Outnesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The qualities or states of being openly identified or disclosed, particularly in contexts involving personal identity or characteristics; the expressions or instances of revealing hidden aspects about oneself; multiple occasions or conditions of being openly acknowledged
2. Situations or moments in which an individual reveals personal truths or identities openly; the collective instances of disclosure or self-identification; occurrences of being transparent or frank about one's nature or status
3. The various conditions or experiences of making private or concealed information known publicly; instances of openness regarding personal or social identity; the plural forms of expressing or living one's authentic self without concealment

Etymology: "Outnesses" is simply the plural of "outness," a noun built from the adverb "out" and the suffix "-ness," which turns an adjective or adverb into a noun for a state or quality. "Outness" itself has two separate histories. In philosophy, it may have been coined by George Berkeley, the Irish bishop and thinker, for his 1709 "Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision," where it described the way we perceive objects as existing outside ourselves. The sexual sense is far more recent. It was popularised by Lynne Pearlman in her 1989 thesis, "Theorizing Lesbian Oppression and the Politics of Outness in the Case of Waterman v. National Life Assurance," where it named the act of being open about one's sexuality as a matter of political and legal consequence. The plural form, "outnesses," follows naturally from that usage, counting individual acts of coming out rather than the abstract condition.