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“Masculine Guys Only”: The effects of femmephobic mobile dating application profiles on partner selection for men who have sex with men
... Next, to test construct validity, we posited that gay men's scores on the G-SISI will differ by sociodemographic characteristics. Based on the reviewed literature, it was hypothesized that intraminority age stigma will be most commonly experienced by older gay men relative to younger gay men (Hypothesis 4) [50,51]; intraminority socioeconomic stigma will be most commonly experienced by gay men with lower socioeconomic status relative to gay men with higher socioeconomic status (Hypothesis 5) [52,53]; intraminority gay non-conformity stigma will be most commonly experienced by politically conservative gay men (e.g., Republican) relative to politically liberal gay men (e.g., Democrat; Hypothesis 6) [54]; intraminority racial stigma will be most commonly experienced by gay men of color relative to White gay men (Hypothesis 7) [43]; intraminority gender expression stigma will be most commonly experienced by gay men who express themselves more femininely relative to gay men who express themselves more masculinely (Hypothesis 8) [55,56]; and intraminority body stigma will be most commonly experienced by gay men with a higher weight relative to gay men with a lower weight (Hypothesis 9) [33,57]. ...
... Similarly, consistent with prior research on gay men's experiences of femmephobia [55,56] and anti-fat bias [33,73] from potential romantic or sexual partners, masculinity and weight were associated with experiences of intraminority stigma. Specifically, gay men who identified as more masculine than feminine reported fewer experiences of gender expression stigma from other gay men relative to their more feminine counterparts, and gay men who perceived themselves as being higher-weight reported more experiences of body stigma from other gay men relative to their lower-weight counterparts. ...
... It is likely that higher levels of community involvement-whether in person or online-would pose a greater risk to subgroups of gay men with marginalized social positionality rather than the full sample. For example, it is well documented that gay men who express themselves more femininely are discriminated against much more frequently on mobile dating sites by potential partners than their more masculine counterparts (e.g., writing "masculine guys only" directly in their profiles) [56]; however, a majority of the participants in our sample identified as more masculine than feminine. Likewise, most of the sample was White, resulting in weaker associations between intraminority racial stigma and community involvement. ...
There is currently a lack of measures testing intraminority stress within gay men. Therefore, the current study sought to develop and psychometrically test the Gay-Specific Intraminority Stigma Inventory (G-SISI). Based on a content review of the literature and a panel of experts, a pool of items assessing gay men’s perceived exposure to a range of discriminatory attitudes from other gay men was generated. Utilizing a randomly split sample of 1723 gay men between the ages of 19 and 79 years, an exploratory factor analysis was first performed (n = 861). The remaining unexamined data were then used to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (n = 862). The results support a six-factor model: (1) Age Stigma, (2) Socioeconomic Stigma, (3) Gay Non-Conformity Stigma, (4) Racial Stigma, (5) Gender Expression Stigma, and (6) Body Stigma. Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was 0.90 and for the subscales ranged from 0.60 to 0.85. Sociodemographic factors and measures of community involvement were differentially associated with the G-SISI subscales, providing evidence of construct validity. The findings demonstrate initial support for the dimensionality and validity of the G-SISI, which targets modifiable factors (e.g., identity-based stigma) that may increase stress and reduce community coping resources among gay men with diverse identities.
... The experimental studies all focused on dependent variables which were related to impression formation (e.g., interpersonal attraction; Banks et al., 2017;desire to date;Frischlich et al., 2015); perceived trustworthiness of MDA users; Silva et al., 2019). Four studies (5.6%) manipulated aspects of MDA profiles to which participants were exposed (e.g., in-group vs. out-group potential partners; Frischlich et al., 2015; femmephobic vs. non-femmephobic language displayed in users' profiles; Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016), whereas one study (1.4%) manipulated the mode in which users were physically interacting with the device on which MDA profiles were displayed (handheld vs. non-handheld condition; Banks, 2017). ...
... Although nine studies (12.5%) examined mediating (k = 6; 8.3%; e.g., Tomaszewska & Schuster, 2020) or moderating variables (k = 3; 4.2%; e.g., Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016), the results indicated that few significant findings were reported across the literature with regards to different mediating and moderating differential susceptibility factors in the relations of mobile dating and its outcomes. ...
... Exposure to femmephobic language on profiles on MDAs for MSM, related positively to the desire to meet offline for sex, friendship, relationship, and the perception of attractiveness, intelligence, sexual confidence, dateability of the profile owner, for those with stronger anti-effeminacy attitudes. Self-perceived masculinity and masculinity consciousness were also examined as moderators in the aforementioned associations, but turned out to be insignificant (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Second, using MDAs for finding a relationship, related to more offline meetings with matches for those who had low sexual experience. ...
Mobile dating applications (MDAs) have become commonly used tools to seek out dating and sexual partners online. The current review aimed to systematically synthesize empirical findings in 72 quantitative studies on mobile dating, published in ISI-ranked journals between 2014 and 2020. This review focused on summarizing different approaches toward mobile dating, identity features of quantitative research on mobile dating, and hypothesized antecedents and outcomes of mobile dating. Our findings showed, first, that the literature diverges in how mobile dating is operationalized. Second, quantitative research on mobile dating predominantly consists of cross-sectional studies that draw on theoretical insights from multiple disciplines. Third, a variety of traits and sociodemographics were associated with MDA use. In particular, using MDAs for (1) relational goals related to being male, non-heterosexual, higher levels of sociosexuality, sensation seeking, extraversion, and holding more positive peer norms about using MDAs for relational goals; (2) intrapersonal goals related to being female and having more socially impairing traits; and (3) entertainment goals related to having higher levels of sociosexuality, sensation seeking, and antisocial traits. Outcomes significantly associated with general use of MDAs were scoring higher on sexual permissiveness and on engaging in casual (unprotected) sexual intercourse, as well as having higher risk at nonconsensual sex. MDA use was also connected with increased psychological distress and body dissatisfaction. Shortcomings of the existing research approaches and measures are discussed and six methodological and theoretical recommendations for future research are provided.
... Isto sugere que níveis maiores de antiafeminação podem estar relacionados com maior expectativa de masculinidade do parceiro. Além disso, os respondentes com níveis baixos de antiefeminação eram significativamente menos propensos a querer conhecer para amizade homens com perfis que usavam linguagem que discriminava afeminados (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Em um estudo longitudinal de oito anos, uma maior abertura da orientação sexual esteve ligada a uma redução gradual da percepção da discriminação e da rejeição, bem como ao desenvolvimento de uma maior resiliência para internalização de estigma, principalmente para gays afeminados. ...
... Particularmente, em homens gays e bissexuais, a expressão de gênero (e.g. masculinidade, feminilidade) repercute em uma maior ou menor exclusão e violência, sendo um fator relevante para a experiência de estresse entre homossexuais e bissexuais (Skidmore, Linsenmeier, & Bailey, 2006), acesso a um emprego (Moura et al., 2017;Souza & Pereira, 2013) ou sucesso em aplicativos de relacionamento (Braga, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Isto também ajuda a explicar o porquê de 280 indivíduos se identificarem como afeminados e 508 desejarem ser menos afeminados. ...
... A antiafeminação também se relacionou positivamente com a importância dada à masculinidade do parceiro, o que coloca em xeque a crença de que a rejeição amorosa/sexual a afeminados, em muitos casos, é uma questão exclusivamente de "gosto pessoal" (Almeida, 2011;Braga, 2015;Rezende & Cotta, 2015;Zago & Seffner, 2008). Além disso, fortalece as evidências acerca da influência da afeminação nas escolhas amorosas dos homens gays e bissexuais (Almeida, 2011;Braga, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
Homens gays e bissexuais afeminados são alvo de dupla estigmatização por conta da antiafeminação e da homofobia da sociedade mesmo entre a comunidade não-heterossexual. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar, de forma exploratória, a estrutura relacional da antiafeminação por meio de uma análise de rede. Realizou-se um levantamento on-line com 1.123 homens não-heterossexuais brasileiros, maiores de 18 anos e com média de idade de 26,85 anos (DP = 8,51). O modelo relacional da antiafeminação produzido neste estudo encontrou associações com a homofobia internalizada (rp = 0,32) e a predileção por parceiros mais másculos (rp = 0,45). Além disso, foi possível identificar relação indireta com abertura da orientação sexual, que ocorre por meio da homofobia internalizada. Este estudo, além de ser o primeiro a desenvolver uma análise de rede sobre a antiafeminação, contribui para o entendimento do fenômeno no contexto brasileiro, fornecendo perspectivas para o aprofundamento de pesquisas no campo.
... It is no secret that within gay men's communities -particularly in hookup apps -there are hierarchies based on sexual desire that idealize particular bodies (e.g., white, masculinized, able-bodied, fit ;Conte 2018;Miller & Behm-Morawitz 2016). Consequently, fat and feminine gay men experience fatphobia and femmephobia within gay online spaces, where muscularity and hegemonic masculinities are highly privileged (Conte 2018;Davies, Souleymanov and Brennan 2019). ...
... It is common for both fat and feminine men to be othered online through sexual economies that encourage individuals to conceal visible signifiers of fatness and femininity in profile images (Robinson 2016;Whitesel 2010). Users invest in marketizing their embodied selves for personal gain and individual pleasure through an emphasis on normative masculinity (Tziallas 2015) constituted through femmephobia (García-Gómez 2020; Miller and Behm-Morawitz 2016). By being ignored and/or othered, users who are unable to embody the demands of normative hierarchies within Grindr can experience feelings of shame and personal failure (Conte 2018;Robinson 2016). ...
... Despite there being a plethora of literature on gay men, apps, and masculinities (e.g. Miller and Behm-Morawitz 2016), there is still little research on gay men, apps, and femininities, in particular through a femme theoretical lens (see Davies 2020; García-Gómez 2020). Recent work on gay men's communities has only begun to apply femme theory and analyses of femmephobia to theorizing the sociocultural devaluation of femininity in gay men's communities. ...
Fatphobia and femmephobia are highly interconnected structures of oppression that heavily impact the romantic and sexual lives of gay fat and femme men. Researchers have yet to place critical femininities studies-specifically femme theory-and fat studies together to analyze the regulation of fatness and femininity in gay socio-sexual applications (GSSAs). As such, this article is a call for future empirical research to use these two analytics-femme theory and fat studies-in tandem to deconstruct systems of homonormativity within GSSAs. Specifically, this article draws explicitly from femme theory and fat studies work on shame and failure, placing both in conversation with current work on gay men and GSSAs, to illuminate how these feelings can be motivating forces for political activism. Such feelings of gay fat femme shame and failure can disrupt hierarchies that exist within GSSAs by challenging the boundaries of identity that marginalize gay fat femme men while also focusing on fat and femme agency.
... The discourse of authenticity is much employed within the context of Western liberal gender and sexual identities and activism (Bialystok, 2013(Bialystok, , 2017. The situation of effeminate and femme gay men, authenticity, and personal identity is particularly ripe for analysis due to the high rates of discrimination effeminate and femme gay men experience, both within their respective sexual communities and society at large (Bergling, 2002(Bergling, , 2006Eguchi, 2011;Miller, 2015Miller, , 2018Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Sánchez, Greenberg, Liu, & Vilain, 2009;Taywaditep, 2002). Hale and Ojeda (2018) write, "This dual desire in popular gay male discourse to be masculine and to have masc credentials has the effect of reproducing a widespread denigration of femininity in other gay men, and has at its centre a fundamental hostility to, disinterest in, and denigration of, women" (p. 7). ...
... I note how many trans individuals actively resist the medicalization and alteration of their bodies by medical regimes. 8 I make this statement considering the research that suggests how gay men are more gender nonconforming during childhood, while striving to ascertain masculine norms during adolescence and adulthood (see Taywaditep 2002), as well as the research that discusses hyper-masculine norms and gendered surveillance being entrenched in gay spaces, particularly gay online applications (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). 9 I would also like to note that I am not equating the experience of trans individuals with cisgender effeminate gay men. ...
... Challenging an individual's respective gender or sex identity can carry great psychological impacts, as can existing in a climate in which one's sense of gendered self cannot be expressed or authenticated. The current gendered conditions of mainstream gay men's communities require further academic investigation to bring a greater awareness to the structures of misogyny and femmephobia that denigrate and pathologize expressions of femininity within men (Bergling, 2002;Eguchi, 2011;Miller, 2015Miller, , 2018Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Sánchez, Greenberg, Liu & Vilain, 2009). The perseverance of effeminate gay men despite sociocultural conditions that devalue their gendered selves and identities brings forward further conversations regarding the ethics of authenticity and personal identity, as well as the necessity of supporting the development of gender identity and expression in young boys and adolescents. ...
