119,233 research outputs found
"Appearance potent"? A content analysis of UK gay and straight men's magazines.
No full textWith little actual appraisal, a more 'appearance potent' (i.e., a reverence for appearance ideals) subculture has been used to explain gay men's greater body dissatisfaction in comparison to straight men's. This study sought to assess the respective appearance potency of each subculture by a content analysis of 32 issues of the most read gay (Attitude, Gay Times) and straight men's magazines (Men's Health, FHM) in the UK. Images of men and women were coded for their physical characteristics, objectification and nudity, as were the number of appearance adverts and articles. The gay men's magazines featured more images of men that were appearance ideal, nude and sexualized than the straight men's magazines. The converse was true for the images of women and appearance adverts. Although more research is needed to understand the effect of this content on the viewer, the findings are consistent with a more appearance potent gay male subculture
Defining the Gay Tourist Niche: Marketing and Ethical Considerations
No full textNiche tourism is associated with the differentiation, competitive advantage, and sustainability, of tourist destinations. However, limitations and moral implications of niche strategies have been raised. These apply particularly acutely to the gay tourist niche. Depth interviews reveal the ambivalence of gay individuals towards gay tourism. Sexuality appears an inadequate basis for distinguishing tourists. Gay tourism descriptions are perceived as stereotypes; unrepresentative and potentially insulting. The variety and multiplicity of tourism pursued by gay individuals is not recognised. Nor are concerns for the alienation, isolation, and stigmatisation, produced by gay tourist labels. The effectiveness and ethics of defining tourists based on sexuality, is therefore challenged
Gay men and suicidality : an exploration of the significant biographical experiences fore-grounded during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood of some gay men who have engaged in suicidality
No full textInternational epidemiological studies note that gay men are 4 times more likely to report a serious suicide attempt than their heterosexual counterparts. Data on completed suicides, usually derived from mortality statistics, misrepresent the rate of suicides amongst homosexual populations. However, an increasing number of studies comparing representative samples of gay, lesbian and bisexual youths with heterosexual controls, report increased rates of mental health problems and subsequent suicide among the homosexual population. Whilst current healthcare policy in England is concerned with suicides among young people, the importance of research findings relating to gay people and their mental health needs are often not acknowledged. Additionally, addressing the problem through a public health agenda, the juxtaposition of trying to reduce the rate of suicide among young gay men in a social climate of heterosexism often compounds the negative mental health consequences for this group of people. This thesis explores possible psychosocial experiences that might have contributed to the suicidality of four gay men. A qualitative approach, using single case studies, was used to gain an in-depth understanding of the individual's experience. This methodology was psychoanalytically informed, and used free association narrative interviewing as a means of data collection. Initial data analysis involved interpretation of the Gestalt of each of the case studies. Subsequent analysis explored the shared experiences that are to be found in each of the individual narratives. Thematically, these are described as 'knowing and not knowing', 'the centrality of the father-son relationship' 'the loneliness of 'outsiderness', 'leading a double life' and 'crime and punishment'. The exploration of the significance of the life, experiences these themes illustrated revealed why some gay men might not only experience long term mental health problems but also engage in suicidality. Individually and collectively the analyses provide important insights for health professionals becoming more attuned to specific aspects of a gay man's story and thus, as a consequence, providing sensitive mental health care, at a primary, secondary and tertiary level, to those who have a gay sexual orientation
The experiences of male gay business owners in the UK
No full textThe article reports on a qualitative study of the motivations for and experiences of business ownership amongst 11 male gay entrepreneurs in the UK. Included in this analysis is a comparison with issues identified throughout the extant literature for other minority groups, particularly women. Corroborating previous studies, the male-gay-owned firms studied here were concentrated in the service sector and catered to diverse markets. While homophobia is reported in both employment and business ownership it is indirect and implicit rather than direct discrimination or harassment and is not cited as an entrepreneurial motivator. The findings are of importance insofar as they provide new knowledge and consequently, further our understanding of the diverse phenomena of entrepreneurship. Further, the article illustrates that heteronormativity and the gendered nature of most employment contexts also extends to the entrepreneurship domain. <br/
Teachers' perceptions on including gay and lesbian issues in the classroom
No full textPlan BSocial values—including beliefs about gay and lesbian people—develop at an early age. But a common assumption in most school communities is that gay and lesbian issues are not relevant to children. It is thought that there is no age appropriate way to bring up the subject without discussing sexual acts. The purpose of this study was to describe elementary school teachers’ perceptions of including gay and lesbian issues in the classroom. This study also investigated the support and opposition elementary school teachers would face when including these topics during classroom discussions. A questionnaire was developed by the researcher to gather information on discussing homosexual issues in the classroom. Eleven elementary school teachers within the Menomonie, Wisconsin area completed the questionnaire. The findings of the study illustrated perspectives of teachers faced with the issue of including gay and lesbian topics in the classroom, and determined the reasons behind their decisions. All of the teachers shared feelings of uncertainty and caution about discussing gay and lesbian issues in their classrooms. None of the selected teachers included education about this topic. The goal was for educators to examine the possibilities of how to include gay and lesbian issues in the classroom and better prepare themselves to respond to students’ concerns surrounding this topic
Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights among psychology students
No full textA questionnaire comprising two scales, the short form of the Attitudes Towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG-S; Herek, 1984) and the newly devised Support for Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Scale (SLGHR) were administered to 226 students taking undergraduate psychology courses at universities in the United Kingdom, to assess their attitudes towards lesbians and gay men, and their level of support for lesbian and gay human rights. The results indicated that whilst only a small percentage of respondents expressed negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men on the ATLG-S, the sample as a whole did not overwhelmingly support lesbian and gay human rights. The lack of support for lesbian and gay human rights is discussed in relation to its implications for psychology students as future practitioners and policy makers.
