Reading Summary: Identity Development
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Reading Summary: Identity Development
This paper is a summary of Han’s article, “Examining identity development among gay men of color,” published in 2017. The review outlines four theoretical models utilized in exploring the identity development of gay men of color. The author notes that articles examining gay identity within the past few decades have focused on the experiences of White men while failing to explore the identity development process adequately. There has been a shift in the sociological studies of sexualities, from studying homosexual acts as deviance to exploring the lives of LGBTQ individuals, communities, and groups. Besides, the theorization of sexuality has shifted from being biologically given to being regarded as a social construction. Han (2017) takes a social psychological approach to identity in his review, including people’s categorization as members of a group, their social roles, and the influence of group membership on the incorporation of the expectations and social meanings.
The first perspective Han (2017) fronts regard identities as a declaration, constituting the disclosure of one’s sexual orientation as a central aspect of a positive gay identity. Hence, studies place gay men of color failing to come out on communities of color, whereby they are less inclined to come out since minority groups less likely to accept openly gay individuals. Besides, identities as performance represents the second perspective Han (2017) fronts and purports that people perform social identities within social relationship contexts. Hence, homosexuality is a role instead of a condition, with masculinity influencing the gay men of color’s identification along race and sexuality. Thirdly, the identities as disidentifications framework underline the attempt by gay men of color to take the dominant narrative regarding the meaning of being raced and sexed, and taking the narratives and changing them. Finally, the identities as fluid and contextual perspective considers sexual identity as capable of changing over time and place.
Reference
Han, C. S. (2017). Examining identity development among gay men of color. Sociology Compass, 11(9), e12503.