The language of (in)visibility: using in-between spaces as a vehicle for empowerment in the family

J Homosex. 2011;58(6-7):883-900. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2011.581932.

Abstract

Drawing on 40 in-depth interviews with sexually nonconforming Latinas, this work looks at how these women negotiate family and achieve empowerment both through visibility and invisibility. This work explores the experiences of Latinas who verbally articulated their sexual nonconformity to their families as well as those who chose to maintain their relationships tacit. I offer that study participants found empowerment and agency not only through verbal articulation but also through tacit relationships and that sexually nonconforming Latinas inhabited an "in-between space" with their families that gave them the flexibility to pursue or not pursue visibility as they desired.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Family
  • Family Relations*
  • Female
  • Hispanic or Latino / ethnology
  • Hispanic or Latino / psychology*
  • Homosexuality, Female / ethnology
  • Homosexuality, Female / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Language
  • Middle Aged
  • Power, Psychological*
  • Self Disclosure*
  • Social Isolation
  • Young Adult