Authenticity is a commonly heralded ideal in Western modernist discourses, with a large amount of literature describing individuals' personal journeys towards self-fulfillment (Bialystok, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017; Taylor, 1991; Varga, 2014). This paper examines Lauren Bialystok's (2013) conception of authenticity in sex/gender identity and proposes that effeminate or 'femme' gay men make a strong case for fitting within such a conception of authenticity. Effeminate gay men experience significant in-group discrimination within gay men's communities, with many gay men "defeminizing" (Taywaditep, 2002) themselves upon entering adulthood and mainstream gay communities. Through this exploration of Bialystok's (2013) model for authenticity in sex/gender identity and the identity-based challenges effeminate or femme gay men experience, this paper describes why effeminate gay men fit Bialystok's model, and the ethical dilemmas of theorizing authenticity in personal identity (Bialystok, 2009, 2011). Providing supportive and positive early environments in school while specifically addressing gender-based discrimination in childhood provides more opportunities for positive identity development and the potential of fulfilling self-authenticity within gender identity for femme gay men.
... Caso se queira, de algum modo, posicionar os homens gays em uma representação gráfica, os gays afeminados ocupariam a parte inferior e menos nobre da estrutura. Justamente porque a afeminação se tornou um elemento de desigualdade entre homens gays, que pode repercutir em diversas áreas da vida do sujeito (Brooks, Reysen, & Shaw, 2017;Ferreira & Ferreira, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Reis, 2012). Talvez o exemplo mais acessível e com maior quantidade de trabalhos publicados no Brasil seja referente às relações amorosas e aplicativos de encontros amorosos. ...
... Em outras palavras, o gay afeminado tenciona mais abertamente as normas de gênero e, desse modo, o furor heteronormativo lhe volta como reação de forma mais imediata. Isso não quer dizer que os homens gays que não "aparentarem ser gays" estarão livres das investidas homofóbicas, porém, quando não se é identificado como autor de uma transgressão social o furor condenatório tende a retardar (Miller, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Salvati, Pistella, Ioverno, Giacomantonio, & Baiocco, 2017;Sánchez & Vilain, 2012;Taywaditep, 2002). ...
... Para responder, deve-se escolher em uma escala tipo likert de sete pontos, que vai de "discordo fortemente" a "concordo fortemente", o quanto se concorda com as frases. Vários estudos com impacto considerável em língua inglesa têm utilizado essa escala (Brooks et al., 2017;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Murgo, Huynh, Lee &, Chrisler, 2017;Sánchez & Vilain, 2012) ...
O presente estudo propõe-se a adaptar a Escala de Atitudes Negativas sobre Afeminação (ANA) para o contexto brasileiro. Para tanto, foi realizado um criterioso processo de adaptação e um survey (n = 1123) com homens gay, bissexuais e homens que fazem sexo com homens, maiores de 18 anos e idade média de 26,85 anos (DP = 8,51). A Análise Fatorial Exploratória aplicada sugeriu um novo modelo com menos itens (12) e com dois fatores, Rejeição Pública e Rejeição Íntima, juntos explicam 67,50% da variância, diferindo do modelo original (unifatorial e com 17 itens). Quanto à consistência interna, o primeiro fator obteve umalfa de Cronbach de 0,918 e o segundo 0,866. Esse novo modelo foi testado em uma Análise Fatorial Confirmatória e apresentou bons índices de ajuste em sua versão final. Os resultados sugerem que a ANA apresenta boa adaptação e adequadas propriedadespsicométricas.
... Brandon Miller's study "Masculine Guys Only: the effects of femmephobic mobile dating application profiles on partner selection for men who have sex with men (MSM)" illustrates how femmephobic comments alter MSM's perceptions. The study was conducted by looking at how MSM score dating profiles that are the same, with the only difference is the presence of femmephobic comments in their bio (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). The factors of consideration were physical attractiveness, intelligence, sexual confidence, masculinity, and dateability (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
... The study was conducted by looking at how MSM score dating profiles that are the same, with the only difference is the presence of femmephobic comments in their bio (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). The factors of consideration were physical attractiveness, intelligence, sexual confidence, masculinity, and dateability (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). The accounts that contained a femmephobic comments in their bio descriptions were perceived differently across the variables when compared to profiles without femmephobic profiles (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
... The factors of consideration were physical attractiveness, intelligence, sexual confidence, masculinity, and dateability (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). The accounts that contained a femmephobic comments in their bio descriptions were perceived differently across the variables when compared to profiles without femmephobic profiles (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). However, the characteristic of physical attractiveness was not affected by the profile description which was hinted to suggest that "much of the social capital seems to be placed on appearance and materiality" (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
... Hegemonic masculinity is not innate; it is something afforded to individuals socialized as male, and something from which men can either distance themselves or move toward. The privileging of masculinity and devaluing of femininity, both in relation to the self and in potential partners, has garnered particular attention from scholars studying MSM populations (e.g., Bailey, Kim, Hills, & Linsenmeier, 1997;Chesebro, 2001;Miller, 2015a;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Rodriguez, Huemmer, & Blumell, 2016). ...
... The term dates back to at least 1980 (e.g., Dowsett, 1980) and has been popularized largely by HIV scholarship (e.g., Glick, Muzyka, Salkin, & Lurie, 1994). Nonetheless, many men who participate in research studies on same-sex behaviors do, indeed, identify as gay, and in past research, samples have often been made up overwhelmingly of self-identified gay and bisexual men (e.g., Goedel, Halkitis, Greene, Hickson, & Duncan, 2016;Macapagal, Coventry, Puckett, Phillips, & Mustanski, 2016;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Therefore, the term "gay" is used throughout this review of literature when necessary. ...
... A long line of research has examined sexual minority males' dating/sex-seeking profiles on both the Internet and in traditional offline formats. Among other topics, scholars have examined the use of racialized (e.g., Callander et al., 2012;Riggs, 2013) and masculinity (e.g., Rodriguez et al., 2016) language in MSM's profiles, partner preferences in online personal ads or app profiles (e.g., Gudelunas, 2005;Miller, 2015a;Rodriguez et al., 2016), patterns of MSM-specific mobile dating app usage (e.g., Grosskopf, LeVasseur, & Glaser, 2014;Liau, Millett, & Marks, 2006;Miller, 2015b), the effects of femmephobic profile text (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Rodriguez et al., 2016), cosituation and impression formation (Blackwell, Birnholtz, & Abbott, 2015), the online sexual behaviors of closeted or straight-identified men (Lemke & Weber, 2017;Reynolds, 2015), and risky behaviors associated with online sex-seeking in MSM populations (e.g., Bolding, Davis, Hart, Sherr, & Elford, 2005;Hirschfield, Remien, Humberstone, Walavalkar, & Chiasson, 2004). When it comes to social networking, MSM are active users of both browser-based and app-based networks. ...
Scholars have noted that men who have sex with men (MSM) place value upon hegemonic masculinity, both in reference to the self as well as potential partners. The current study examined masculinity language, body language, and sports/working out language in MSM-specific mobile dating app profiles. Using selective self-presentation and self-categorization theory as a background, the current work uncovered a clear privileging of masculinity and a focus on the male body in participants' profile language directed at the self and others. Men who used body language in their profiles were more likely to be older, single, and North American, while men who used sports/ working out language were more likely to be college graduates from North America. Finally, the results indicated a connection between language regarding masculinity, the body, and sports/working out.
... Notably, cultivation theory has also been applied beyond the context of television viewing. For example, Miller and Behm-Morawitz (2016) found that the use of mobile dating apps is associated with self-perceived masculinity, internalized homonegativity and body dissatisfaction among homosexual men. A possible underlying reason is that the enduring immersion in the online environment, which is full of promasculinity and promuscularity, may influence users' attitudes about men's masculinity and femininity (Miller and Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
... For example, Miller and Behm-Morawitz (2016) found that the use of mobile dating apps is associated with self-perceived masculinity, internalized homonegativity and body dissatisfaction among homosexual men. A possible underlying reason is that the enduring immersion in the online environment, which is full of promasculinity and promuscularity, may influence users' attitudes about men's masculinity and femininity (Miller and Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
Sexual content is prevalent across a wide range of media programs. In this chapter, we introduce the types, topics, and prevalence of sexuality-related content in a variety of media genres/platforms, then review the literature on the relationship between adolescents’ engagement in media sexual content and their sexual attitudes and behaviors. Note that a line of research shows a positive relationship between the use of sexual media and risky sexual behaviors, which calls for collective efforts from parents, educators, researchers, and adolescents themselves to promote healthy sexual practices. Importantly, we also reviewed research that identified opportunities to leverage the power of media to encourage healthy sexual behaviors among adolescents.
... For example, gay Asian men have been identified as an undesirable group within the LGBTQ+ community because they are positioned as "feminine" (Eguchi, 2011). Alternatively, femmephobia has been shown to be prevalent on mobile dating apps, though the overt communication of femmephobia on these sites has been shown to illicit less interest from other users (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). McDermott et al. (2018) note that the majority of research examining LGBTQ+ individuals' negative feelings has been both from a socio-psychological perspective and overwhelmingly quantitative in nature. ...
... Exploring the "kernel of truth" behind the stereotype of gay men and effeminate behavior, Taywaditep showed that "for many gay men, anti-effeminacy attitudes may be a psychological consequence of defeminization which, aside from the benefits such as enhanced self-esteem and social acceptance, may lead to heightened salience of masculinity" (Taywaditep, 2002, p. 18). This stigmatization of feminine behavior may occur through overt communication or through more covert practices, such as dating preferences presented on dating application profiles (e.g., Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
Social stigma can have negative mental and physical health repercussions for those who experience it. The LGBTQ+ community is one group demonstrative of this finding. Much of the research on stigmatization and the LGBTQ+ community focuses on stigmatization toward this group from broader society. Social psychology research has demonstrated the prevalence of in-group stigmatization within the community. For this study, 22 participants who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community were interviewed. Findings illustrate both enacted and perceived stigmatization that participants experience within the community related to behavioral, bisexual, and, Trans stigmatization, and demonstrate remaining work regarding how communities communicate about themselves, among their members, and the complex relationships that constitute them.
... Along with SNS, online dating platforms for LGB users have become spaces of bias and discrimination (Callander, Holt, & Newman, 2016;Conner, 2019;Hutson, Taft, Barocas, & Levy, 2018;Miller, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Shield, 2018). It is argued that the dating application (apps) Grindr reinforces body typing, ageism, racism, and HIV stigma (Conner, 2019) while embracing anti-effeminate language fueled by traditional masculinity that dominates the app (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
... Along with SNS, online dating platforms for LGB users have become spaces of bias and discrimination (Callander, Holt, & Newman, 2016;Conner, 2019;Hutson, Taft, Barocas, & Levy, 2018;Miller, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Shield, 2018). It is argued that the dating application (apps) Grindr reinforces body typing, ageism, racism, and HIV stigma (Conner, 2019) while embracing anti-effeminate language fueled by traditional masculinity that dominates the app (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Acknowledging the magnitude of this relatively recent development, scholars have called on the social computing community "to engage more deeply with issues of bias, discrimination, and exclusion in the study and design of intimate platforms" (Hutson et al., 2018, p. 1). ...
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals experience multiple forms of discrimination both offline and online. Most studies have thus far focused on the association between a few forms of offline discrimination and mental distress in this population. Using data collected from 1,735 Israeli LGB individuals, this study examined the associations between 18 forms of discrimination and mental distress across three distinct spaces-offline, on Facebook, and on dating platforms. Furthermore, LGBTQ Facebook use (defined as engagement with LGBTQ individuals, groups and content on Facebook) was examined as a moderator of the association between multiple forms of discrimination and mental distress. Hierarchical multiple regressions and slope analyses established positive associations between multiple forms of discrimination and mental distress in all three spaces. The moderating effect of LGBTQ Facebook use on this association was significant only for gay men. Results also indicated significant differences in number of forms of discrimination faced by LGB individuals from different demographic backgrounds. Additionally, the associations between each form of discrimination and mental distress were examined across the three spaces, with somewhat different results in each space. Overall, these findings emphasize social media's potential to buffer against the deleterious effect of discrimination on LGB people's mental health.
... This is because sexual discrimination may arise in the forms of stigmatizing language used in a profile, interpersonal communication within the platform, and in many cases, may occur without being detected by the consumer (Bhambhani, Flynn, Kellum, & Wilson, 2020;Callander et al., 2012;Callander, Holt, & Newman, 2016;Hutson, Taft, Barocas, & Levy, 2018;Rosengren et al., 2019). Despite these methodological challenges, prior studies have suggested that sexual discrimination attributed to physical appearance in web-based and offline spaces is common in MSM communities (Choi, Paul, Ayala, Boylan, & Gregorich, 2013;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Muñoz-Laboy & Severson, 2018;Phua & Kaufman, 2003;Teunis, 2007). In addition to measuring the prevalence or frequency of discrimination, researchers must attend to the various and intersectional attributions in which sexual discrimination occurs. ...
