The Influence of Lesbian Identity Development on Lesbian Literature Through a Study of Character Experience in Ann Bannon's 'Beebo Brinker' Series: A Creative Dissertation with Contextual Essay

McCarrick's interdisciplinary study considers Vivienne Cass's psychological theory of sexual identity formation and applies it to five lesbian pulp fiction novels written by Ann Bannon, known as the Beebo Brinker series. The purpose of the study is to discover if the portrayal of lesbian identity formation in these novels, which had such an impact on the lesbian community at the time, followed what science would later prove to be the stages most women go through when developing a lesbian identity. The importance of accurate portrayals of lesbian identity formation in characters stems from the isolation and alienation women questioning their sexual identities have felt historically due to societal homophobia. For many, seeing themselves in print became the only way they knew they were not alone in their feelings and desires. Accurate portrayals in fiction of the lesbian identity formation process has been, and continues to be, extremely important to the creation of positive lesbian identities in readers and in the formation of a lesbian community. McCarrick began by researching Cass's 1979 and updated 1984 theory of sexual identity formation, then applied the stages to the characters in the Bannon novels by looking for evidence of specific behaviors that denote the four stages of Cass's theory. She finds that even though Bannon's novels came out in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the characters portray Cass's 1984 four-stage theory of sexual identity formation very accurately, showing that the stages oftentimes follow a nonlinear pattern. This is remarkable since one of the biggest criticisms of Cass's 1979 study is the linear progression. By her 1984 update, Cass amended her theory to allow for the possibility of nonlinear movement within the stages. For future study, McCarrick suggests applying Cass's theory to the lesbian coming-out novels that followed lesbian pulp fiction. The purpose of future research would be to see if Cass's theory applies as closely to that genre's characters as it does to earlier lesbian fiction.