Gay Men and Body Image: What You Need to Know

* gay culture body image *

Gay men experience eatg disorrs and body dysmorphia more than any other populatn except for heterosexual women.

To help unrstand the lk between gay culture and negative body image, eatg disorrs and body dysmorphia, we spoke to Carl Hovey, a psychologist and rearcher at the Soho and Fidi lotns of the Gay Therapy Center New York.

He terviewed a llectn of gay men New York Cy, askg open end qutns like, “Can you talk to me a ltle about how you experience your body, both now and the past? “The discrepancy between the rate among gay men and straight men is pretty dramatic, ” Carl told . But what Carl found, was that the level of acceptance gay men found wh their muny was sentially lked to the acceptance they felt wh their own body.

GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN

Many gay men want a perfect body, but the effort to get one creat real misery. * gay culture body image *

“One of the more surprisg elements that me out of the rearch is how often experienc of the body–more specifilly, whether or not an dividual felt his body was acceptable or unacceptable the marketplace of gay culture—was related to a feelg of cln or excln wh that culture, ” Carl said. It’s what separat gay men om mastream heterosexual culture: this sire that for so long was nsired taboo. And wh so much of gay culture revolvg around sire, rather than some sort of cultural herage, gay men have found themselv a posn where they feel like they have to embody that sire–or else they won’t have a place wh the culture and muny.

There is an unspoken expectatn wh gay culture: you mt be sirable at all tim, or else you won’t f to the cultural spac rerved for gay men. Carl went on to expla how this is te, not only for isolatg gay men om the larger queer muny, but actually om their own inty.

People even talked about feelg alienated om themselv, as though if their body didn’t f a certa script, they weren’t even sure who they were as gay men. The gay media reprents bety and sirabily the form of youth and gym-toned bodi, makg the gay scene a harsh place for people who do not nform to such ials. There is a high prevalence of psychologil distrs related to body image amongst gay men.

“NEVER REFLECTED ANYWHERE”: BODY IMAGE AMONG ETHNORACIALIZED GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN

Health and athetic ials appear ls divorced for young men than women, offerg some gree of protectn om eatg disorrs. Nohels there is wispread body dissatisfactn. Media and social fluenc are powerful, particularly for sgle gay men, but the study suggts fewer differenc … * gay culture body image *

We ually associate eatg disorrs wh women but is mon wh gay men too (and creasgly wh heterosexual men).

This distrs go unnoticed bee is socially sirable to have the perfect body the gay scene.

Many gay men velop harsh and cril thoughts about how they look, and n seem like an impossible battle to w. I see gay men whose strict liftyle has ma them miserable and they n’t fd a way towards ntentment for themselv. Whilst the gay media perpetuat body perfectn and helps mata the distrs, the unrlyg disturbance that mak so many gay men predisposed to the stggl is homophobia.

BODY IMAGE GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN: A QUALATIVE STUDY

Unrealistic body ials are difficult for everyone, but they're particularly prevalent the gay muny — and heightened at "Gay Christmas". Here are some ways to al wh . * gay culture body image *

In my practice, I see many gay men whose real stggle is the fear of rejectn, the hypervigilance of threats makg vulnerabily tolerable for them. Gay men may not be able to intify the unrlyg pa by themselv but gay-affirmative therapy, they n have a space to unpack the var layers of their disturbanc. For example, gay men often have memori of beg bullied at school so beg "big wh mcl" is a way to unter that pa.

While people who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) experience body image ncerns ways that are generally siar to those who intify as heterosexual, their experience and relatnship wh their bodi are likely to differ specific ways. Heterosexual men have been found to report higher levels of body appreciatn than gay and bisexual men (123,124).

THE BODY IMAGE PRSUR GAY MEN FEEL AROUND MARDI GRAS

Gay men report higher levels of body dissatisfactn and negative body image than heterosexual men. The trends are closely lked to cultural prsur, * gay culture body image *

Some rearch suggts that sexual mory men may be more likely to ternalise an appearance ial that is centred around lookg athletic (124) and that there may be a greater emphasis on physil appearance the gay muny, which n negatively affect body image (125) through prsure to match this ial.

BODY IMAGE AND GAY MEN: ADAPTATN OF EMOTNALLY-FOCED FAY THERAPY FOR GAY CLIENTS WH NEGATIVE BODY IMAGE

A negative body image leads to a low qualy of life, psychologil distrs, and creased risk of unhealthy eatg habs and eatg disorrs. So how do we velop more posive body imag the gay muny and start tacklg mental health? * gay culture body image *

One review of the rearch (126) found that gay men are more likely than their heterosexual unterparts to experience a sire to be th, which n sometim manift higher levels of eatg disorr symptoms.

As the wir rearch, studi foced on gay, and bisexual men have found a nnectn between higher levels of body dissatisfactn, an creased likelihood of experiencg prsive symptoms and creased sexual anxiety and poorer sexual self-efficy (123).

THE BODY IMAGE PROBLEM AND HOW ’S HURTG GAY MEN

A Southern California school board has bee the latt proxy for culture wars brewg across the untry after a nservative bloc voted to formally reject state-endorsed curriculum that would have mentned gay rights figure Harvey Milk. * gay culture body image *

In our survey, a higher proportn of dividuals who intified as gay, lbian or bisexual reported feelgs of anxiety and prsn bee of their body image. Among adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other, 53% felt anx, and 56% felt prsed bee of their body image pared to one-third (33%) of the adults who intified as heterosexual.

Siarly, our survey, one-third (33%) of adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other reported experiencg suicidal thoughts or feelgs bee of ncerns about their body image, pared to 11% of the adults who intified as heterosexual. For young men who have sex wh men, one study found that ternalised negative attus towards homosexualy and sexual orientatn predicted overall body dissatisfactn, mculary, and body fat (134). This was reflected our survey, where 40% of the adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other said they felt shame bee of their body image, pared to 18% of the heterosexual adults.

HOW BODY IALS SHAPE THE HEALTH OF GAY MEN

Siarly, 54% of adults who intified as gay, lbian, bisexual or other felt their self-teem was negatively affected by their body image the past year, pared to 37% of the adults who intified as heterosexual. IntroductnA growg body of lerature has highlighted the creased prevalence of body image ncerns among gay and bisexual men (GBM) and other men who have sex wh men (MSM1) and s implitns for the health and well-beg of this populatn.

WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY

001) of male sexual orientatn on body dissatisfactn, such that gay men reported greater body dissatisfactn (Morrison, Morrison, & Sager, 2004). Body image dissatisfactn among GBM has been associated wh symptoms of prsn (Blashill, 2010, Olivardia et al., 2004), appearance-related anxiety (Blashill, 2010), disorred eatg symptomology (Blashill, 2010, Brennan et al., 2011), and ternalized homonegativy (Brennan, Craig, & Thompson, 2012). In one of the only qualative studi on the topic, Dmmond (2005) examed the lived experience of Asian gay men Atralia (n = 6) relatn to body image.

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