... Similarly, YMSM categorized as overweight/obese based on BMI scores reported more weight-based discrimination compared to men with under/normal weight BMIs. Together, these findings indicate that participants who identified membership with historically marginalized groups reported a disproportionate prevalence of sexual discrimination compared to historically nonmarginalized groups (Choi et al., 2013;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Muñoz-Laboy & Severson, 2018;Phua & Kaufman, 2003;Teunis, 2007). ...
... With the growing popularity of online spaces for gay men, social service providers and public health workers have begun looking to gay men's online spaces as spheres for online sexual health outreach (Bolding, Davis, Sherr, Hart, & Elford, 2004;Brennan et al., 2015Brennan et al., , 2018Mowlabocus, Harbottle, Tooke, Haslop, & Dasgupta, 2015;Mowlabocus, Haslop, & Dasgupta, 2016;Souleymanov, Brennan, George, Utama, & Ceranto, 2018). While much research has noted the potential positive benefits of online sexual health outreach for gay men (Brennan et al., 2015, similar dividing logics of in-group discrimination which plague Western gay communities operate online (Miller, 2015;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Raj, 2011;Riggs, 2017;Robinson, 2015), and similarly affect sexual health outreach for gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) men (Catungal, 2014;Giwa & Greensmith, 2012). Drawing from Bourdieu (1986), Mowlabocus et al. (2015) note how social and cultural capital are crucial for online outreach workers to position themselves in relation to community members and to be considered as a part of the "community". ...
... This framing invisibilizes men who use such applications for romantic and affective connections and continues the pathologization of those who use such applications for romantic relationships due to structures of hetero-and homonormativity and the glorification of hegemonic masculinities in gay men's communities (Aitken, 2017). By stating that connecting "doesn't mean that you meet and you have coffee", this outreach worker continues a legacy of glorifying hegemonic masculinities and erasing men within gay men's communities who are deemed more emotional, less sexually radical, and thus feminized (Davies, 2017;Elder, Morrow, & Brooks, 2015;Hale & Ojeda, 2018;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Sánchez, Greenberg, Liu, & Vilain, 2009;Sánchez & Vilain, 2012). ...
This paper examines how online outreach workers within AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) discursively imagine notions of “gay community” and the tensions between inequities in varying conceptions of “community” that operate in providers’ and managers’ sexual health online outreach. Through a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) of interview data from a community-based research project examining sexual health outreach among gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) men, we provide an analysis that problematizes notions of a unitary “gay community” while illustrating how certain privileged subjects are deemed ideal for inclusion and representation within both online and ASOcommunities. Moreover, we interrogate how online medical health regimes constitute the ideal neoliberal gay male subject who self-responsibilizes and individualizes his sexual health while erasing inequities relating to social location and intersecting identities. Our analysis highlights how homonormative politics infiltrates GBQ sexual health programming and the ways in which understandings of the “self” and gay subjectivities are constituted through biopolitical apparatuses and online sexual health surveillance. We argue that it is necessary to move online sexual health outreach beyond specifically focusing on the needs of white GBQ men bybringing a greater awareness to the continual exclusions which operate within GBQ “communities”.
... Sex and gender stereotypes are based on traditional gender roles in heterosexual relationships (Eagly, 1987), but also affect the sexual and intimate relationships of sexual minorities. Although some studies have provided evidence that LGBTQ people reject dominant gendered dating practices (Lamont, 2017), others have found that lesbian women prefer partners who have traditionally feminine characteristics while gay men prefer partners who are traditionally masculine (Bailey, Kim, Hills, & Linsenmeier, 1997;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Further, there are harmful consequences from not conforming to sex and gender stereotypes. ...
... As such, most participants expressed being attracted to partners who conformed to gender norms. Our participants were generally attracted by women who displayed feminine characteristics and men who exhibited masculine ones, which has been found to be true in studies with men and women of various sexual identities (Bailey et al., 1997;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Schudson et al., 2017). Many of our participants also repudiated men with a feminine self-presentation, which was also found in other studies with gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (Bianchi et al., 2010;Schnarrs et al., 2012;Silva, 2017). ...
Traditional stereotypes about sex and gender present men as assertive, aggressive, sexually adventurous, and emotionally restrained, and women as docile, passive, sexually modest, and emotionally sensitive. Past research has shown that such stereotypes impose constraints on heterosexual relationships that decrease sexual satisfaction for men and women. This study examined the impact of traditional sex and gender stereotypes on a sample of 203 behaviorally bisexual men who were in a heterosexual relationship with a woman to whom they did not disclose their same-sex behaviors. Participants’ descriptions of their partners reified several traditional stereotypes regarding men’s and women’s sexual dispositions (e.g., men are more sexually adventurous than women), role during sex (e.g., men should be dominant and women submissive), relationship desires (i.e., women prefer long-term intimate relationships and men prefer unattached sexual gratification), and emotional involvement (e.g., women are emotionally sensitive and men emotionally detached). These stereotypes shaped participants’ sexual relations with women and men, which were widely conceived as acts of domination–submission. Perceiving women as more skilled for emotional intimacy and affection, most participants would only develop intimate relationships with them; however, some participants also perceived women as too emotionally sensitive and described men as better companions. Many participants were dissatisfied with these gender norms although they conformed to them, further supporting that traditional sex and gender stereotypes impose constraints on relationships that can limit authentic sexual expression and intimate satisfaction.
... A antiafeminação em homens gays e bissexuais pode estar relacionada a maiores índices de homofobia internalizada . Além disso, os homens considerados afeminados são, de forma significativa, mais rejeitados por outros homens para encontros sexuais e/ou românticos, além de terem maiores chances de sofrer violências (Miller, & Behm-Morawitz, 2016; Rios, Paiva, & Brignol, 2019). Esses resultados podem sugerir, além de atitudes de antiafeminação por parte de homens não-heterossexuais, efeitos negativos sobre a autoestima dos homens que se consideram afeminados, como descrito nesta amostra, pois, apresentam-se como menos desejados e enfrentam mais discriminação e preconceito até em ambientes de trabalho (Ozturk, Rumens, & Tatli 2020), uma vez que comportamentos expressados por homens que possam ser considerados femininos não são, de modo geral, aceitos (Guerra, Scarpati, Duarte, Silva, & Motta, 2014). ...
Resumo: O modelo de masculinidade hegemônica gera hierarquias entre homens e mulheres e entre os próprios homens, através de variáveis como afeminação e orientação sexual não-heterossexual, por exemplo. Fatores comportamentais masculinos têm se relacionado a vulnerabilidades de saúde e as desigualdades sociais. Portanto, este estudo objetiva investigar as relações entre autoestima, afeminação, antiafeminação e atitudes associadas com comportamentos sexu-ais de risco. Foi realizado um survey com 234 homens, com média de idade de 21, 49 anos (DP = 4,46), que responderam a um questionário presencial sobre autoestima, masculinidade e comportamentos sexuais. Os resultados indicaram níveis significativamente menores de autoestima e maiores de comportamentos sexuais de risco em não-heterossexuais com relação a heterossexuais. Entretanto, no que concerne às atitudes acerca do uso inconsistente de preservativo, os heterossexuais apresentam maiores níveis. O grupo que ainda não havia praticado relações sexuais apresentou, signifi-cativamente, maior antiafeminação. No entanto, esses grupos não diferiram nas atitudes frente ao uso inconsistente de preservativo e na autoestima. O grupo dos que não se consideram afeminados apresentam maiores níveis de autoestima e de antiafeminação se comparado aos seus pares autoconsiderados afeminados. Os resultados permitem discutir dife-renças e desigualdades entre homens a partir do comportamento sexual e da identidade masculina. Palavras-chave: masculinidade; autoestima; comportamento sexual; preservativo. Abstract: The hegemonic masculinity model generates hierarchies between men and women and between men themselves , through variables such as femininity and non-heterosexual sexual orientation, for example. Male behavioral factors have been linked to health vulnerabilities and social inequalities. Therefore, this study aims investigating the relationships between self-esteem, effeminacy, anti-effeminacy and attitudes associated with risky sexual behaviors. For this, a survey was carried out with 234 men, with an average age of 21.49 years (SD = 4.46), who answered a face-to-face questionnaire about self-esteem, masculinity and sexual behaviors. The results indicated significantly lower levels of self-esteem and higher risky sexual behaviors in non-heterosexuals in relation to heterosexuals. However, regarding to attitudes about inconsistent condom use, heterosexuals have higher levels. The group who had not yet practiced sexual intercourse had significantly greater anti-effeminacy. However, these groups did not differ in attitudes towards inconsistent condom use and self-esteem. The group who do not consider themselves effeminate have higher levels of self-esteem and anti-ef-feminacy compared to their self-effeminate peers. The results allow discussing differences and inequalities between men based on sexual behavior and male identity.
... O homem afeminado é lido socialmente como homossexual, a afeminação é o primeiro (e, muitas vezes, o principal) indicador de homossexualidade. Há vários efeitos provenientes disso: discriminação de homens afeminados em diferentes contextos (Braga, 2015); suposição da homossexualidade e imposição da abertura da orientação sexual (expulsar do "armário") (Cornejo, 2015;Ferreira & Ferreira, 2015); patrulha das expressões de gênero como forma de manutenção da norma masculina (Junqueira, 2015;Takara, 2017) Brooks et al., 2017;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Murgo et al., 2017;Pachankis et al., 2018;Sánchez & Vilain, 2012) A Tabela 2 mostra os índices obtidos. Todos foram considerados satisfatórios, segundo os parâmetros adotados (Brown, 2006;Schreiber et al., 2006;Wheaton et al, 1977), estando o limite superior do RMSEA limítrofe ao recomendado. ...
O presente estudo objetivou desenvolver, a partir da Escala de Atitudes Negativas sobre Afeminação (ANA), uma escala para mensurar atitudes negativas sobre afeminação destinada a homens heterossexuais e produzir evidências de validade. A escala foi batizada de Escala de Atitudes Negativas sobre Afeminação para Heterossexuais (ANAH). Foram realizados criteriosos processos de adaptação para o público-alvo e realizado um levantamento com 414 homens heterossexuais, maiores de 18 anos com média de idade 26,06 anos (DP = 7,36). A partir de uma Análise Fatorial Exploratória e uma Confirmatória, constatou-se que os itens possuíam cargas fatoriais adequadas, que o fator retido apresentava consistência interna (α= 0,939) e que os índices de ajuste produzidos eram satisfatórios. Os resultados sugerem que a ANAH é adequada para utilização no Brasil.
... For instance, men with facial hair from the lower jaw connecting to the mustache and some hair around the pectoral area are regarded as sexually attractive by women (Dixson & Rantala, 2016). For men who have sex with men, height and muscularity are also desirable attributes which some of them expect from their partner (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). As a result, apart from the empowered penis, hospitals may need to consider devising the strategy which features other physical attributes and their benefits to the social circles beyond the scope of heterosexuality. ...
This study investigates the communication strategies which Thai cosmetic hospitals pursue to market their services to international male clients. The investigation is predicated upon Taylor’s six-segment message strategy model. Methodologically, corpus-assisted discourse analysis is employed, by qualitatively examining texts containing statistically significant keywords. The corpus consists of the English version webpages belonging to 20 Thai hospitals with a total number of 73,168 words. Findings indicate that, in the absence of the routine strategy, the ego, social, sensory, acute needs, and ration strategies are implemented. Recommendations on how to improve communication strategies within the healthcare sector are offered.
... The feminiphobic language used has an impact on the way users perceive each other, which develops into segregation and prejudice. This impact then continues to manifest and reproduce itself in offline spaces as well (Miller and Behm-Morawitz 2016). ...
Grindr es una aplicación de citas orientada al público no heterosexual masculino que funciona por geolocalización. A través de un perfil, los usuarios pueden interactuar, buscar pareja, conocer gente nueva, crear redes de contacto y, sobre todo, concretar encuentros sexuales casuales. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir las motivaciones, gratificaciones e interacciones que se generan entre los distintos usuarios de Grindr en Lima, Perú. La metodología fue mixta, a partir de la aplicación de un cuestionario a 110 participantes y 8 entrevistas en profundidad. Los resultados describen consecuencias negativas en el uso de esta aplicación, como la discriminación y la cosificación entre los usuarios, el lenguaje propio y las conductas autogeneradas en la aplicación, los estereotipos presentes y tipos de masculinidades tóxicas, las cuales condenan lo femenino y enaltecen lo masculino.
