A closet full of dresses: Intersections of femininity and sexuality among queer women in Panhellenic sororities

Despite the fact that the sorority experience has been sensationalized in the media (e.g., movies such as Legally Blonde and The House Bunny; television shows such as GRΣΣK), few academic studies have focused on gender or sexuality within the sorority context (Berbary & Johnson, 2012; Hevel & Bureau, 2014; Kahn, 2012). By exploring the experiences of queer women in Panhellenic sororities and using a grounded theory approach to understand how they negotiate expectations of femininity, the current study suggests preliminary theoretical relations in an otherwise understudied area. The findings indicate that queer women do indeed seek and enjoy their membership in Panhellenic sororities, despite overarching heteronormative expectations and homophobic microaggressions. After obtaining membership in these elitist organizations, queer women engaged in a process of staying in bounds, allowing them to maintain inclusion and good standing with their organizations, but compromising aspects of their identities.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Dvlpmt & Family Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2021

Author dc:creator

• Anderson, Brianna Lynne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bost, Kelly K
• Hardesty, Jennifer L
• Oswald, Ramona F
• Sharp, Elizabeth A

• femininity
• sexuality
• sororities

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2021 Brianna Anderson

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110506

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110506