Closeted and in the closet are adjectives for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender etc. (LGBT) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.
Background[edit | edit source]
In late 20th-century America, the closet had become a central metaphor for grasping the history and social dynamics of gay life. The notion of the closet is inseparable from the concept of coming out. The closet narrative sets up an implicit dualism between being "in" or being "out". Those who are "in" are often stigmatized as living false, unhappy lives.[1] However, though many people would prefer to be “out” of the closet, there are numerous social, economic, familial, and personal repercussions that lead to them remaining, whether consciously or unconsciously, “in” the closet. The decision to come out or remain in the closet is considered a deeply personal one, and outing remains a problem in today’s culture.
Effects[edit | edit source]
In the early stages of the lesbian, gay or bisexual identity development process, people feel confused and experience turmoil. In 1993, Michelangelo Signorile wrote Queer in America, in which he explored the harm caused both to a closeted person and to society in general by being closeted.[2]
Seidman, Meeks, and Traschen (1999) argue that "the closet" may be becoming an antiquated metaphor in the lives of modern day Americans for two reasons.
- Homosexuality is becoming increasingly normalized and the shame and secrecy often associated with it appears to be in decline.
- The metaphor of the closet hinges upon the notion that stigma management is a way of life. However, stigma management may actually be increasingly done situationally.
The closet, however, is difficult for any non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identified person to fully come "out" of, whether or not that person desires to do so. Scholar Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, author of The Epistemology of the Closet, discusses the difficulty with the closet:
- “the deadly elasticity of heterosexist presumption means that, like Wendy in Peter Pan, people find new walls springing up around them :even as they drowse: every encounter with a new classful of students, to say nothing of a new boss, social worker, loan officer, landlord, :doctor, erects new closets.”[3]
Recent attention to bullying of LGBTQ youth and teens in the United States gives an indication that many youth and teens remain closeted throughout their educational years and beyond for fear of disapproval from parents, friends, teachers, and community members. To remain in the closet offers an individual a layer of protection against ridicule and bullying.Template:Cn However to remain in the closet typically takes an expense on the mentality of the individual, especially in the adolescent years as reflected in suicide rates among LGBTQ youths.[4]
See also[edit | edit source]
- Down-low (sexual slang)
- Ego-dystonic sexual orientation
- National Coming Out Day
- The Closet (2001 film)
Notes[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- Chauncey, George (1994). Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940. New York: Basic Books. Cited in Seidman 2003.
- Humphreys, L. (1970). Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. Chicago: Aldine.
- Kennedy, Elizabeth. "'But We Would Never Talk about It': The Structure of Lesbian Discretion in South Dakota, 1928-1933" in Inventing Lesbian Cultures in America, ed. Ellen Lewin (1996). Boston: Beacon Press. Cited in Seidman 2003.
- Seidman, Steven (2003). Beyond the Closet; The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life. ISBN 0-415-93207-6.
- Seidman, Steven, Meeks, Chet, and Traschen, Francie (1999), "Beyond the Closet? The Changing Social Meaning of Homosexuality in the United States." Sexualities 2 (1)
- Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Epistemology of the Closet (reprinted 1992).
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- Epistemology of the Closet (reprinted 1992) by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, ISBN 0-520-07874-8.
- Dossie Easton, Catherine A. Liszt, When Someone You Love Is Kinky, Greenery Press, 2000. ISBN 1-890159-23-9.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Empty Closets - Coming Out Resources and a Safe Place to Chat
- The Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Guides
- The Human Rights Campaign is the leading agency of the National Coming Out Project
- ↑ Seidman, Meeks, and Traschen (1999)
- ↑ re-released in 2003 by University of Wisconsin Press, ISBN 0-299-19374-8
- ↑ Template:Cite book
- ↑ http://www.lambda.org/youth_suicide.htm