... In another three studies on MSM's self-presentations in dating app profiles, Miller is more confident to contextualize the findings, with most of the participants from the United States and Canada (Miller, 2018(Miller, , 2019Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). Miller and Behm-Morawitz (2016) conducted an online experiment to test how MSM respond to anti-effeminate, femmephobic language use in dating app profiles. ...
Dating apps have become one of the most prominent and contentious topics in the realm of intimacy among the wider public and academia. Media and communication researchers have examined their uptake across cultural contexts, seeking to address the dynamics between dating apps and social processes. With the knowledge accumulated in this research field, we assemble a comprehensive account of interactions through dating apps. We categorize existing findings about dating apps into three sections: dating apps and their reconfiguration, dating practices and their remediation, and lastly social arrangements and their reformation. These sections together present dating apps as a technological consequence of various social forces that mediate users’ daily practices and social relationships.
... Une des justifications de ces pratiques à risque se trouve dans l'article de Choi et al., (2013), qui introduira les variables de « homophobie internalisée », « stigmate » et « expérience d'événements où ils ont été victimes de préjugés », de même que la conception de la masculinité de chacun peut influencer dans les risques pris pendant les rapports sexuels (Miller & Behm-morawitz, 2016; Rodriguez et al., 2016). Ces concepts seront présentés dans le cadre théorique. ...
La sexualité comme la santé sexuelle font partie des questions socialement vives. À l’ère des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC), les comportements sexuels ont évolué et de nouveaux risques sont apparus. Les applications de rencontres sont le moyen par lequel la population homosexuelle masculine communique le plus souvent. Cependant, elles nous questionnent sur l’exposition à des pratiques à risque, ainsi qu’à des problèmes de santé physique et mentale. Les professionnels de l’Éducation sont confrontés, avec les parents, à la mise en oeuvre d’interventions et de prévention en éducation à la sexualité. Cependant, il existe des disparités importantes sur les contenus abordés ainsi que sur l’intégration des identités homosexuelles et sur les TIC.À partir d’une méthodologie qualitative, l’étude porte sur l’analyse d’entretiens auprès d’une population de dix-neuf professionnels de l’Éducation Nationale en charge de l’éducation à la sexualité en milieu scolaire. Nous avons constaté que ces « acteurs-experts » présentent une hétérogénéité importante dans leurs conceptions individuelles, dans leur système de représentations sociales et dans leurs pratiques sur la notion d’ « homosexuel », et la population des « hommes ayant rapports avec d’autres hommes ». L’hétéronormativité semble la règle. La gestion de risques liés aux TIC paraît, de plus, très peu prise en compte et encore moins en direction des jeunes homosexuels.Cette hétérogénéité obère singulièrement le développement des actions de prévention et des dispositifs pédagogiques et nuit à leur efficacité. L’inclusion de la population homosexuelle dans les interventions d’éducation à la sexualité dès le plus jeune âge est pourtant une nécessité corroborée par toutes les études scientifiques. Malgré les avancées importantes de ces dernières années, il reste une marge importante de progrès à réaliser.
... Geolocative smartphone phone applications ("apps") are now the most used method for GB2M to meet other men for sex, relationships, socializing, and varying forms of intimacies (McKie et al., 2015;Yeo & Fung, 2018). Apps can offer positive community and identity development (McKie et al., 2015), but at the same time, many users experience forms of in-group discrimination within such spaces (e.g., misogyny, femmephobia, racism, fatphobia, transphobia; see Conte, 2017;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016;Raj, 2011). In Ontario, Canada's most populous province with a range of metropolitan urban centers and remote and rural regions, apps are amongst the most popular means for gay, bisexual, twospirit, queer and other men who have sex with men (GB2M) to meet for sexual encounters (Brennan et al., 2015McKie et al., 2015;. ...
Objectives
The current study examines the experiences of gay, bisexual, two-spirit and other men who have sex with men (GB2M) who use networking applications and their engagements with online sexual health outreach workers disseminating healthcare information through these digital spaces.
Methods
The iCruise study was a longitudinal mixed-methods study across Ontario, Canada which collected data on online sexual health information seeking behaviors.
Results
Results offer insight into differences in information seeking behaviors among diverse groups of queer men.
Conclusions
Implications for the dissemination of health information based on the results of information seeking patterns is discussed as well.
... Like heterosexual men, gay men also distance themselves from more feminine men ( Hunt et al., 2016 ). Both gay men and lesbian women consider masculinity an attractive quality in a partner ( Miller, 2015 ;Taywaditep, 2001), while often overtly shunning femininity (e.g., 'no femmes' on dating profile headlines; Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016 ;Hoskin, 2020 ). Femme-identified sexual minority women oft en have their sexual orientation questioned and face erasure and hostility from within the queer community ( Blair & Hoskin, 2015. ...
The extent to which sexual minority individuals present publicly as masculine, feminine, or both has been associated with their perceptions of threat and safety in public spaces. The current study investigates the role of gender expression in men and women’s experiences of public displays of affection (PDAs) in same-sex relationships. Participants (N = 528) reported their own gender expression as well as that of their partner, perceptions of support for PDAs, PDA-related vigilance, general vigilance and overall PDA frequency. Men in same-sex relationships reported less frequent PDAs and greater PDA-related vigilance than women, while women reported greater overall variability in their gender expression than men. Multiple regression analyses show femininity within the participant (for men) or their partner (for both men and women) was associated with greater general and PDA-related vigilance. These findings align with previous research on femmephobia, in which femininity is described as making individuals feel ‘targeted’ for other forms of oppression (e.g., homophobia, sexism, transphobia; Hoskin, 2019). Although femininity was associated with greater vigilance, the association between masculinity within a same-sex relationship and vigilance was more tenuous, demonstrating evidence of masculinity serving as both a potential target for homophobic violence as well as a source of protection. The dual nature of masculinity was particularly salient among women in same-sex relationships, where masculinity tempered by femininity was associated with greater perceived support for PDAs but for women with partners low in femininity, the more masculine their partner, the greater their reported levels of vigilance.
... In this section, we imagine cripping the normative idea of gay representation as embracing what Michalko (2002) terms, "the difference that disability makes." Ryan's comment about not having "enough self-esteem" to be on Grindr exemplifies his own exclusion from homonormative mainstream gay spaces and sexual economies, such as Grindr, where norms include fit bodies and able-bodiedness (Bonner- Thompson, 2017;Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). However, Ryan's ability to joke about the hierarchies of sexual desire in gay men's communities illustrates a moment of his own cripping. ...
... These sociocultural ideologies reproduced in profiles and conversations, often exclude queer identities and bodies thus creating a double marginalization: the one created by the straight community, and the one coming from inside the queer community (Conte, 2018). Altogether, these experiences can have negative effects on users' well-being, leading some men to experience internalized homophobia and lowered selfesteem (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
Geosocial networking applications (GSN apps) have become important socialization contexts for sexual minority men (SMM). Despite their popularity, there is limited research carried out in Latin American countries and no single previous study done in Ecuador. To fill this gap, this exploratory study described and analyzed the relationships between the sociodemographic characteristics of SMM using GSN apps, their sought and fulfilled expectations, profile shared and sought characteristics, and the evaluation of their experiences as users including their perceptions of support, and discrimination. We used an online recruited sample of 303 participants enrolled between November 2019 and January 2020. Most respondents used Grindr and reported spending up to 3 h per day using apps. Most common sought expectations were getting distracted, meeting new friends, and meeting people for sexual encounters. The least met expectation was meeting someone to build a romantic relationship with. When asked about their profiles, participants reported sharing mainly their age, photographs, and sexual role. Participants also prioritized these characteristics when looking at others' profiles. When asked about their experiences, most reported having been discriminated against, weight being the main reason for it. Some participants also indicated having received emotional support from other users. Correlation analyses indicated significant but weak relationships among the variables. Results indicated a positive correlation between time as an active GSN app user and higher experiences of discrimination. Likewise, higher number of used apps related positively with levels of received support. These results provide information that could inform future research in the country and the region regarding GSN apps use among SMM, socialization practices, and modern dating tools.
... Further, having more experience with dating applications, they might also realize that showing visible faces usually leads to good impressions in potential partners (Albury & Byron, 2016;Blackwell et al., 2015). In addition, shorter duration of application use was correlated with higher internalized homonegativity in one study (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016) and higher fear of being identified in the present study. Taken together, it is possible that YMSM who were more vulnerable or stigmatized might use dating applications just to find quick sexual encounters. ...
In this study, we explored the factors relating to face and body visibility in young men who have sex with men (YMSM) from online dating applications. Research on visual self-presentation in online dating applications, especially in YMSM, remains scarce. The sample consisted of 339 young men (ages 18–24 years) who had casual sex with one or more male partners from online dating applications. Participants completed an online survey asking how visible their face and body were on their profile pictures. For body visibility, participants rated the visibility of their upper and lower body separately. We also computed difference scores between face and body visibility to measure face visibility in relation to body visibility (e.g., showing more-visible face compared to body). Predictors included self-rated attractiveness, fear of being identified on the applications, and motives for application use. Participant age and duration of application use were statistically controlled in all analyses. Results showed that higher perceived attractiveness related to higher upper- and lower-body visibility on profile pictures. Greater fear of being identified related to lower face visibility and less-visible face relative to upper- and lower-body visibility. Having a relationship motive was associated with higher face visibility. Older age and longer duration of application use were associated with more-visible face relative to lower body. The findings contribute to the literature on visual self-presentation in online dating applications in young and vulnerable sexual minorities.
... The overarching idea of hegemonic masculinity in heterosexual society can be seen replicated in gay communities often in the practice of gender roles in MSM coupling, where a hierarchy exists based on perceived masculinity and femininity and who tops and bottoms [27]. Correspondingly, effeminacy is associated with those who take the bottom position during anal intercourse and anti-effeminacy is associated with depression and sexual risk behavior like condom-less sex [27][28][29][30]. Last, race-based sexual rejection or fetishization, commonly understood online as sexual racism, often results in smaller dating pools for men of color and increased risk of sexually transmitted disease, including HIV. ...
Despite the promises to end HIV infection rates by 2030, several factors continue to contribute to rising HIV infection rates in sexual minority communities. In fact, the CDC predicts that more than half of gay and bisexual men of color will be infected in the coming years if an intervention is not staged. While much focus has been placed on PrEP access, less has been given to the social environment online, which many men who have sex with men use to find sexual partners. This environment, facilitated by the anonymity afforded to men online, is infected with anti-fat, anti-femme, anti-Black bias aimed at men constructed as less desirable and summed up in the phrase, “No fats, No femmes, and No Blacks or Asians.” Considering this online environment and the fact that past research suggests a relationship between weight and condom use, sex position and condom use and race and condom use, the researchers test all three pairings as well as a fourth hypothesis predicting if men who embody all three variables are also more likely to go condom-less. Findings from the analysis were mixed with men with “ideal body types” (slim, athletic and muscular built) and bottom men being more likely to have bareback on their profiles for sex behavior while men of color were more likely than Whites to have safe sex only. Most strikingly, regardless of body-type, sex position, or HIV status, Whites were more likely to have bareback on their profiles.
... To explain these similar prevalence rates, some authors, such as Chan [27], have proposed a feminist perspective, stating that women use dating apps to gain greater control over their relationships and sexuality, thus countering structural gender inequality. On the other hand, other authors have referred to the perpetuation of traditional masculinity and femmephobic language in these applications [28,53]. ...
The emergence and popularization of dating apps have changed the way people meet and interact with potential romantic and sexual partners. In parallel with the increased use of these applications, a remarkable scientific literature has developed. However, due to the recency of the phenomenon, some gaps in the existing research can be expected. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the empirical research of the psychosocial content published in the last five years (2016-2020) on dating apps. A search was conducted in different databases, and we identified 502 articles in our initial search. After screening titles and abstracts and examining articles in detail, 70 studies were included in the review. The most relevant data (author/s and year, sample size and characteristics, methodology) and their findings were extracted from each study and grouped into four blocks: user dating apps characteristics, usage characteristics, motives for use, and benefits and risks of use. The limitations of the literature consulted are discussed, as well as the practical implications of the results obtained, highlighting the relevance of dating apps, which have become a tool widely used by millions of people around the world.
... Given the importance of hegemonic masculinity in the local heteronormative culture, participants' avoidance of CG acrolectal registers or SMG is not surprising, since on Grindr, these are reported to be affiliated with femininity. Non-heteronormative sexuality research has consistently shown that MSM are biased towards self-descriptions of masculinity over femininity when linguistically presenting themselves to potential partners (Bailey et al. 1997;Miller and Behn-Morawitz 2016). In view of these desires, the participants express, the need to align with similar others results in anti-effeminate attitudes. ...
The current study examines the language Greek Cypriot men report they use on Grindr, a mobile dating application for gay, bisexual, or curious men in relation to masculinity. Given the diglossic context of Cyprus, semi-structured interviews with 19 Greek Cypriot MSM Grindr users were carried out in an attempt to identify their linguistic choices and language attitudes in relation to local hegemonic masculinity. Cypriot Greek and its more basilectal register levels have been identified as the ones preferred on Grindr. Τhey are believed to be both, a tool for identifying and projecting masculinity. Interestingly, Cypriot Greek has also become indexical of a straight-acting homosocial homosexuality while its users, who seem to be governed by anti-effeminate attitudes and pro-masculinity, are pictured to be more heteronormatively masculine than MSM who use other linguistic varieties or register levels.
... According to recent studies, gay men and lesbians are more likely to use more social networking sites and locationbased mobile dating apps (LBMDAs) than heterosexuals (see e.g., Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016), and men who have sex with men (MSM) are particularly enthusiastic Internet users (Grov, Breslow, Newcomb, Rosenberger, & Bauermeister, 2014;Gudelunas, 2012). This is not surprising given that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning individuals are significantly more restricted in meeting sexual and/or romantic partners compared to heterosexuals. ...
Literature on market participation via location‐based mobile dating apps (LBMDAs) typically engages two different perspectives: global and local. While global perspectives anticipate similarities resulting from cultural homogenization (i.e., LBMDA profiles should exhibit uniformity in otherwise diverse locations), local perspectives anticipate differences resulting from cultural heterogenization (i.e., LBMDA profiles should exhibit variability by location). Although existing research recognizes how technology amplifies both homogenization and heterogenization, the direction of its effects remains unclear. Scholars also treat these processes as diametrically opposed, despite the theoretical and empirical limitations of doing so. This review addresses these limitations through an alternative conceptual framework that triangulates existing literature on globalization, technology, and sexualities. Specifically, I use this framework to explore the mix of global/local influences on exchanges on LBMDAs for gay men/men who have sex with men in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. In doing so, I demonstrate one way to more accurately map the extent to which globalization affects sexual culture across countries while accounting for the unique situational conditions of local sexual cultures.
... Diejenigen, die vermeintlich die Vorurteile der Gesellschaft bedienen oder durch das Raster eines Idealbilds fallen, können innerhalb einer stigmatisierten Gruppe Diskriminierung aus eigener Reihe erfahren (vgl. Dannecker/Reiche 1974;Miller/Behm-Morawitz 2016). Auch die Zusammenarbeit verschiedener Teilgruppen homosexueller Menschen, beispielsweise zwischen lesbischen Frauen und schwulen Männer, gestaltet sich nicht immer einfach (vgl. ...
"Klima, das umschließt den einzelnen ganz außen, man kann ihm nicht entrinnen; und es ist aber doch zugleich innen, von stärkstem Einfluß auf das Wohlbefinden. […] Mehr als im Ausdruck öffentliche Meinung liegt in ‚Meinungsklima' die Vorstellung von Häufigkeitsverteilung, das Stärkeverhältnis verschiedener widersprüchlicher Tendenzen, ein Feld, ein Raum ist angedeutet, dabei natürlich volle Öffentlichkeit. Es lohnt sich, in revolutionären Zeiten - einschließlich unserer eigenen - nach Beobachtungen über öffentliche Meinung zu forschen" (Noelle-Neumann 2001, S. 110). (...) Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, das Phänomen des Meinungsklimas über sexuelle Minderheiten genauer auszudifferenzieren und verschiedene theoretische Ansätze darzustellen. Es folgt eine Darlegung der Möglichkeiten, sich dem Phänomen auf empirischem Wege zu nähern. Der Beitrag endet mit einer Diskussion aktueller Herausforderungen in diesem wissenschaftlichen Feld und Möglichkeiten, das Wissen darüber in der therapeutischen und sozialen Arbeit anzuwenden.
... As one participant said: 'If I were a muscle guy I would probably have a shirtless picture so that I would get more messages' (P12). Miller and Behm-Morawitz (2016) assert that profiles that denote ideals of hegemonic masculinity is one of the most dominant ways gay men are excluded within online spaces. The idea that muscularity increases the potential for connection and sexual encounters was shared among many of the participants. ...
Social networking applications (SNAs), such as Grindr, are shaping the identities and sexual practices of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM). This qualitative study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the role of such technologies in social sexual practices, particularly in relation to risk management and prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted blood-borne infections (STBBIs). Poststructuralism and queer theory were used to critically examine the relationship between GBM and SNAs in a sample of people who use Grindr. Sixteen people, identifying as men who used Grindr, were interviewed. Discourse analysis was employed to critically examine the relationship between GBM and SNAs, and three threads of discourse emerged: Language and images, Filtering, and Trust. These threads of discourse provide insight into how the sexual beliefs, values, and practices of GBM are shaped on SNAs.
... Heteronormative masculinity consistently outranks effeminacy during partner selection. Sexual minority men request partners adhering to masculine role norms in print classifieds (Bailey et al. 1997) and online personal advertisements (Downing and Schrimshaw 2014;Miller 2015Miller , 2018Miller and Behm-Morawitz 2016;Rodriguez et al. 2016;Tziallas 2015). A survey of 751 gay men revealed a significant concern to appear more masculine and less effeminate, and the majority favored masculinity in a same-gender partner (Sánchez and Vilain 2012). ...
Men who have sex with men (MSM) increasingly rely on geosocial networking (GSN) smartphone applications (“apps”), such as Grindr and Scruff, to form sexual networks. Using social identity theory as a framework, the present study employed images to offer a quantitative assessment of bias in favor of masculinity (heteronormative, effeminate) and ethnicity (Asian, Black, Latino, White). Participants (N = 395) completed a survey that simulated the use of GSN apps and measured social identity salience. A mixed-subjects ANOVA revealed main effects for masculinity and ethnicity. The interaction was significant, but a small effect size suggests MSM appraise each construct separately during partner selection. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated that White and Latino heteronormative photos were the most preferred prototypes among all participants, regardless of their self-reported ethnicity. Thus, in-demand identities are more masculine and lighter-appearing, with European features, even among Black and Asian MSM. Asian participants scored highest on social identity salience, which was statistically equivalent among other ethnicities. Additionally, race-based stereotypes about sexual position were not associated with social identity salience. That is, Asian MSM were as likely as Black MSM to identify as tops, bottoms, or versatile. Although ethnic minority MSM do not define their sexual positions in terms of stereotypes, their ability to be desirable objects may hinge on the stereotypical expectations of potential partners.
... Moreover, many gay men whose emotional expression is feminized and hysterized, particularly as it pertains to connecting with others sexually or deeming sexual practices as emotional engagements, are constructed as "at risk" in terms of their mental health or as "irrational" subjects ( Davies, 2017 ). As well, men who are able to "straight act, " or conceal their eff eminacy, are seen as performing masculinity (Butler, 1999), and therefore able to avoid the eff ects of outgroup heterosexism and in-group femmephobia (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016 ).Individuals who are deemed at-risk are oft en associated with aggregated groups whose membership conjures the belief of risk to society, such as criminals, the poor, people of colour, and those in the LGBTQ community ( Lupton, 2013 ). Given that risk is oft en unpredictable ( Castel, 1991 ), governments attempt to control for the potential risk(s), which Castel refers to as systematic predetection. ...
This article explores the link between Foucault’s (1991) governmentality theory, specifically as it relates to gay men’s sexual practices and perceptions of HIV risk. Foucault’s (1991) theory of governmentality elucidates the means through which individual behaviours and norms (at a micro level) are governed through the production of disciplinary norms and structures that are instantiated at a broader structural and institutional level (the macro-level). Foucauldian theoretical conversations pertaining to what is meant by conceptions and definitions of HIV/STI risk are furthered through this paper’s theoretical contributions as they relate to gay men. From a Foucauldian perspective, we assess how gay men may alter or monitor their sexual practices through governmental scripts produced at a state level and manifested through micro- and macro-level behavioural and ideological shifts based on dominant socio-sexual norms. A model of the interrelationship between governmentality, scripting, the micro/macro levels, and the situation-specific is presented for future consideration when examining gay men’s sexual practices. Historical oppression and segregation of gay men are considered when exploring these theories from a critical social scientific lens.
... Although Audre Lorde's work on the erotic is not about femme, we use Lorde's notion of the erotic as a theoretical framing to help think through femme beyond a mere aesthetic. 5. Some examples of femmephobia include patterns of femme exclusion and masculine privileging within gay men's communities (Miller & Behm-Morawitz, 2016), lesbian communities (Blair & Hoskin, 2015;Taylor, 2018) and ...
Using femme theory, Foucault, and queer failure as analytical frameworks, the current paper demonstrates the role of feminine failure in resisting and subverting systems of oppression, subsequently providing the minute shifts in power necessary to expand the terms of patriarchal femininity. More specifically, the current paper draws on contemporary modes of art and aesthetics to examine the productive potential of failing to embody patriarchal femininity, positing this failure as a form of femme resistance. By hijacking cultural signifiers of adornment, femme and feminine failure celebrate that which is culturally shamed (queer, fat, disabled, variant, poor, and racially minoritised bodies), expose systems of erasure, challenge binary systems of meaning, and promote feminine growth. Examining each of these themes in turn, the current paper argues that feminine failure challenges the pillars of patriarchal femininity and discursive systems of normativity. To this end, femme as a theoretical framework demonstrates the freedom of failure by exposing the heterogeneous multiplicities of femininity, and offering possibilities that normativity never could. This critical discursive essay contributes to the emergent application of femme as a theoretical framework.
... Both effeminate and anti-effeminate profiles were created with the same profile picture, and reactions were measured. Results indicate that the use of femme-phobic language in dating profiles negatively affects perceptions of potential mates (Miller and Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
... Recent years have witnessed momentum in LGBTQ+ legal rights; while, at the same time a serial killer targeted Toronto's gay village (Hunter 2019) and the Pulse nightclub was hit with one of America's largest massacres since Wounded Knee (Segarra 2017). Concurrently, the LGBTQ+ community's own slogan Blove is love^ (Lu 2016) is undermined by Grindr (a geosocial dating app geared toward queer men) profiles specifying Bno fats, no fags, no femmes ( Miller and Behm-Morawitz 2016). Meanwhile, positive representations of trans women have begun to surface in television shows such as Orange is the New Black (https://www.netflix. ...
Since the 1970s social science researchers have documented the cultural devaluation of femininity and its impact on experiences of discrimination among sexual and gender minorities. Yet, despite the continued and accumulating evidence demonstrating the role of anti-femininity (or femmephobia) in these experiences, little research has specifically examined femininity as an intersecting component of discrimination. Using in-depth interviews with sexual and gender minorities (N = 38), the current study explores the intersecting role of femmephobia in experiences of discrimination. Under the global theme of “femininity as target,” 5 key subthemes were identified: femininity and passing, regulating sexualities, masculine right of access, biological determinism, and the feminine joke. Participants illuminated femmephobia as a regulatory power within LGBTQ+ communities and society at large, as well as how femininity itself operates as a target in their experiences of gender policing and discrimination. By turning attention toward femininity, the current paper provides a clearer understanding of what may possibly lay at the heart of many social issues surrounding discrimination and violence. These findings have implications for the study of social inequalities, as well as strategies for remedying the pervasive devaluation of femininity. Copy of article available here:
https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s11199-019-01021-3?author_access_token=lOa79LUKtujn2gOdH3V6_ve4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY6nlSvEiebnaHnJivzBy2MLjoAawGmY2Xd_7rjLPz5vMQSXFTlpe6-lGK-PsdjXsb4uOGbw-Jn_pNZAXnDa9me5czE1IRqA9eZ8k2c4Vm3rkQ%3D%3D
... Both effeminate and anti-effeminate profiles were created with the same profile picture, and reactions were measured. Results indicate that the use of femme-phobic language in dating profiles negatively affects perceptions of potential mates (Miller and Behm-Morawitz, 2016). ...
This study examines gender performances and communication styles on mobile dating applications (MDAs) in the context of queer theory with the help of netnography methodology. The research was conducted with Wapa users from Turkey. Wapa can be defined as a popular, location-based, and real-time dating application for lesbians. The research examines the self-presentation narratives from the contents of user accounts and focuses on the user experiences that were obtained via online interviews. Based on the findings, this study contributes to the literature about communication, technology, and gender studies by revealing both male and female masculinity in a mobile communication environment. Although MDA technology is considered an opportunity for users to specify their preferred age range, proximity, and sexual orientation, the mobile environment is also an area where stereotyping about queer identities is reproduced and circulates.
