The culture in which a woman is a part of sets expectations based on their gender. This paper explores how the relationship between prescribed gender roles, internalized homophobia, and coming out of the closet are related. A focus group of seven women who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and queer was conducted. The findings suggest that gender roles do limit the way women view themselves, that religion is the largest contributor to internalized homophobia, and that gender expression changes throughout the coming out process as these queer women developed a stronger sense of their identity. Future research should include voices of trans* individuals and women who have been out for more than ten years.
","abstract_html":"<p>The culture in which a woman is a part of sets expectations based on their gender. This paper explores how the relationship between prescribed gender roles, internalized homophobia, and coming out of the closet are related. A focus group of seven women who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and queer was conducted. The findings suggest that gender roles do limit the way women view themselves, that religion is the largest contributor to internalized homophobia, and that gender expression changes throughout the coming out process as these queer women developed a stronger sense of their identity. Future research should include voices of trans* individuals and women who have been out for more than ten years.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Richards, Nicole M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Communication, Media and Theatre Arts","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Michael Tew","Dr. Tsai Shen","Dr. Elizabeth Currans"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:13Z","subjects":["gender expression","gender roles","homophobia","queer","the closet","women","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/721","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Michael Tew","Dr. Tsai Shen","Dr. Elizabeth Currans"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Richards, Nicole M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-08-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication, Media and Theatre Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["gender expression","gender roles","homophobia","queer","the closet","women","Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/721"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The culture in which a woman is a part of sets expectations based on their gender. This paper explores how the relationship between prescribed gender roles, internalized homophobia, and coming out of the closet are related. A focus group of seven women who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and queer was conducted. The findings suggest that gender roles do limit the way women view themselves, that religion is the largest contributor to internalized homophobia, and that gender expression changes throughout the coming out process as these queer women developed a stronger sense of their identity. Future research should include voices of trans* individuals and women who have been out for more than ten years.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Gender roles, homophobia, and the closet: Experiences of queer women"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Michael Tew","Dr. Tsai Shen","Dr. Elizabeth Currans"],"dc:creator":["Richards, Nicole M."],"dc:date.available":["2017-08-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The culture in which a woman is a part of sets expectations based on their gender. This paper explores how the relationship between prescribed gender roles, internalized homophobia, and coming out of the closet are related. A focus group of seven women who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and queer was conducted. The findings suggest that gender roles do limit the way women view themselves, that religion is the largest contributor to internalized homophobia, and that gender expression changes throughout the coming out process as these queer women developed a stronger sense of their identity. Future research should include voices of trans* individuals and women who have been out for more than ten years.
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