It's a new year and and a new , but that don't mean the world needs a new you. GQ unpacks the body image issu pervadg the gay muny.
Contents:
- REPORTED EFFECTS OF MASCULE IALS ON GAY MEN
- HOW BODY IALS SHAPE THE HEALTH OF GAY MEN
- PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS
- A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN
- MCULARY AND THE GAY IAL: BODY DISSATISFACTN AND DISORRED EATG HOMOSEXUAL MEN
- PENIS SIZE AND PREFERRED SEXUAL ROL AMONG GAY MEN
- IAL GAY: CUERPO, MODA Y MASCULIDAD*
- WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY
REPORTED EFFECTS OF MASCULE IALS ON GAY MEN
The gay world is often reprented as some sort of monolhic whole that has the same culture. That is a lie. It is actually broken down to a handful of substrata to which each gay belongs. Here they are. * gay ideal *
Evince also dit that there are unique ncerns for LGBTQ people relatg to nutrn and oby, and that tailored programs n improve overall health out for gay men. Our rearch shows 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. In our study, rried out at Dalhoie Universy, gay men explored how culture fluenc the way they thk about food and their bodi through a procs lled Photovoice—an arts-based rearch methodology which participants subm their own photographs.
The health nsequenc for gay men of not livg up to body ials have been prevly intified and clu disorred eatg, avoidance of sex, stigma, rejectn and isolatn. Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC5442596NIHMSID: NIHMS860386AbstractThe Bear muny exists as a subculture reactn to the larger gay muny. While qualative data document such self-intifiers as mascule-actg gay men who weigh more and have more body hair, there has to date been no quantative analysis of this group’s characteristics.
In rponse, we nducted two large-sle studi of gay men intifyg as Bears (n = 469) to survey their self-reported physil, behavral, and psychologil tras. Keywords: Bears, Gay Culture, Gay and Bisexual Men, Self-teem, Masculy, ObyINTRODUCTIONThe gay muny is ultimately a heterogeneo one wh many subgroups and subcultur—one of the monali among them beg the sire to have same-sex enunters.
HOW BODY IALS SHAPE THE HEALTH OF GAY MEN
The prent study vtigated body ncerns a muny sample of 52 homosexual men, as well as two parison groups prisg 51 heterosexual men and 55 heterosexual women. Gay men were found to sre signifintly more highly than heterosexual men on all measur of disorred eatg, and di … * gay ideal *
Bee there is a arth of general rearch regardg this muny, and no studi to date that e quantative methods, we cid to explore this muny quantatively—g an Inter-nvenience sample, followed by a purposive suggted, the Bear culture exhibs and valu a greater sense of domant (but not necsarily domeerg) “thentic masculy” parison to other subcultur wh the gay muny (e.
In rponse and ntrast wh Leathermen, Bears mata their mascule inty whout adoptg negative hypermascule tennci to acmodate all partners, spe their size or body is some theoretil support for why the Bear inty spltered om the gay male mastream culture. G., twks, partyboys, A-listers) that are anthetil to, and even antagonistic towards Bears, men who are hairier and heavier exist and adopt an inty to afont the stereotypil “alpha” gay male. Popular culture, the media, and Wtern hetero- and homosexual expectatns have normalized the ial male body as one that is lean, mcular, and v-shaped (wh broad shoulrs, a narrow waist, and a flat but well-fed stomach) (Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2000).
G., poor self-image/self-teem) velop both heterosexual and homosexual men exhibg ls sirable physil tras (Beren, Hayn, Wilfley, & Grilo, 1996; Morrison, Morrison, & Sager, 2004; Pepl et al., 2009; Weer, 2009; Yelland & Tiggemann, 2003). However, where mastream gay men report wantg partners wh those prevly stated, admired or revered characteristics (Moskowz, Rieger, & Seal, 2009), Bears may not (Manley et al., 2007).
PHYSIL, BEHAVRAL, AND PSYCHOLOGIL TRAS OF GAY MEN INTIFYG AS BEARS
I personally examed thoands of obuari of gay men to support the claim that homosexualy is not a healthy liftyle. * gay ideal *
Whereas mastream gay men often do not engage sired or preferred sexual behavrs bee of fears of rejectn or judgment (Kamski, Chapman, Hayn, & Own, 2004), those the more acceptg Bear muny reject the fears due to their beg ultimately “feme” nature (Hennen, 2005). G., uratn, fistg, voyrism, exhibnism) (Grov, Parsons, & Bimbi, 2010) to the active existence of the Bear muny and regnn of this subculture by the larger gay/bisexual male culture, more rearch is need to explore the gree to which the prevly mentned physil, behavral, and psychologil differenc actually exist. In explorg the smaller subcultur of the larger gay/bisexual male culture, soclogy, psychology, and even public health n better expla and addrs the needs of men wh same-sex attractns.
