Be Your(Real Lesbian)Self

Mobilizing Sexual Formula Stories through Personal (and Political) Storytelling

Bibliographic Data

ID2365136
AuthorsSara L Crawley (University of South Florida), L Crawley (0000-0002-8715-5309, University of South Florida, corresponding author), K L Broad (0000-0002-6465-157X, University of Florida)
Year2004
Volume33
Issue1
Pages39-71
Publication date2004-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary Ethnography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2416 • E-ISSN: 1552-5414
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0891241603259810
OpenAlexW2071397855
LanguageEN
Citations received41
References cited19

This article investigates the ways individuals tell their life stories as a means of social movement activism. The authors rely on the participant observation fieldwork of one author, wherein she participated on " panels" of a local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) organization as they spoke to classes and organizations ostensibly to inform audiences about panelists' experiences as LGBT people. Using analytic bracketing, they look at the kinds of meanings being conferred in these settings and the strategies used to accomplish the goal of undoing stereotypes. They find that although panelists are encouraged to "be themselves"-unique, nonstereotypical individuals-the auspices of the setting and the coming-out formula story call on panelists to typify what it means to be LGBT, albeit in ways that contradict popular stereotypes. The authors place the analysis within a broader historical trend of latemodern sexual storytelling and discuss some implications for storying identities in social movement work

Homosexuality · Human sexuality · Lesbian · Narrative · Participant observation · Psychoanalysis · Sexual identity · Social science · Social worlds · Sociology · Storytelling · Transgender · Undoing · Gender Studies · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub