Lesbian Identity Management at Various Stages of the Coming Out Process: A Qualitative Study

Explores how women at various stages of lesbian identity development make decisions about managing their identities, in terms of how they "came out" or stayed hidden & how they made decisions either to disclose or to conceal. Using the Cass (1984) Stage Allocation Measure to categorize...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of sexuality and gender studies Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 3 - 18
Main Authors Whitman, Joy S, Cormier, Sherry, Boyd, Cynthia J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.01.2000
Subjects
Adults
Lesbianism
Psychological Development
Self Disclosure
Sex Role Identity
United States of America
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Explores how women at various stages of lesbian identity development make decisions about managing their identities, in terms of how they "came out" or stayed hidden & how they made decisions either to disclose or to conceal. Using the Cass (1984) Stage Allocation Measure to categorize stages of lesbian identity development, 25 women in the eastern US were individually interviewed using a semistructured schedule. A journal was kept by each woman for 1 month. It is found that women at different stages of lesbian identity development use both disparate & similar identity-management & decision-making strategies. Underlying & connecting lesbian identity management & development is the need to maintain self-esteem & safety. 2 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
content type line 23
ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:1566-1768