The Mythology of Female Sexuality: Alternative Narratives of Belonging

Moving “Out,” Moving On: Gay Men's Migrations Through the Life Course

“…Consequently, their narratives may not reflect the experiences of men living in other parts of the world where same-sex relationships are unlikely to be described as either gay or queer (Ferguson 2004;Arora 2006;Haritaworn 2008;Jivraj and de Jong 2011). In addition, they reflect a distinctly North American version of gayness, rooted not only in the establishment of a homosexual category of the population, but a historical, usually urban-centered narrative of repression, liberation, and increasingly, normalization (see D'Emilio 1983D'Emilio , 1989Kinsman 1996).…”

“…As many of the forthcoming narratives will show, men of colour often face particular difficulty negotiating or disclosing a changing sexual identity in the context of racial discrimination and informal prejudice from home and community environments. Scholars leveraging a queer of colour critique have further problematized notions of coming out as a series of "quintessentially progressive" disclosures that leads to the formation of a complete, affirmed gay identity (Ferguson 2004;Arora 2006). Many queer of colour scholars also find that the emphasis on disclosure-itself the product of a manufactured, oppositional, and "disclose-able" category of "homosexuality"-is problematic because it suppresses the fluidity of sexuality and the various intersectional subjectivities (e.g., age, race, family histories and circumstances) that might also be disclosed (Ferguson 2004;Haritaworn 2008;Jivraj and de Jong 2011).…”

“…Many queer of colour scholars also find that the emphasis on disclosure-itself the product of a manufactured, oppositional, and "disclose-able" category of "homosexuality"-is problematic because it suppresses the fluidity of sexuality and the various intersectional subjectivities (e.g., age, race, family histories and circumstances) that might also be disclosed (Ferguson 2004;Haritaworn 2008;Jivraj and de Jong 2011). Others find that the prevalence of the coming-out motif itself is problematic; in many non-Western contexts, same-sex intimacy is rooted in "alternative formations" based on religion, family, and kinship rather than overarching ideas of nonnormativity and deviance (Arora 2006;Olund 2010).…”