"Not hiding, not shouting, just me": gay men negotiate their visual identities.

J Homosex

a Centre for Appearance Research, Department of Health and Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences , University of the West of England, Bristol , UK.

Published: December 2015

This study explored how British gay men make sense of their appearance and clothing practices and the pressures and concerns they attend to in discursively negotiating their visual identities. A convenience sample of 20 mostly young, White, and middle-class self-identified gay men responded to a qualitative survey on dress and appearance. The participants clearly understood the rules of compulsory heterosexuality and the risks of looking "too gay." In the data, there was both a strong resistance to the notion of gay as a "master status" and an orientation to the "coming out" imperative in gay communities. The analysis revealed the overriding importance of discourses of authentic individuality for making sense of visual identity and the reported cultivation of appearance and clothing practices that communicate the message that: "I'm not hiding (too closeted), I'm not shouting (too gay), I'm just me (an authentic individual who just happens to be gay)."

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2014.957119DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

gay men
12
visual identities
8
appearance clothing
8
clothing practices
8
gay
6
"not hiding
4
hiding shouting
4
shouting me"
4
me" gay
4
men negotiate
4

Similar Publications

Judgments of attractiveness have many important social outcomes, highlighting the need to understand how people form these judgments. One aspect of appearance that impacts perceptions of attractiveness is facial femininity/masculinity (sexual dimorphism). However, extant research has focused primarily on White, Western, heterosexual participants' preferences for femininity/masculinity in White faces, limiting generalizability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The mental health of gay and bisexual men (GBM) who use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) may be negatively impacted by experiences of stigma.

Methods: To assess the relationship between stigma and mental health among GBM who use PrEP in Guatemala, we conducted a survey with 162 PrEP users recruited in a community-based PrEP clinic.

Results: In multiple linear regression analyses, greater internalized (ß=1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Peer support from social networks of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) has been recognised as a critical driver of engagement with HIV prevention. Using data from an online cross-sectional survey of 1,032 GBMSM aged 18 or over in Australia, a latent class analysis was conducted to categorise participants based on social support, LGBTQ + community involvement, and social engagement with gay men and LGBTQ + people. Comparisons between classes were assessed using multivariable multinomial logistic regression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

HIV self-sampling and -testing (HIVSS/ST) reduces testing barriers and potentially reaches populations who may not test otherwise. In the Netherlands, at-home HIV tests became commercially available around 2016, but data on user experiences are limited. This study aimed to explore characteristics of users and their experiences with HIVSS/ST.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The wellbeing of gay men in China is shaped by a combination of cultural, social, and political factors, yet research on this topic remains fragmented despite growing global interest in LGBTQ+ health. This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research trends on wellbeing of gays (MSM) in China, using the PRISMA 2020 guidelines for a systematic search strategy and VOSviewer for bibliometric mapping. Data from Scopus were analyzed to examine publication output, top journals, and authors, along with a co-occurrence analysis of keywords and co-authorship networks across countries and authors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!