SELF-OBLITERATION, SELF-DEFINITION, SELF-INTEGRATION: CLAIMING A HOMOSEXUAL IDENTITY
Titel:
SELF-OBLITERATION, SELF-DEFINITION, SELF-INTEGRATION: CLAIMING A HOMOSEXUAL IDENTITY
Auteur:
Cross, Malcolm Epting, Franz
Verschenen in:
Journal of constructivist psychology
Paginering:
Jaargang 18 (2005) nr. 1 pagina's 53-63
Jaar:
2005
Inhoud:
The role of the homosexual-heterosexual dimension in the inhibition of diversity of sexual experience is well-established (Burr & Butt, 1992, Epting, Raskin & Burke, 1994). Constructivists broadly agree that the continued use of sexual labels belies the unique and unfolding nature of growth and development as a sexual person. The arguments against the use of such terms rests primarily on the propensity of such “name calling” to result in preemptive thinking about persons assigned to those respective categories. Homosexuals, once classified, run the risk of being seen as nothing but members of that category, with individuals bleached of their full humanness (Cross, 2001). This article is a development of the position proposed by Epting, Raskin & Burke (1994). Rather than simply advocate the dissolution of categorisation in the struggle to foster the unique integration of experience, we seek to acknowledge both the limiting and expansive potential of labels. In particular the advantages and disadvantages of gay1affirmative approaches to therapy, which explicitly value homosexuality (Harrision, 2000), are critically discussed along side constructivist accounts of individual and unique sexual meaning making. It is argued that labels can be both a disenfranchising prison or a “safe place” and somewhere to come home to. The focus of the ensuing discussion is squarely on the therapeutic implications of personal meaning making. Although beyond the scope of this study the authors point to the importance of further exploration of the social and political implications of labeling in order to inform effective and ethical therapeutic practice.