Identity Desire and Shame

Abstract

The marginal status of homosexual individuals results in unprecedented discrimination where they are side-lined in social, political, economic and cultural sectors of the society. As a consequence, they undergo homophobic reactions where they are humiliated, verbally and physically assaulted and face societal, religious, and familial exclusion from mainstream society. The heteronormative society considers homosexuality as unnatural, sexually perverse in nature, evil, and a sin due to which many homosexual individuals repress or deny their samesex attraction to attain a sense of normalcy. Demands of the heteronormative society, familial expectations, lack of queer role models, homophobia, and socio-political persecution force many individuals to integrate heterosexual identity and, in many cases, enter a heterosexual marriage. This research seeks to explore the concept of Mixed-orientation Marriages (MOM) to understand the distinctive experiences of both homosexual spouses and heterosexual spouses involved in mixed-orientation marriages. Mixed-orientation Marriages is a type of marriage between a homosexual/bisexual/asexual/transgender and a heterosexual spouse (Hernandez et al., 2011). The need for societal acceptance, the inability to accept one s sexuality, and reorientation are some of the reasons for such marriages. However, when the suppressed desires resurface, marriage is disrupted leading to challenging and mentally harrowing situations leading to the dissolution of marriage. This research aims to study the concepts of Identity Formation, Desire, and Shame of homosexual spouses in mixed-orientation marriages and explore the experiences of heterosexual spouses in mixed-orientation marriages, thereby deriving a collective perspective on how dominant normative structures manipulate the lives of homosexuals and heterosexual individuals by using representations in queer literary narratives. This study uses theoretical conceptualizations such as Homosexual Identity Formation Model by Ruth E. Fassinger and Brett