Gay Men and Body Image: What You Need to Know

Contents:

• GAY MEN AND BODY IMAGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN
• BODY IMAGE DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED EATG DISORR AND BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORR PATHOLOGY GAY AND HETEROSEXUAL MEN: A SYSTEMATIC ANALYS OF GNIVE, AFFECTIVE, BEHAVRAL UND PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS
• WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY
• BODY IMAGE NCERNS OF GAY MEN: THE ROL OF MORY STRS AND NFORMY TO MASCULE NORMS
• BODY IMAGE AND GAY MEN: ADAPTATN OF EMOTNALLY-FOCED FAY THERAPY FOR GAY CLIENTS WH NEGATIVE BODY IMAGE
• BODY IMAGE GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN: A QUALATIVE STUDY

GAY MEN AND BODY IMAGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

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? “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.

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. 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.

GAY MEN AND BODY PERFECTN

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.

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.

BODY IMAGE DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED EATG DISORR AND BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORR PATHOLOGY GAY AND HETEROSEXUAL MEN: A SYSTEMATIC ANALYS OF GNIVE, AFFECTIVE, BEHAVRAL UND PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS

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. 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.

WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY

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).

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. 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.

BODY IMAGE NCERNS OF GAY MEN: THE ROL OF MORY STRS AND NFORMY TO MASCULE NORMS

For example, rearch has shown that gay male media more often feature unrealistilly lean and mcular men, and male partners place a greater emphasis on their partner’s looks. For example, rearch has shown that attus towards bisexual men are more negative than toward gay men, and bisexual men experience prejudice om both heterosexual men and gay men. Preference for attractivens and thns a partner: Influence of ternalizatn of the th ial and shape/weight dissatisfactn heterosexual women, heterosexual men, lbians, and gay men.

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

Body image issu aren’t unique to bi or gay men, but toxic thoughts pertag to self-worth and physil re have bee dangeroly prevalent wh the MSM (men seekg men) muny. Rearch published last year by Philip Joy and Matthew Numer om Dalhoie Universy found that “social mands placed upon gay men to eat healthily and achieve a perfect body are lked to anxiety and prsn and have ser mental health nsequenc.

Instagram tends to get the most blame, but Lewis, a 29-year-old gay man who says his body “jt don’t feel good enough, ” argu that Twter n be even more triggerg. The thors hypothized that gay men's experienc of mory strs and their nformy to mascule norms would be associated wh creased body image dissatisfactn and mascule body ial distrs.

E., ternalized homophobia, expected stigma for beg gay, and experienc of physil attack) were associated wh body image dissatisfactn and mascule body ial distrs, acuntg for 5% and 13% of the variance, rpectively. Gay men's nformy to mascule norms was not associated wh body image dissatisfactn but did uniquely expla an addnal 3% of variance mascule body ial distrs sr. Body image disturbance and associated eatg disorr and body dysmorphic disorr pathology gay and heterosexual men: A systematic analys of gnive, affective, behavral und perceptual aspects.

BODY IMAGE GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN: A QUALATIVE STUDY

For the purpose of this review, “sexual mory men” refers to men who are gay, bisexual, or pansexual, among a variety of other non-heterosexual sexual inti (Calzo et al., 2017), as well as dividuals of any sexual orientatn wh same-sex attractns or same-sex sexual ntact, as specified earlier work intified this review (Jampel, Saen, & Blashill, 2015, Kwan & Lee, 2018). Although prev reviews of the lerature on body image among sexual mory groups have been nducted (Ban-Ribera et al., 2018; Bosley, 2011; Dahlenburg et al., 2020; Morrison et al., 2004), the reviews revealed one or more of the followg limatns: (i) they are narrowly foced on gay men only, lackg cln of other SMM groups; (ii) ltle examatn occurred of how sexual mory stat was asssed or operatnalized the studi; and (iii) they examed nstcts that subsume body image but are not specific to body image, such as disorred eatg. Public and scholarly unrstandgs of sexual orientatn have shifted, such that ntemporary unrstandgs of “sexual mory” have expand to clu not jt those who intify as gay, but also those who intify as bisexual, pansexual, or asexual, among var other sexual inti (Calzo et al., 2017, Fililt and Dmmond, 2009, O'Flynn, 2019).