... One's body image profile and preferred type may affect the sex networking pattern and potentially affect subsequent HIV transmission risk. Some BIT, for example, feminineacting (sissy type) MSM were reportedly not universally attractive in the MSM community [25]. They, as well as those who received money to have sex, may have higher HIV transmission risk as their bargaining power on condom use may be compromised [24,26,27]. ...
HIV testing is the gateway to biomedical means of prevention and treatment. Identifying predictors of HIV testing is important to inform future preventive interventions. Of 444 men who have sex with men without known HIV infection enrolled in a study in Hong Kong, 64% had ever been HIV-tested. Testers were generally older, better educated, had a higher monthly income, and more likely self-identified as gay. Testers often used Internet and frequented saunas for sex networking, compared with non-testers attending bars, massage centres and public toilets. HIV testing habit also varied with the profile of body image type and preferred type in sex networking. Higher acceptance of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was observed among testers. Overall, socioeconomic status played an important role in both HIV testing and access to PrEP. Interventions targeting sex networking venues and alternative means of testing provision are needed to increase coverage of HIV testing.
Para que os programas de seleção, coleta, e reaproveitamento dos materiais recicláveis (plástico, metal e
vidro) tenham sucesso, é primordial que os cidadãos tenham comportamentos habituais de separação e descarte dos
seus resíduos domésticos. A literatura vigente mostra evidências de associação entre as variáveis atitudes e crenças de
reciclagem, satisfação com o serviço prestado, e os hábitos de reciclagem, por isso, o presente artigo tem por objetivo
analisar a relação entre essas variáveis e verificar o nível de associação entre elas. Participaram do estudo 352 pessoas,
todas brasileiras, com 78% de mulheres, 31% com idade de 26 a 35 anos, 47% com o nível educacional licenciado, 58%
eram casados, com a maioria residindo em Portugal a mais de 3 anos. Quanto aos procedimentos éticos da pesquisa,
seguiram-se os critérios estabelecidos pela declaração de Helsinki, para as pesquisas com seres humanos, solicitando
a participação voluntária. Os participantes responderam o índice de Autorrelato do Hábito, escala de Atitude e crenças
de reciclagem e de satisfação com o serviço prestado, respondidas numa escala do tipo Likert de cinco pontos. No SPPS
24.0, foram realizadas as estatísticas descritivas (média, desvio padrão, frequência), análise fatorial dos Componentes
principais, Lambda 2 de Guttman, correlação intraclasse. No programa AMOS Grafics 24.0, efetuou-se o cálculo das
Equações Estruturais. Observaram-se que todas as escalas revelaram indicadores psicométricos confiáveis quanto a sua
organização fatorial; em relação ao modelo teórico pretendido, a razão estatística esteve no intervalo exigido, confirmando
a hipótese de que a atitude e crença de reciclagem, a satisfação com o serviço prestado e os hábitos de reciclagem
são construtos interdependentes.
We examined associations between prejudice toward transgender people, aggression proneness, history of family violence, contact and closeness with transgender people, and education about issues that impact transgender individuals. We also examined the moderating effects of contact, education, and closeness on the relations between aggression and history of family violence with prejudice. There were 360 participants (M age = 31.34, SD = 12.47, range 18-75) who completed the survey online. Participants were recruited through social media, websites, and MTurk. Higher levels of aggression proneness were related to higher levels of prejudice. Higher levels of education about issues that impact transgender people and prior contact with a transgender person were associated with less prejudice. In a multiple regression analysis, the strongest predictor of prejudice was education about transgender people and topics. Moderation analyses revealed that prior contact may buffer the effects of aggression proneness on prejudiced beliefs.
Grindr es una aplicación de citas orientada al público no heterosexual masculino que funciona por geolocalización. A través de un perfil, los usuarios pueden interactuar, buscar pareja, conocer gente nueva, crear redes de contacto y, sobre todo, concretar encuentros sexuales casuales. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir las motivaciones, gratificaciones e interacciones que se generan entre los distintos usuarios de Grindr en Lima, Perú. La metodología fue mixta, a partir de la aplicación de un cuestionario a 110 participantes y 8 entrevistas en profundidad. Los resultados describen consecuencias negativas en el uso de esta aplicación, como la discriminación y la cosificación entre los usuarios, el lenguaje propio y las conductas autogeneradas en la aplicación, los estereotipos presentes y tipos de masculinidades tóxicas, las cuales condenan lo femenino y enaltecen lo masculino.
Navigating conception, pregnancy, and loss is challenging for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, who experience stigma due to LGBTQ identity, other identities (e.g., loss), and intersections thereof. We conducted interviews with 17 LGBTQ people with recent pregnancy loss experiences. Taking LGBTQ identity and loss as a starting point, we used an intracategorical intersectional lens to uncover the benefits and challenges of LGBTQ-specific and non-LGBTQ-specific pregnancy and loss-related online spaces. Participants used LGBTQ-specific online spaces to enact individual, interpersonal, and collective resilience. However, those with multiple marginalized identities (e.g., people of color and non-partnered individuals), faced barriers in finding support within LGBTQ-specific spaces compared to those holding privileged identities (e.g., White and married). Non-LGBTQ spaces were beneficial for some informational needs, but not community and emotional needs due to pervasive heteronormativity, cisnormativity, and a perceived need to educate. We conceptualize experiences of exclusion as symbolic annihilation and intersectional invisibility, and discuss clinical implications and design directions.
Book Description
Using sources from a wide variety of print and digital media, this book discusses the need for ample and healthy portrayals of disability and neurodiversity in the media, as the primary way that most people learn about conditions.
It contains 13 newly written chapters drawing on representations of disability in popular culture from film, television, and print media in both the Global North and the Global South, including the United States, Canada, India, and Kenya. Although disability is often framed using a limited range of stereotypical tropes such as victims, supercrips, or suffering patients, this book shows how disability and neurodiversity are making their way into more mainstream media productions and publications with movies, television shows, and books featuring prominent and even lead characters with disabilities or neurodiversity.
Disability Representation in Film, TV, and Print Media will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, cultural studies, film studies, gender studies, and sociology more broadly.
Preview of first 50+ pages made available here.
We developed measures of relational beliefs and expectations among single young gay and bisexual men (YGBM). Data come from an online cross‐sectional study YGBM, which ran from July 2012 until January 2013. There were 50 items on relational beliefs and 25 items on relational expectations. We used random split samples and a priori analysis to group items together and applied principal axis factoring with varimax orthogonal rotation. We had a total N = 1582 in our analytical sample and identified six constructs of relational expectations (restrictions, negative break up, masculine and gender norms, optimism, cheating, immediacy) and two constructs of relational beliefs (sex beliefs, equality). Our findings highlight specific relational cognitions among YGBM and offer insight into the beliefs and expectations that may inform their relationships. Findings may be useful for health professionals to help YGBM reflect and understand the health implications of their beliefs and expectations about same‐sex relationships to promote healthy decision‐making as they seek future partners.
This study critically analyzes different linguistic expressions that are ideologically and indexically used by the self-identified bisexual members of the gay dating website, PlanetRomeo. Using lexico-grammatical analysis and selective self-presentation as lenses, the study examines the textual areas of 167 online dating profiles of Filipino bisexual men. Findings indicated an emerging subcultural lingo, which is characterized by word connotations, echoic binomials, and negations. Moreover, the study offers insights into the identity construction efforts of bisexual men through their language use, which allow them to occupy attractive and marketable identities in the contemporary period. More importantly, it sheds light on how these men’s linguistic constructions of desired and desirable identities also work towards the marginalization and disenfranchisement of other identities. Overall, this study hopes to contribute to the area of sexual identity construction in and through discourse and to contemporary understandings of the ways in which identities are read as either desirable or undesirable by a particular community, and the hierarchies and judgments that such readings entail for members of the community.
Keywords: bisexual lingo, bisexuality, online dating, lexico-grammatical analysis, self-presentation
This article explores how gay men in the UK reflect upon the speech practices of those who refer to themselves as ‘straight-acting’ on hook-up apps. Using interview data from eight informants, this article identifies cultural and social models of hegemonic masculinity that gay men are perceived to take inspiration from to masculinize their speech and outlines the linguistic conventions and patterns that straight-acting gay men are said to enact. It is suggested that straight-acting gay men draw on the figure of the ‘lad’ in British culture and emulate some of their speech practices to increase their proximity to a hegemonic masculinity, but that they also speak in short, blunt, and non-conversational manners to other app users to remain socially indirect and inexpressive. Using sexual scripting theory and style-shifting as theoretical frameworks, this article also suggests that gay men emulate a ‘straight-acting’ style if a sexual hook-up is sought as opposed to dates or friends. This has potential implications for the self-worth of marginalized, effeminate gay men using hook-up apps, and also contributes to previous literature on gay masculinities, hook-up app usage and interactive practices, highlighting the intersections between hegemonic and subordinated masculinities.
There is contention about whether having racial preferences in the domain of sexual attraction constitutes racism, or simply reflects benign partiality. Using a person perception paradigm, we investigated gay men's ratings of targets who disclosed racial preferences in a mock online dating profile. Across three experiments, we found that participants generally rated the target as more racist, less attractive, less dateable, and were less personally willing to have relations with him if he disclosed racial preferences than if he did not. Even participants who believed that having racial preferences is not racist consistently rated a target disclosing racial preferences as more racist, largely less dateable, and were less personally willing to have relations with him. For these participants, however, racial preference disclosure had no reliable effect on how physically attractive they found the target. Findings suggest that disclosing racial preferences in the domain of attraction is interpreted as reflecting racism, even by those who ostensibly believe that people can have non-racist racial preferences.
The primary purpose of online dating sites, a specialised form of social media, is to aid their users in finding love and making friends. However, while such sites are very popular, only limited research has been conducted to investigate the experiences of female dating site users. Moreover, the factors underlying the popularity of online dating sites have also yet to be fully clarified. Therefore, the current study utilised netnography and online interviews to explore the experiences of female dating site users, while also observing the physical travel paths of such users within the field. More specifically, the particular situational context of online dating was investigated through an approach that included the following three stages: the observation and collection of online data, participation in an active manner, and emergent design. The study’s key theoretical contribution is its establishment of a netnography model along with eight associated propositions. Overall, the study’s findings substantially illuminate the online dating site experiences of female site users.
Sexuality research has generally privileged attractions based on partners' sexed physical bodies over attractions based on other features, including gender expression and personality traits. Gender may actually be quite central to sexual attractions. However, its role has received little empirical attention. To explore how gendered and sexed features, among others, are related to sexual attractions, the current study assessed how sexually diverse individuals described their attractions to feminine, masculine, and gender-nonspecific features of women and men. A sample of 280 individuals responded to the open-ended questions: "What do you find attractive in a man?" and "What do you find attractive in a woman?" We coded responses as pertaining to physical and/or psychological features, and as being gendered masculine, feminine, or gender-nonspecific. Our analyses showed that participants named gender-nonspecific features most frequently in responses to both questions, feminine features more than masculine features in attractions to women, and masculine features more than feminine features in attractions to men. Additionally, participants named feminine physical features more than masculine physical features, and masculine psychological features more than feminine psychological features, both in their attractions to women and overall. These results highlight the importance of considering attractions based on gender, rather than sex alone.
Introduction to a book of readings that explores the ways in which gay men in the United States engage in, contest and modify these notions and develop a sense of masculine identity. The book examines the creation of identity through the everyday lives of gay men: their work; home; community; and relationships.
The current study examined the social networking profiles of men who have sex with men on the popular application Jack’d in order to survey how they self-present, as well as how they describe their partner preferences. Using online disinhibition as a theoretical framework, emphasis was on how men frame their own and others’ masculinity/femininity, age, race, and body type or fitness level. Results indicated that men tended to privilege masculinity, to visually present themselves semi-clothed, and to mention fitness or bodies in the text of their profile. Analysis also revealed that more than 1 in 5 men used a face-absent main profile photo. Significant differences were found based upon the race and weight of profile users.
Despite the persistence of wage gaps and other indicators of discrimination, many Americans oppose affirmative action for women. Our study investigated a potential source of social influence that has often been hypothesized to reduce compassion and sympathy for women: pornography. National panel data were employed. Data were gathered in 2006, 2008, and 2010 from 190 adults ranging in age from 19 to 88 at baseline. Pornography viewing was indexed via reported consumption of pornographic movies. Attitudes toward affirmative action were indexed via opposition to hiring and promotion practices that favor women. Contrary to a selective-exposure perspective on media use, prior opposition to affirmative action did not predict subsequent pornography viewing. Consistent with a social learning perspective on media effects, prior pornography viewing predicted subsequent opposition to affirmative action even after controlling for prior affirmative action attitudes and a number of other potential confounds. Gender did not moderate this association. Practically, these results suggest that pornography may be a social influence that undermines support for affirmative action programs for women. Theoretically, these results align with the perspective that sexual media activate abstract scripts for social behavior which may be applied to judgments that extend beyond the specific interaction patterns depicted.