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Clubbing masculinities: Gender shifts in gay men's dance floor choreographies
No full textThis is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journal of Homosexuality, 58(5), 608-625, 2011 [copyright
Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00918369.2011.563660This article adopts an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the intersections of gender, sexuality, and dance. It examines the expressions of sexuality among gay males through culturally popular forms of club dancing. Drawing on political and musical history, I outline an account of how gay men's gendered choreographies changed throughout the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Through a notion of “technologies of the body,” I situate these developments in relation to cultural levels of homophobia, exploring how masculine expressions are entangled with and regulated by musical structures. My driving hypothesis is that as perceptions of cultural homophobia decrease, popular choreographies of gay men's dance have become more feminine in expression. Exploring this idea in the context of the first decade of the new millennium, I present a case study of TigerHeat, one of the largest weekly gay dance club events in the United States
The Geneva Gay Men's Health Project: A community-research collaboration to assess and improve the health of gay men in Geneva, Switzerland
No full textComprehensive overviews of research in the late 1990s on health issues relevant to gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people (LGBT) identified issues which appear to affect sexual minorities disproportionately, but the quality of the available data was deemed too poor to translate into policy initiatives. Dialogai, a gay organization in Geneva active in HIV prevention work, embarked on a community-research partnership with the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, for the Geneva Gay Men's Health Project with the following objectives: gather information on gay men's health in order to educate itself and others, set priorities based on evidence, and introduce new interventions in response to community needs.
After two rounds of focus groups and an extensive literature review phase, the first Geneva Gay Men's Health Survey (GGMHS)-patterned on national health interview surveys-was carried out in 2002 among 571 gay men recruited using randomized time-space sampling. In order to explore the possible existence of distinctive health needs among gay men along key public health indicators of health status, health-related behaviors, and health care utilization, we performed a post-hoc comparison with matched general population controls from the 2002 Swiss Health Survey. Gay men reported significantly more and severe physical symptoms (AOR=1.72-9.21), short-term disability (AOR=2.56), risk factors for chronic disease-i.e., high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high glucose, and smoking-(AOR=1.67-3.89), and greater health services utilization (AOR=1.62-4.28), even after adjustment for socio-demographic characteristics and health behaviors. The only exceptions to greater morbidity were greater attention to food choices (AOR=1.66) and less obesity (AOR=0.54) among gay men.
GGMHS assessed common psychiatric disorders using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form (CIDI-SF). Nearly half (43.7%) of the sample fulfilled diagnostic criteria for at least one of five DSM-IV disorders in the past 12 months: major depression 19.2%, specific and/or social phobia 21.9%, and alcohol and/or drug dependence 16.7%. Over one quarter of cases were comorbid with another kind of disorder. Despite chronicity, half the men with major depression and a third of the men with social and/or specific phobia actually self-reported the condition. Such men were 5 times more likely to have sought treatment, underscoring the importance of recognition in help-seeking. In all, only 35.7% of cases consulted a health care professional in the past 12 months for mental health.
GGMHS assessed various forms of suicidality. Suicidal ideation (12 months/lifetime) was reported by 22%/55%, suicide plans 12%/38%, and suicide attempts 4%/19%. While lifetime prevalences and ratios are similar across age groups, men under 25 years reported the highest 12-month prevalences for suicidal ideation (35.4%) and suicide attempts (11.5%) and the lowest attempt ratio (1:3.1 for attempt to ideation). In order to bolster the findings for the youngest age group, we performed secondary analyses of two national adolescent health surveys from 2002-i.e., Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health (SMASH) and Swiss Recruit Survey
(ch-x)-comparing homo- and bisexually attracted young men directly with their heterosexual counterparts. Homo/bisexual men aged 16-20 years were significantly more likely to report 12-month suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts (OR=2.09-2.26) and lifetime suicidal ideation (OR=2.15) and suicide attempts (OR=4.68-5.36).
