Gender roles, homophobia, and the closet: Experiences of queer women

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication, Media and Theatre Arts

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Richards, Nicole M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Michael Tew
• Dr. Tsai Shen
• Dr. Elizabeth Currans

• gender expression
• gender roles
• homophobia
• queer
• the closet
• women
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/721

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2104