Having No Idea and Many Ideas at the Same Time

Emergence, Continuity, and Dissonance in Cultural Frames of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Bibliographic Data

ID7982802
AuthorsNicole Nelson Warner, Nicole M Warner (corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume45
Issue6
Pages529-546
Publication date2025-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychoanalytic Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-1690 • E-ISSN: 1940-9133
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07351690.2025.2510193
OpenAlexW4411604538
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited26

We are surrounded by heteronormativity, heteronormativity that as primary frame organizes our experiences around sexual orientation and gender identity and does not leave much room for exploration of subjective experiences regarding gender and sexual orientation. Immediately, and often before we can even register our subjective experiences, we find ourselves thinking in terms of identity categories that have been socially constructed to both conform to and resist the dominant heteronormative frame. This paper explores some of the history of the heteronormative frame, the value of counter-frames (frames that resist or modify socially constructed dominant frames) as well as the possibility of stepping into ambiguity and going “frame-less.” A clinical example is presented of a previously thought to be heterosexual couple, as one member of the couple shifts gender identity categories. This clinical work illustrates the possibilities that can emerge when therapists hold the tension between the need for identity categories and the necessarily limiting nature of these categories

Aesthetics · Cognitive dissonance · Cognitive psychology · Gender identity · Human sexuality · Sexual identity · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOI