Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog posts! It is amazing that we are already on the fifth blog post, and I feel as though this topic may be one of the most interesting ones yet. For this post, I will be discussing the concept of the “mask” that can be seen in the LGBTQ+ community. The prompt that I will be answering will be shown right below.

Relate the topic of your Archive Project to the concept of the “mask” (or “masks)” or of the “closet,” referring to our readings for this lesson (and possibly previous lessons, such as Lesson 11, Lesson 9, or Lessons 2-3). How does the “mask” or “closet’ operate to obscure people’s identities? How is it maintained, and who contributes to maintaining it? Is the “mask” or “closet” detrimental to the LGBTQ people involved in your Archive Project topic; if so, how? Does the “mask” or “closet” help to set LGBTQ people apart from mainstream society; if so, in mostly good ways or in mostly bad ways?

For those that do not know what the “mask” is, it is a metaphor of LGBTQ+ sexuality that was predominately used in the first half of the 20th century, but it is still very much relevant today. It was essentially characterizing sexuality as a “mask” or a performance by understanding non-normative sexuality as a personality characteristic that was more central to an LGBTQ+ individual’s identity. Therefore, these identities of sexuality, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc., was able to be “worn” or “taken off,” so individuals could decide whether or not they wanted to allow others know that they identified on the LGBTQ+ spectrum or not. For example, in a different perspective, Tom Kromer’s Waiting for Nothing in Chapter 4 explains how individuals are able to wear these “masks” to hide their sexuality, but it brings up multiple questions regarding the concept of a “mask.” In Kromer’s piece, he explains how a straight, homeless man, the narrator, essentially hides his sexuality of heterosexuality in order to become acquainted with a transgender woman named Mrs. Carter. He does this in order to have Mrs. Carter provide him with meals and housing as he is currently homeless, and he does this by pretending to not be completely heterosexual by wearing a mask to cover up his heterosexuality to showcase a sexuality of bisexuality or homosexuality. Therefore, he is able to wear this mask in order to pretend to be a sexuality that he is not, even though this perspective is the reversal of what is seen in LGBTQ+ studies. One would typically hear of a heterosexual mask being used rather than one of homosexuality, but this piece also brings up a great question as to what draws the line between using a “mask” and individuals deciding not to profess their actual sexual identity.

This mask is maintained by society’s norms and standards for individuals with the majority coming from our heterosexist society that consists of toxic masculinity and femininity norms. In regards to my archive, I am focusing on queer individuals in the age of social media, and therefore, this mask is utilized quite a lot by the QTPOC (queer and trans people of color) community. For example, when it comes to African-Americans males, there is actually research conducted that show that African American males choose to not identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual even though they practice same-sex relationships. This is due to the issues that arise from homophobia, heterosexism, and negative constructs of black masculinity/manhood. In today’s society, African American gay males are complicit in the homophobia that oppresses them as there has been a history of racism and homophobia attributed to their identities. This research conducted by Edward Brown II is quite interesting because it shows that contemporary African American gay men do not wish to identify with being gay at all, but instead, they are adopting to use labels such as “down low” or “DL” as commonly seen on dating apps. However, by using this “mask” of not being homosexual or bisexual but still engaging in same-sex relationships, it can have numerous meanings/effects. For example, individuals may be able to know that they are gay, but choose to not identify with that sexual identity, or there are also males or females who classify themselves as heterosexual but only have sex with the same gender (Brown, 2005).

The issue regarding African-American males not classifying themselves as a sexuality other than heterosexuality may stem from the masculinity movement, and this is because any concept that can be considered “feminine” is avoided and seen as a weakness in males. Therefore, combined with the concept of heterosexism, African-American males that strive to maintain a strict image of traditional masculinity would deny identifying as gay or bisexual because it is too closely related to femininity (Brown, 2005). However, by wearing this “mask” of being heterosexual in front of the public, it could also be that queer individuals of color are also trying to somewhat delve into having some sort of heterosexual privilege in some aspect of their lives. For queer individuals of color, they are typically seen as “feminine” (refer to QPOC beauty standards archive post), and by having this mask, they get to essentially live two separate lives.  It can be thought of having a “Hannah Montana” moment, but perhaps, not as glamorous. Especially in the age of social media, it can be safer for some queer individuals of color to have this mask, especially when it comes to certain jobs or occupations, in which they are already seen as a minority due to their racial/ethnic identity. It can allow queer individuals of color to fit in, and/or be different than the rest of LGBTQ+ community.

One example that I can think of is regarding gay dating apps, such as Grindr or Scruff, in which individuals state on their profile that they are “DL str8.” Therefore, they could be even utilizing a mask to hide their sexuality even in the LGBTQ+ community as there is still this type of mysterious attraction towards having some sort of relationship with a “str8” male who does not classify himself as gay/bisexual and needs to keep their relationship on the “DL/down-low.” There is also the concept of having to be heterosexual for a job. If perhaps there is a business meeting with an individual that is extremely conservative, although individuals should be working towards expressing their true-self and fighting against the social norms, it is not reasonable to have that accomplished in one business meeting, especially if it is vital to one’s job. Therefore, queer individuals of color may opt to utilize a “mask” because their racial/ethnic identity is already putting them at a lower scale as one does not have the white privilege to somehow get them through certain aspects in their lives.

However, one part of the research that Brown conducted that I do disagree with connects with a previous concept that we learned earlier on in the course regarding what sexuality means. Brown assumes in his research that these African-American males who partake in same-sex sexual activities are not heterosexual and should be identifying somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. However, as we were looking into in the previous lessons, what does it mean for one to identify as a homosexual or bisexual individual? What does it mean to be one? Just because one has sexual intercourse with an individual of the same gender, does that automatically mean that the individual is homosexual? There are numerous facets as to what really determines one’s sexuality, and I personally believe that Brown assumed that these African-Americans males were actually gay/bisexual but chose not to identify with those terms in regards to black masculinity and fear, when in reality, some of the individuals that he studied may have genuinely identified with heterosexuality.

Brown, E. (2005). We Wear the Mask: African American Contemporary Gay Male Identities. Journal of African American Studies,9(2), 29-38. doi:10.1007/s12111-005-1020-x