TY - GEN N2 - Proud, happy, grateful-gay youth describe their lives in terms that would have seemed surprising only a generation ago. Yet many adults, including parents, seem skeptical about this sea change in perceptions and attitudes. Even in an age of growing tolerance, coming out as gay is supposed to involve a crisis or struggle. This is the kind of thinking, say the young men at the heart of this book, that needs to change. Becoming Who I Am is an astute exploration of identity and sexuality as told by today's generation of gay young men. Through a series of in-depth interviews with teenagers and men in their early 20s, Ritch Savin-Williams reflects on how the life stories recorded here fulfill the promise of an affirmative, thriving gay identity outlined in his earlier book, The New Gay Teenager. He offers a contemporary perspective on gay lives viewed across key milestones: from dawning awareness of same-sex attraction to first sexual encounters; from the uncertainty and exhilaration of coming out to family and friends to the forming of adult romantic relationships; from insights into what it means to be gay today to musings on what the future may hold. The voices hail from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, but as gay men they share basic experiences in common, conveyed here with honesty, humor, and joy. DO - 10.4159/9780674974586 DO - doi AB - Proud, happy, grateful-gay youth describe their lives in terms that would have seemed surprising only a generation ago. Yet many adults, including parents, seem skeptical about this sea change in perceptions and attitudes. Even in an age of growing tolerance, coming out as gay is supposed to involve a crisis or struggle. This is the kind of thinking, say the young men at the heart of this book, that needs to change. Becoming Who I Am is an astute exploration of identity and sexuality as told by today's generation of gay young men. Through a series of in-depth interviews with teenagers and men in their early 20s, Ritch Savin-Williams reflects on how the life stories recorded here fulfill the promise of an affirmative, thriving gay identity outlined in his earlier book, The New Gay Teenager. He offers a contemporary perspective on gay lives viewed across key milestones: from dawning awareness of same-sex attraction to first sexual encounters; from the uncertainty and exhilaration of coming out to family and friends to the forming of adult romantic relationships; from insights into what it means to be gay today to musings on what the future may hold. The voices hail from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, but as gay men they share basic experiences in common, conveyed here with honesty, humor, and joy. T1 - Becoming Who I Am :Young Men on Being Gay / AU - Savin-Williams, Ritch C., JF - Harvard University Press Complete eBook-Package 2016 CN - HQ76 LA - eng LA - In English. ID - 1480537 KW - Gay men KW - Gay teenagers. KW - Male homosexuality. KW - Young gay men. KW - SOCIAL SCIENCEĀ / LGBT Studies / Gay Studies. SN - 9780674974586 TI - Becoming Who I Am :Young Men on Being Gay / LK - https://univsouthin.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674974586 UR - https://univsouthin.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780674974586 ER -