While online spaces and communities were once seen to transcend geography, the ubiquity of location-aware mobile devices means that today's online interactions are deeply intertwined with offline places and relationships. Systems such as online dating applications for meeting nearby others provide novel social opportunities, but can also complicate interaction by aggregating or " co-situating " diverse sets of individuals. Often this aggregation occurs across traditional spatial or community boundaries that serve as cues for self-presentation and impression formation. This paper explores these issues through an interview study of Grindr users. Grindr is a location-aware real-time dating application for men who have sex with men. We argue that co-situation affects how and whether Grindr users and their behavior are visible to others, collapses or erases contextual cues about normative behavior, and introduces tensions in users' self-presentation in terms of their identifiability and the cues their profile contains relative to their behavior.
We document the historical and cultural shifts in how gay and bisexual men have used the Internet for sexuality between the 1990s and 2013-including shifting technology as well as research methods to study gay and bisexual men online. Gay and bisexual men have rapidly taken to using the Internet for sexual purposes: for health information seeking, finding sex partners, dating, cybersex, and pornography. Men have adapted to the ever-evolving technological advances that have been made in connecting users to the Internet-from logging on via dial-up modem on a desktop computer to geo-social-sexual networking via handheld devices. In kind, researchers have adapted to the Internet to study gay and bisexual men. Studies have carefully considered the ethics, feasibility, and acceptability of using the Internet to conduct research and interventions. Much of this work has been grounded in models of disease prevention, largely as a result of the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. The need to reduce HIV in this population has been a driving force to develop innovative research and Internet-based intervention methodologies. The Internet, and specifically mobile technology, is an environment gay and bisexual men are using for sexual purposes. These innovative technologies represent powerful resources for researchers to study and provide outreach.
Observers recorded the sex-typed activities of 49 children during free-play sessions in nursery school and kindergarten. Reinforcing and punishing responses of peers and teachers were also recorded. Analyses showed that children reinforced one another primarily for gender-appropriate activities. Most reinforcements and punishments were received from same-sex peers. Punished activities were terminated more rapidly than reinforced activities. Reinforcements were more effective when they were received for sex-appropriate acts (i. e., sex-appropriate acts that were reinforced continued longer than reinforced cross-sex acts), whereas punishments were more effective when they were received for sex-inappropriate acts (i. e., following punishment, sex-inappropriate acts were terminated more quickly than sex-appropriate activities). Individual susceptibility to punishing responses was significantly correlated (r = - .43) with susceptibility to reinforcing responses, indicating consistent individual differences in children's responses to peer influences. Older children punished peers intentionally (rather than incidentally) proportionately more often than younger children did. Attempts to measure social competence were unsuccessful.
This article reviewed research examining the association between childhood sex-typed behavior and sexual orientation. Prospective studies suggest that childhood cross-sex-typed behavior is strongly predictive of adult homosexual orientation for men; analogous studies for women have not been performed. Though methodologically more problematic, retrospective studies are useful in determining how many homosexual individuals displayed cross-sex behavior in childhood. The relatively large body of retrospective studies comparing childhood sex-typed behavior in homosexual and heterosexual men and women was reviewed quantitatively. Effect sizes were large for both men and women, with men's significantly larger. Future research should elaborate the causes of the association between childhood sex-typed behavior and sexual orientation and identify correlates of within-orientation differences in childhood sex-typed behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Many gay and bisexual men struggle with unique issues related to being both a man and a sexual minority person. The purpose of this study was to use feminist theory to test two mediation models examining the roles of both gender role conflict and internalized heterosexism (IH) in gay and bisexual men's psychological distress. Findings from the best fitting model revealed that gender role conflict was both directly and indirectly (through IH) related to self-esteem, and self-esteem was directly and indirectly (through avoidant coping) related to psychological distress. Research and practice implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Some theorists have suggested that the traditionally socialized male reluctance to express intimacy is compounded within gay men's same-sex romantic relationships. In both Study 1 and Study 2, analysis-of-variance comparisons between single gay men and gay men in a same-sex relationship failed to confirm this assertion. At the same time, hierarchical regression results demonstrated a small negative relationship between the traditionally socialized male discomfort for expressing affection for other men and levels of gay men's relationship satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
considerable empirical research has focused on the relation of sexual orientation to various gender-related characteristics / more is known about the ways in which gay and lesbian people are masculine or feminine than about the causes of sexual orientation / before reviewing this literature, [the author defines] several concepts and terms
childhood gender identity and sexual orientation [feminine boys to gay men, were most gay men feminine boys, tomboys to lesbians] / adult gender identity [are gay men feminine, are lesbians masculine] / other scientific issues [what is the nature of the association between gender identity and sexual orientation, within-orientation differences in gender identity, bisexuality, transvestism and transsexualism, cross-cultural research] / normative issues [different identities or identity disorders, ambivalence and femiphobia] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The authors examined the contributions of the minority stress model, traditional masculine gender roles, and perceived social norms in accounting for gay men's use of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and risky sexual practices. Three hundred fifteen gay men recruited from listserv communities completed measures assessing internalized homophobia, stigma, antigay physical attack, masculinity, and perceptions of normative health behaviors, along with health risk behaviors of alcohol use, illicit drug use, smoking, and high-risk sexual behaviors. Pearson correlations supported several hypotheses; social norms and masculinity variables were significantly related to health risk behaviors. Four multiple regression analyses indicated that masculinity and perceptions of social norms predicted health risk behaviors. Additionally, a significant interaction was found between minority stress and perceptions of social norms. The clinical implications of the findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
We review the meaning of the concept of framing, approaches to studying framing, and the effects of framing on public opinion. After defining framing and framing effects, we articulate a method for identifying frames in communication and a psychological model for understanding how such frames affect public opinion. We also discuss the relationship between framing and priming, outline future research directions, and describe the normative implications of framing.
An individual's subjective evaluation of sexual identity differs from objective evaluation by sex role researchers. This study reports initial validity and reliability data on a new measure of self-ascribed sexual identity: the Sexual Identity Scale (SIS). SIS considers four functional sex dimensions on the basis of components described in both sex and age role literature. SIS and two modified Bem Sex Role Inventory instruments—a Masculinity Trait Index (MTI) and a Femininity Trait Index (FTI)—were administered to an adult sample of 380 men and 380 women aged 20–80. Reliability, assessed with LISREL VI and Cronbach's alpha, was found to be high. LISREL VI findings provide construct validity, both convergent and divergent. The nature of association of biological sex and sex trait measures, high interitem SIS correlations, as well as divergence from the modified sex trait indices (MTI and FTI) also support validity. The study's results and implications are discussed.
Femme identity remains a highly controversial topic. It has been maligned in both heterosexual and queer contexts, and is rarely represented in empirical literature. In this study we exam-ined how femme women experience their own gender identity. Interviews were conducted with femme-identified lesbians; the focus was upon 4 content areas: identity development, experiences in the lesbian community, heterosexual society, and romantic relationships. The interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory (B. J. Glaser & A. Strauss, 1967), an empir-ical method of generating models of subjective phenomena. The core category in this model "Maintaining integrity: Upholding beliefs about sexual desire and gender representation" re-flects the need to uphold their sense of integrity across a variety of contexts by confronting stereotypes about both women and lesbians. Butch and femme lesbian genders first became visible in the United States in the late 1940s as bars allowed women to congregate without male escorts (Faderman, 1991). Butch women's more masculine clothing and short hair conflicted starkly with femi-nine norms at the time, and femme women exagger-ated femininity and became known for their bright lipstick and seductive dress. Femme–butch couples re-sembled popular media images of heterosexual gen-der in the culture of that time, and increased pub-lic awareness of lesbianism through their discernable gender representation. By the 1950s, it was imperative for a woman to identify as either femme or butch if she wanted to be-come integrated into this lesbian culture. At that time, these two genders "were the key structure for orga-nizing against heterosexual dominance" (
In this study we used a gender diagnostic (GD) approach to examine the associations between gender-atypical behavior and gender role (masculinity—M and femininity—F), bullying, peer relationships, and psychological well-being in a large community sample of 15-year-olds. GD showed little relationship with gender role. Irrespective of sex, M was positively, and F negatively associated with being a bully. Gender atypical boys reported more victimization, more loneliness, fewer male friends, and greater distress than their gender typical peers. After accounting for M and F, femaleness (gender atypical boys and extremely gender-typed girls) was associated with psychological distress. GD is an effective and unobtrusive method to identify a group whose vulnerability should be recognized by psychology, health, and education professionals.
Some gay men are preoccupied with traditional notions of masculinity and express negative feelings towards effeminate behavior in gay men. Various scholars have speculated that such attitudes by gay men reflect internalized negative feelings about being gay. Thus, we sought to assess the importance of masculinity among gay men, to compare their ideal versus perceived masculinity–femininity, to ask how gay men assess masculinity, and to test whether masculine consciousness and anti-effeminacy could predict negative feelings about being gay. Results from an online survey of 751 gay men in the United States (M
Age = 32.64 years, SD = 11.94) showed that the majority rated masculinity for themselves and in a same-sex partner as important, and they ideally wished that their behavior was more masculine (Cohen’s d = .42) and less feminine (d = .42) than they perceived it to be. Furthermore, one’s behavior was more important than how one looks when assessing masculinity. A multiple regression analysis showed that the degree to which they were preoccupied with masculinity and expressed anti-effeminacy accounted for 30% of the variance in negative feelings about being gay. These finding further support the idea that masculinity is an important construct for gay men and that masculine consciousness and anti-effeminacy are related to negative feelings about being gay.
Self-stereotyping is a process by which people belonging to a stigmatized social group tend to describe themselves more with stereotypical traits as compared with traits irrelevant to the ingroup stereotype. The present work analyzes why especially members of low-status groups are more inclined to self-stereotype compared to members of high-status groups. We tested the hypothesis that belonging to a low-, rather than a high-status group, makes low-status members feel more threatened and motivates them to protect their self-perception by increasing their similarity with the ingroup. Specifically, we investigated the effects of an experimental manipulation that was conceived to either threaten or protect the natural group membership of participants from either a low- or a high-status group on the level of self-stereotyping. The findings supported the idea that only low-status group members protected themselves when their group identity was threatened through increased self-stereotyping.
This study investigates self-presentation strategies among online dating participants, exploring how participants manage their online presentation of self in order to accomplish the goal of finding a romantic partner. Thirty-four individuals active on a large online dating site participated in telephone interviews about their online dating experiences and perceptions. Qualitative data analysis suggests that participants attended to small cues online, mediated the tension between impression management pressures and the desire to present an authentic sense of self through tactics such as creating a profile that reflected their “ideal self,” and attempted to establish the veracity of their identity claims. This study provides empirical support for Social Information Processing theory in a naturalistic context while offering insight into the complicated way in which “honesty” is enacted online.
This exploratory study used consensual qualitative research methodology (Hill et al., 2005) to analyze what gay men associate with masculinity and femininity, how they feel masculine ideals affect their self-image, and how masculine ideals affect their same-sex relationships. Written responses were collected from 547 self-identified gay men in the U.S. via an Internet-based survey. Findings supported previous reports that perceptions of gender roles among gay men appear based on masculine and feminine stereotypes. Additionally, more adverse versus positive effects on self-image and same-sex romantic relationships were reported including difficulty being emotional and affectionate, pressure to be physically attractive, and pressure to appear masculine in order to be accepted by society and to be seen as desirable by other gay men. While research on gay men's experience with masculinity continues, psychologists should consider the possible influence of traditional masculine ideals when conceptualizing their gay male clients.
Professional psychologists who work with gay men have noted that traditional masculine ideals play a prominent role in the gay community whereby some endorse these traditional ideals and stigmatize effeminate behavior by other gay men. One hypothesis is that this behavior reflects negative feelings about being gay. This article examined this hypothesis by reporting the results of an online survey of 622 self-identified gay men. Participants completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale, Lesbian and Gay Identity Scale, the Social Desirability Scale, and questions related to the importance of masculinity. Results showed that most participants valued the public appearance of masculinity; and they ideally wished to be more masculine than they felt they were (Cohen's d = 0.42). A multiple regression analysis showed that the degree to which they valued masculinity and were concerned with violating masculine ideals was positively related with negative feelings about being gay (Cohen's f(2) = .67). These findings highlight the importance of exploring the role that masculine ideals play in gay client's lives given that negative feelings about oneself can adversely affect psychological well-being.