GGMHS was repeated in 2007 and 2011 with a focus on mental health and assessed the understanding and experience of gay men using mental health literacy with features of cultural epidemiology. A depression vignette was labelled as such by 44.1% of the entire sample, and 61.9% of the men with major depression in the past 12 months. Discrimination (33.2%), acceptance/rejection by others (21.4%), and loneliness (24.9%) were the most common reasons given for greater susceptibility among gay men, yet men with major depression reported problems with love/relationship (32.5%) and work (28.9%) as the most common perceived causes of recent depression, and problems with love/relationship (21.9%), accepting one's homosexuality (21.1%), and family (20.2%) at initial outset. The highest proportions of gay men rated non-medical options such as a close friend (91.6%), relaxation exercises or meditation (84.4%), and physical activity (83.5%) as being helpful for the depression vignette, and seeing friends (17.2%) and doing sports (17.2%) were the most common non-professional activities mentioned spontaneously by men with major depression. While gay men share many commonalities in labelling, perceived causes, and help-seeking with general populations, several specificities in understanding and experience were identified.
As the first mental health intervention for a gay community, Blues-out is a depression awareness campaign modelled after the evidence-based European Alliance Against Depression. The pre-post intervention evaluation confirmed levels of recognition of depression and Blues-out comparable to those found in general populations. A third of the respondents (32.9%) recognized Blues-out in 2011. Such men were more likely to find specialists and psychological therapies helpful and correctly identify depression and gay men's greater risk for depression. Despite small effect sizes, significant net decreases (18 - 28%) were seen in lifetime suicide plans, 12-month suicidal ideation, self-reported lifetime depression, and 4-week psychological distress between 2007 and 2011. It should be a priority to test and implement public mental health interventions in such high prevalence populations
Sexing the city : lesbian and gay municipal politics 1979-87
No full textThis thesis explores the relationship between local government and
social change strategies. More specifically, it examines the series of
highly contested attempts during the 1980s to deploy local government
in order to challenge the discrimination and prejudice facing lesbians
and gay men. Whilst, much of the effort was directed at making council
services more responsive to lesbian and gay needs, a key aspect of the
project concerned the transformation of dominant sexual meanings.
Four questions provide a theoretical and empirical framework for
this research. First, why did some local authorities address lesbian
and gay issues? Second, how successful were they in doing so? Third,
what factors constrained or limited their attempts? And fourth, why
were lesbian and gay municipal initiatives so controversial?
The first section of this thesis examines the reconstitution of
lesbian and gay issues on the local government agenda, and the
subsequent trajectory of their development within particular
authorities. The thesis then goes on to examine the impact of
bureaucratic processes and right-wing opposition on lesbian and gay
municipal discourses. I argue that despite significant opposition to
lesbian and gay policies, in general the right did not mobilise. The
ideological steer within local government bureaucracy was usually
sufficient to 'weed out' or dilute more progressive proposals. However,
on occasions where this broke down, opposing forces intervened, both to
obstruct lesbian and gay initiatives and to use the policies' existence
to advance their own political agenda.
The final part of this thesis draws together several key issues: the
general absence of a more radical sexual politics; the crisis of
implementation; the nature of opponents' attitudes towards
homosexuality and local government; and the decline of lesbian and gay
municipal politics post-1987. In the conclusion, I return to the
question of local government's radical potential by proposing an
alternative, decentred approach to municipal sexual politics.
Methodologically, this thesis is eclectic drawing on several
disciplinary areas in conjunction with a range of theoretical
perspectives, particularly neo-marxism, feminism and poststructuralism.
Field research comprises of interviews, mass media and
local government documentation combined with my own experiences as an
actor within the municipal lesbian and gay project.
This thesis is intended to make a contribution to a theoretical
understanding of municipal politics, especially to the relationship
between local government, sexuality, ideology and social change. it
also offers a detailed account and analysis of lesbian and gay
municipal developments, one of the most controversial initiatives of
the 1980s
Testing targets: findings from the United Kingdom Gay Men’s Sex Survey 2007
No full textDuration: April 1993 - June 2012
In 1993, Sigma Research carried out an on-the-spot survey of men attending the London Lesbian and Gay Pride festival, instigating an annual survey that has grown to be the largest in the world and an institution on the UK summer gay scene. The National Gay Men’s Sex Survey (GMSS), also known as Vital Statistics, now recruits men via booklets and online. To find out more about the history of GMSS, the methods used, collaborators, questionnaires and all the outputs associated with it go to our specific GMSS website.
The content of the survey is developed in collaboration with health promoters, within the framework of Making it Count. The questions cover a range of demographics, health indicators, sexual behaviours, HIV prevention needs, use of settings in which health promotion can occur and recognition of national interventions. The weight given to each area varies each year, and the data collected is treated as cumulative, building a detailed picture of gay men and bisexual men and HIV over time.
Core results from the national sample are reported in the main annual survey report, published in the year following each survey. We also publish and insert into various gay press titles feedback to respondents who may have taken part.
Since 2003 detailed data reports have also been made available alongside the national reports.These reports group men by their region of residence for each country, and for English residents by their Primary Care Trust of residence within each Strategic Health Authority.
Data about the performance of national interventions appears in specific CHAPS Evaluation Reports.
Findings from the survey have also been presented at a range of national and international conferences and in Journal articles
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