Si Guys: Thkg Beyond Gay Male "Tops" and "Bottoms" | Psychology Today

Contents:

• GAY MEN AND BODY IMAGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• GAY'S ANATOMY
• SI GUYS: THKG BEYOND GAY MALE "TOPS" AND "BOTTOMS"
• GAY BRAS STCTURED LIKE THOSE OF THE OPPOSE SEX
• GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN
• PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

GAY MEN AND BODY IMAGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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?

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. “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.

GAY'S ANATOMY

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.

SI GUYS: THKG BEYOND GAY MALE "TOPS" AND "BOTTOMS"

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.

When to sex, whether you’re gay, bi, or straight, we’ve all been a ltle brawashed to believg that there is this thg lled “normal. In the gay male muny, ually, you’re eher nsired to be a “top, ” the perator, or a “bottom, ” the perated, or you’re versatile (n go eher way). But what if you’re a gay man who don’t enjoy anal sex or fds anal peratn paful, don’t like the feelg or the troublome amount of preparatn and cleang up need for to be a pleasurable experience, or simply don’t experience anal sex as erotic?

That’s why a 2013 article I wrote for Huffgton Post, "Guys on the ‘Si’: Lookg Beyond Gay Tops and Bottoms, " I began workg on popularizg the term “si” orr for the gay men to have the language to exprs their sexual and erotic preference. There are straight men who like havg anal sex and/or beg perated wh a dildo, and there are gay men who don’t. 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.

GAY BRAS STCTURED LIKE THOSE OF THE OPPOSE SEX

Heterosexual men have been found to report higher levels of body appreciatn than gay and bisexual men (123, 124).

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. 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).

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.

GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN

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.

PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS

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.

The imag show the amygdala heterosexual men and women (labeled HeM and HeW) and homosexual and women (labeled HoM and HoW)(Image: Natnal Amy of Scienc, PNAS).

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

The sns reveal that gay people, key stctur of the bra erng emotn, mood, anxiety and aggrsivens remble those straight people of the oppose sex. “This is the most robt measure so far of cerebral differenc between homosexual and heterosexual subjects, ” she says.