Specifilly, our first study was more exploratory and foced on the physil tras, partner selectn, and rejectn creria of gay men (wh which we llected enough Bears for analys). A total of 531 men answered the 2: IML/PriFt Study Procr For the send study, data were llected g an anonymo survey admistered at two pennt gay events May and June 2008: the Internatnal Mr. Our rults scribe a subculture of men who were different than mastream gay men their personal looks, partner preferenc, behavrs, and psychologi.
Consirg the likely prevalence of a Bear inty may be held (wh varyg tenaci) by about 14–22% of gay men, the rults provi addnal evince for the manift and latent heterogeney of gay and bisexual rults regardg body tras and partner selectn nfirm, for the first time a systematic manner, fdgs documented prev terview and ethnographic studi.
A HANDY GUI TO ALL GAY MEN
To be able to take a fist or urate on another man may be how the men exemplify their form of masculy—particularly a sexual climate where most gay men do not want to, nnot, or will not enact the behavrs. Regardls of the potential explanatn, Bears appear to be more sexually diverse and explorative than mastream gay and bisexual rults documented lower self-teem, which ntradicted both our hypothis and others’ terview rearch (e. Simply, to the Bear culture and reactn to mastream gay men, Bears may self-prent as feelg good; however, ternally, they may wish that they had those normative ialized bety tras.
MCULARY AND THE GAY IAL: BODY DISSATISFACTN AND DISORRED EATG HOMOSEXUAL MEN
In this rpect, Bears may overtimate and overstate re towards partners to self-prent as beg distct om men adherg to the mastream gay culture (which are often stereotyped as treatg partners as disposable) (Isay, 2009). A portra emerg om the Bear rults that supports a theory for why the gay muny ultimately is so heterogeneo (and th produc the high gree of spoff subcultur): Cultur facilate succsful same-sex enunters.
As Bears are not vastly different towards their sexual partners than mastream gay men, the culture veloped to ensure that even the heavit, hairit, and/or shortt dividual uld partner.
PENIS SIZE AND PREFERRED SEXUAL ROL AMONG GAY MEN
Whether the ems are applible to gay men, bisexuals, or men qutng their sexualy remas rpect to methods, the parabily of sampl may be somewhat uncerta, as one was llected through ter surveyg and the other, through paper survey. A study that answers the rearch qutns would provi further evince to support the heterogeney hypothis: Not only is the mastream gay muny culturally heterogeneo, but so are the sexual health behavrs and problems wh last suggtn for future rearch would be to tt some of the theori generated by the current data. Do Bears e their inty to pe wh the larger gay culture; do they nstct as a form of rebelln; or is their inty merely a tool ed to acce sex partners?
IAL GAY: CUERPO, MODA Y MASCULIDAD*
Future studi are need to ntribute more ncrete nclu, rearch such as ours nsistently fds creased evince that the gay muny should not be treated as one divisible block. Bears may very well prove to be reactnary figur to the normative ialized male bety that is pervasive both the straight and gay mastream cultur. Future rearchers should wonr what other ways nformg or not nformg to gay norms, stereotyp, and the larger heterosexual culture impacts dividuals and their self-inti.
That said, when the gays see a fellow homosexual the public sphere, we try to plug them to the nvenient taxonomy the muny has ma for self. They may not be very faiar to the world at large, but they are certaly faiar to the brothers butt say that each gay person belongs to one of the typ is a b ceptive.
Dcriptn: This young breed of gays is never over 30 and tends to be on the queeny si and hews closely to the nventnal stereotyp of gay man. Wild, ornery, and still gettg over their g out issu, the twk is the gay gone wild, and is ba to olr men who are to tryg to suck off their youthful energy.
WHY BODY IMAGE ISSU PERVA THE GAY COMMUNY
Celebry Example: This is such a specific type don't really exists the world at large, but the Platonic ial of a circu boy is DJ Brett HenrichsenGay-Listers.
They ually work advertisg, PR, marketg, or the entertament dtry and make a ton of sh which they e to have perfect apartments, fantastic wardrob, and summer hom near all the other gay-listers. He drs eher the most current prissy fashns or like a homo versn of Terry Richardson, big glass, flannels, and jeans that looks so thrown together that took him hours to put together.
You're more likely to fd them at a gallery openg or mol party, but every so often they'll be at a gay bar to b elbows, and other parts, wh the other homos. The drag queens are not only the urt jters of the gay muny, drsg up like clowns for our entertament, but they are also a bridge to the straight world.