothels, and even some magazines targeted specifically at the gay community have existed in cities across Europe and the United States. Although members of the LGBTI community were still often publicly persecuted, the creation of these businesses corresponded to the beginning of the first drive for LGBTQ rights. This first LGBT movement was disintegrated by the First and Second World Wars and the rise of fascism in Europe.

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