‘Coming Out, Again’: boundaries, identities and spaces of belonging

Abstract

The practice of 'coming out again'*relinquishing a non-heterosexual identity and having to subsequently come out again as something else*can have an enormous impact on feelings of belonging in particular social spaces, such as in the gay and lesbian community. These feelings are manifested through the perceived boundaries around sexual identity categories and the specific rules and expectations about how sexual identities should be performed in particular communities. Drawing on interviews with seven Australian women who once identified as lesbian but who had subsequently relinquished this sexual identity, this article examines the boundaries around lesbian identity and the role of the authentic lesbian discourse on women relinquishing their lesbian identities. I describe the consequences that these discourses had for participants on their sense of belonging within both lesbian identities and lesbian communities, and argue that these boundaries are responsible for some women seeing identity change as their only option when they cannot fit into the authentic lesbian discourse. Furthermore, the particular boundaries around lesbian identity contain the space available for the performance of sexual identity, rather than allowing for a genuine fluidity of sexuality and the inclusion of diverse ways of performing sexual identities within non-heterosexual communities.

Resisting and Conforming to the ‘Lesbian Look’: The Importance of Appearance Norms for Lesbian and Bisexual Women

“…Despite these social changes, conformity to appearance norms was policed by lesbian communities, and butch style still carried meaning for participants. It seems then that a lesbian social identity was still expected to be performed in specific ways (McLean, ). This could suggest that more social reforms are needed; while acceptance of LGB populations may have increased, heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality often go unchallenged (Taulke‐Johnson, ).…”

“…This was particularly problematic for the two participants who described their appearance as ‘ feminine ’; although they wanted to be authentic and not alter the way that they looked, they often desired the possibility of meeting other lesbians and to be acknowledged by the ‘lesbian gaze’ (Hickey‐Moody et al, ). Outward displays of femininity can be problematic for lesbian women (McLean, ). According to the Social Identity approach, less prototypical members of a group are trusted less than members who more fully conform (Tajfel & Turner, ); so feminine‐appearing lesbians could be treated with suspicion.…”

“…However, the butch norm is complex, and women can embody butch style in many different ways (Levitt & Hiestand, ). McLean () argued that there has been a consolidation of lesbian identity around the butch image, so that the terms ‘butch’ and ‘lesbian’ have become synonymous. This has led to the privileging of butch women's experiences over those of non‐butch women, and the assumption that butch women are ‘authentic’ or ‘real’ lesbians (McLean, ).…”

“…However, this freedom is often highly restricted; both lesbian and bisexual women have felt judged as to their conformity to specific appearance norms (Hutson, ). Feminine appearing lesbian and bisexual women have described how their sexual identity and their right to access LGB space have been questioned (McLean, ). Conversely, within mainstream society, being visibly recognizable as lesbian can have negative social effects.…”

Navigating the field : an examination of rhetorical spaces in the Journal of sex research.

“…(see Cooper, 2002;Curran, 2005;Fox, 2007;Gameson and Moon, 2004;Green, Follert, Osterlund, and Paquin, 2008;Harrison, 2010;Hubbard, Matthews, Scoular, 2008;Jacobs, 2004;Knopp, 2007;Johnson and Longhurst, 2010;Jeysaingham, 2010;McLean, 2008;Oswin, 2008;Waitt, Markwell, Gorman-Murray, 2008;Seidman, 2009). Most of the research on space and sexuality has focused on how concrete geographical sites influence the practices and experiences of sexuality.…”