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Chapter 1
Identity Development in Males
In order to understand how a man develops a homosexual identity, it is helpful to first understand the general process of identity development in males. This chapter presents basic principles related to identity development, including the discovery and acceptance of gender, masculine IDENTIFICATION, and the acquisition of gender role. Learning about these concepts will provide a background of understanding for the information given in later chapters.
A man’s identity develops from infancy onward. All aspects of life influence this development. Psychologist Erik Erikson wrote that a person’s identity unfolds as an ever-changing pattern. This pattern is formed and reformed as new elements are introduced and old elements are rearranged. The “ego” is conceived of as a part of the human mind that arranges and integrates these elements. Some of the elements that must be integrated are biologically determined traits, personal preferences among one’s various abilities, significant roles one takes on, effective emotional and psychological defenses, individual ways of satisfying sexual interests, and ways of channeling energies into socially accepted activities.1(p162-163)
But a person’s identity is not just a combination of these elements. Nor is it simply one’s values, beliefs, or behaviors. The outward manifestations of all these things could be called “personality.” But one’s identity is an inward awareness of all these things—in others words, the thoughts and feelings one has about all of these elements. So identity could be described as an integrated accumulation of thoughts and feelings one has about oneself.2(p95-96)
The thoughts and feelings we have about ourselves begin to form shortly after we are born and continue to develop throughout life. Many basic patterns are laid down by the time we are just a few years old. These early patterns influence the way we see ourselves and the world and become more elaborate through life. These patterns tend to persist, but may change as a result of new experiences or if specific efforts are made to alter them.
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IDENTIFICATION: "a process of establishing a link between oneself and another person or group." This allows one to attribute to oneself the traits of the other person or group.