THE CONFESSION OF COMING OUT

In the current thesis, The History of Sexuality. Volume 1: An Introduction, also known as the will to knowledge, by Michel Foucault is discussed. A summary is given of the book. After that, the concept of coming out is introduced. Coming out is the process in which individuals recognize romantic and/or sexual feelings towards people with the same gender and share their lesbian/gay/bisexual identities with others in a heteronormative society. Coming out is linked to different concepts used by Foucault; the repressive hypothesis, confessions and power. This will answer the question: can the theory discussed in the will to knowledge written by Foucault, also explain what is happening when people are coming out as gay, lesbian or bisexual.