cybercloset

English

Etymology

cyber- +‎ closet

Noun

cybercloset (plural cyberclosets)

1. (rare) A space on the Internet resembling a closet, especially in the sense of one's sexual orientation or undesirable secrets being kept "in the closet".
   • 1998 May 5, PC Mag, volume 17, number 9, page 293:

     That's why CleanSweep is considered "a superior way to clean your cybercloset."

   • 1998 June, Working Mother, volume 21, number 6:

     Favorite new features include an expanded cybercloset, where girls can scan their own photos and "try on" new hairstyles.

   • 2002, Lewis Perdue, EroticaBiz: How Sex Shaped the Internet, page 49:

     To be fair, AOL is not the only online portal with various sexual dysfunctions, they're just the biggest and offer the biggest target, especially in light of the disconnect between their family-only promotion and the sex hidden in the cybercloset.

   • 2004, Phil Condon, Montana Surround: Land, Water, Nature, and Place, page 107:

     A virtual, nanogenetic space? A glove-and-helmet, artificially intelligent, self-replicating reality? A cybercafe of the mind for the millions? A cybercloset of the mind for one? It may now be that we approach a world more like a room […]

   • 1998 March 3, The Advocate, number 754:

     […] there is also the risk that they will keep people from truly coming out and participating in the community. Depending on how they are utilized, gay chat rooms could become pathetic cyberclosets.

   • 2013, Katherine Sender (quoting Scott Seitz), Business, Not Politics: The Making of the Gay Market, page 152:

     Many lesbians and gays prefer not to self-identify for a variety of reasons, but this study has shown dramatically that our community is out of the cybercloset in large numbers.

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