On average, gay men are somewhat feminine and lesbians somewhat masculine, but there is variation within each group. The authors examined the consequences of this variation for gay men's and lesbians' desirability as romantic partners. In 2 studies the authors analyzed personal advertisements. Homosexual people were more likely than heterosexual people to mention traits related to sex typicality and more likely to request sex-typical than sex-atypical partners. In 2 studies the authors assessed partner preferences directly. On average, gay men preferred men who described themselves as masculine rather than feminine, but this preference was weaker among men who rated themselves as relatively feminine. Lesbians preferred women who described themselves as feminine looking but did not discriminate against women calling themselves masculine acting. The authors discuss implications of the results for theories of sexual orientation and the adjustment of sex-atypical homosexual people.
Some lesbians and gay men tend to be more gender nonconforming, on average and for certain traits, than their heterosexual counterparts. Gender nonconformity in childhood has also been linked to adult homosexuality. Studies of both lesbians and gay men also find elevated rates of psychological distress. We hypothesized that these facts may be related. Individuals who violate social norms for gender-appropriate behavior may suffer from stigmatization by both heterosexual and homosexual people, leading to higher levels of psychological distress. We examined whether several measures of gender nonconformity were related to psychological distress in a community-based sample of gay men and lesbians. These included self-reports of childhood and adulthood gender nonconformity, as well as observer ratings of current behavior. Several measures of gender nonconformity were related to each other for both lesbians and gay men. In addition, gender nonconformity was related to psychological distress, but only for gay men. Finally, both lesbian and gay male participants reported more positive attitudes towards gender conformity than nonconformity, although the pattern was somewhat different for each group. We discuss the implications of these results for future studies of gender nonconformity and for the promotion of psychological health in lesbians and gay men.
Location-aware mobile applications have become extremely common, with a recent wave of mobile dating applications that provide relatively sparse profiles to connect nearby individuals who may not know each other for immediate social or sexual encounters. These applications have become particularly popular among men who have sex with men (MSM) and raise a range of questions about self-presentation, visibility to others, and impression formation, as traditional geographic boundaries and social circles are crossed. In this paper we address two key questions around how people manage potentially stigmatized identities in using these apps and what types of information they use to self-present in the absence of a detailed profile or rich social cues. To do so, we draw on profile data observed in twelve locations on Grindr, a location-aware social application for MSM. Results suggest clear use of language to manage stigma associated with casual sex, and that users draw regularly on location information and other descriptive language to present concisely to others nearby.
Users of location-based real time dating (LBRTD) apps must decide what to disclose in their profiles. Based on 25,365 profiles from one app, our study explores users whose profile photos disclose a face, a personal disclosure that identifies them as an individual, in relation to available social disclosures, those that do not identify them as an individual. Using logistic regression models with face disclosure as the outcome, we find: older users, and users who share race are less likely to disclose a face, and higher body mass index (BMI) users, users who disclose relationship status, and users who are seeking friends or relationships are more likely to disclose a face. We frame and discuss these results in relation to literature on location norms, body image, race relations, and social stigma, and propose future work to investigate these findings, particularly those of race, relationship status, and goals, in qualitative depth.
This study investigated the development of children's conceptions of and reactions to cross-gender behavior in their peers. Eighty elementary-school children at tour grade levels (kindergarten and second, fourth, and sixth grades) were interviewed about their attitudes toward hypothetical peers who violated child-generated norms for sex-typed behavior in each of four categories (traits, toy s, activities, and friendship preferences). Older children reported that they would react more negatively toward cross-gender displays of activity (e.g., girls climbing trees) and friendship preferences than did younger children. Moreover, children reported they would react more negatively toward males than toward females exhibiting cross-gender friend and toy preferences. While younger children were unable to generate sex-typed traits reliably older children were and reported that they would respond negatively toward children with cross-sex-typed traits. Finally, although the vast majority of children at all ages indi...
This essay is an exploratory study of the uses and gratifications of social networking applications and sites widely utilized by gay men. Based on findings from six different focus groups and intercept interviews with gay and bisexual men, this essay explores the motivations and perceived benefits of social networking sites that allow for the creation of a virtual community of sexual minorities. This paper also considers these technological developments as part of a larger history of gay men communicating with other gay men within a culture where talk about homosexuality is closely policed and often restricted. Through a uses and gratifications approach, this essay discusses the needs and motivations that bring gay men online to social network sites, how they manage multiple identities online and the resulting gratifications of their online activity.
This study samples 200 personal advertisements from the online gay and lesbian global Web portal PlanetOut. This data, along with survey responses completed by advertisers included in the sample, are used to frame a discussion on the use of online gay and lesbian spaces and communities. Despite interacting in a global space, data showed that advertisers remained aware of their local identities. Differences between advertisers were most notable between gender and whether they logged on in a small or large town. Advertisers were interested in interacting locally, eager to move from online to offline communication, oftentimes not overly concerned with maintaining anonymity, and not interested in toying with multiple identities. Users of PlanetOut personals largely did not consider themselves part of a virtual gay and lesbian community even when they recognized the existence of a local geographically-based gay and lesbian community. However, the dynamic nature of online personal advertisements did allow for a new type of interactive advertisement that does differ from previous print forums.
Contemporary research has shown that a significant portion of gay men have traits, interests, occupations, and behaviors that are consistent with the stereotype of gay men as effeminate, androgynous, or unmasculine. A great number of gay men exhibit gender nonconformity during childhood; most, however, “defeminize” during adolescence, possibly in response to stigmatization and society's gender-role prescription. Only a relatively small percentage of gay men continue to be gender-nonconforming in their adulthood, often at a price, as they also tend to have lower psychological well-being. Although gay culture historically appreciated camp and drag, which subvert the gender-based power hierarchy and celebrate gender nonconformity, anti-effeminacy prejudice is widespread among gay men. Ironically, gender-nonconforming gay men may suffer from discrimination not only from society at large, but from other gay men, who are most likely to have experienced stigmatization and may have been effeminate earlier in their lives. Drawing from anecdotes and findings from various sources, this article suggests that beyond many gay men's erotic preference for masculinity lies contempt and hostility toward effeminacy and effeminate men on sociopolitical and personal levels. Two correlates of gay men's anti-effeminacy attitudes are proposed: (a) hegemonic masculinity ideology, or the degree to which one subscribes to the value system in which masculinity is an asset, and men and masculinity are considered superior to women and femininity; and (b) masculinity consciousness, or the saliency of masculinity in one's self-monitoring, public self-consciousness, and self-concept. These two variables are hypothesized to interact with gay men's self-perceived masculinity-femininity and their history of defeminization in predicting attitudes toward effeminacy. Research is underway to measure levels of anti-effeminacy attitudes and explore hypothesized correlates.
This study was designed to examine the role of both sexual orientation and gender-related personality traits in disordered eating attitudes and behavior, including body dissatisfaction. Self-report measures assessing negative and positive gender traits,body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, dietary restraint, and bulimic symptoms were administered to 266 participants (64 lesbians, 73 heterosexual women, 69 gay men, and 60 heterosexual men; 85% Anglo-Australian Caucasians, 15% Caucasians from Non-English-speaking backgrounds). Consistent with previous research, gay men scored significantly higher than heterosexual men on body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint, whereas lesbians scored significantly lower in comparison to the heterosexual women on body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, dietary restraint, and bulimia. For men, the additional amount of variance accounted by the gender traits was significantly higher than that accounted for by sexual orientation. For the women, the gender traits also accounted for an additional significant amount of variance; however, overall the amount of variance accounted for by sexual orientation was greater. However, for both men and women, irrespective of their sexual orientation, it was higher scores on negative femininity that predicted higher levels of disordered eating. These results are consistent with previous studies that have found support for the femininity hypothesis in disordered eating.
In this article, the author examines 2,400 men's personal advertisements from the Internet to explore gender role and sex role preferences in mate selection. Using content analysis, the author examines how men define their gender roles and sex roles, and how they express role preferences in their mate. The results show that when compared with gay men, straight men are less concerned about gender roles and sex roles. Gay men's personal advertisements are the real analytic lens here because they are the ones faced with the ambiguities that need to be negotiated, whereas straight men may have taken gender-typical roles for granted. The author also discusses how men knowingly or unknowingly express and reproduce cultural norms of heterosexuality and gender-typical behavior, and how they may perpetuate forms of heterosexism and sexism.
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Based on a design used in previous research with heterosexuals, ôPersonalö advertisements, and this study reports a content analysis of 359 ads placed by male homosexuals. Following exchange theory, it was hypothesized that, as with heterosexuals, a favorable presentation of self would characterize the advertisements. Further hypotheses predicted that homosexuals ads would be more frank than are heterosexual ads and more specific about goals for desired relationships, and that homosexual ads would reflect the ôvirilizationö of the male homosexual subculture. All predictions were strongly supported. The overtly sexual explicitness of many of the advertisements was explained on the boss of differenced between same- and cross-sex relationships, and male/female differences in conceptualizing ôlove.ö
A cross-sectional study of gay, bisexual, and other nongay-identified men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) was undertaken in New York City. We sought to delineate patterns of both injection and noninjection steroid use in the sample of 311 men. Of these men, approximately 11% reported the use of steroids in the 6 months prior to assessment. The majority of these men reported the injection of steroids and had access to needles via prescription. Based on bivariate analyses, steroid users tended to be White, older, and HIV-positive. The men who utilized steroids were also likely to use a variety of illicit substances such as cocaine, as well as erectile dysfunction medications, during the period of assessment. Multivariate modeling determined the likelihood of steroid use was higher among those who were HIV-positive, older, and defined their masculinity in terms of social behavior. These findings suggest that although steroid use in this sample of this population is not widespread, use may be intimately linked to health, mental health, and psychosocial states that characterize the gay community at large. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study examines the accuracy of 54 online dating photographs posted by heterosexual daters. We report data on (a1) online daters' self-reported accuracy, (b) independent judges' perceptions of accuracy, and (c) inconsistencies in the profile photograph identified by trained coders. While online daters rated their photos as relatively accurate, independent judges rated approximately 1/3 of the photographs as not accurate. Female photographs were judged as less accurate than male photographs, and were more likely to be older, to be retouched or taken by a professional photographer, and to contain inconsistencies, including changes in hair style and skin quality. The findings are discussed in terms of the tensions experienced by online daters to (a) enhance their physical attractiveness and (b) present a photograph that would not be judged deceptive in subsequent face-to-face meetings. The paper extends the theoretical concept of selective self-presentation to online photographs, and discusses issues of self-deception and social desirability bias.
This research examined 3- to 11-year-old children's knowledge of and beliefs about violating several gender norms (e.g., toys, play styles, occupations, parental roles, hairstyles, and clothing) as compared to social and moral norms. Knowledge of the norms and understanding that norm violations were possible increased with age. The children's evaluations of violations of gender norms varied from item to item. Violations concerning becoming a parent of the other gender were devalued in both boys and girls, whereas most toy and occupation violations were not especially devalued in either. Boys with feminine hairstyles or clothing were evaluated more negatively than girls with masculine hairstyles or clothing. On the other hand, girls who played in masculine play styles were devalued relative to boys who played in feminine styles. Evaluations of norm violations were not consistently related to age.
Proponents of the nice guy stereotype argue that women often say they wish to date kind, sensitive men, but, in reality, still choose to date macho men over nice guys, especially if the macho men are more physically attractive. We investigated the relationship between men’s agreeableness, physical attractiveness, and their dating success across different relationship contexts. One hundred and ninety-one male college students completed a computerized questionnaire to assess their levels of agreeableness and aspects of their dating history. Twenty college-aged women rated the men’s photographs for attractiveness. Results supported the nice guy stereotype. Lower levels of agreeableness predicted more less-committed, casual, sexual relationships.
Cross-sex behavior in boys generally is viewed more negatively than cross-sex behavior in girls. The two goals of this study were to assess attitudes toward tomboys and sissies, and to explore possible causes for differential evaluations of tomboys and sissies. Eighty undergraduates completed questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward tomboys and sissies, and their expectations for the future adult behavior of typical boys, typical girls, tomboys, and sissies. Results revealed that sissies were more negatively evaluated than tomboys. Women were more accepting of, and perceived more societal acceptance for cross-sex children, than were men. One reason for the negative evaluation of sissies may be that there is more concern for their future outcomes than for tomboys. Analyses of predictions concerning future behavior showed that sissies, more so than tomboys, were expected to continue to show cross-gender behavior into adulthood. Also, sissies were rated as likely to be less well adjusted and more likely to be homosexual when they grow up than other children. The accuracy of these beliefs and their implications for child-rearing practices are discussed.
