Homosexuality,Heterosexuality, and Cross-Dressing: Perceptions of Gender Discordant Behavior

This study examined attitudes of heterosexual and homosexual males toward heterosexual and homosexual cross-dressers. It was hypothesized that heterosexual males would be equally intolerant of homosexual cross-dressers, heterosexual cross-dressers, and homosexuals who did not cross-dress, but that homosexuals would be more tolerant of noncross-dressing homosexuals than of the other two groups. It was also hypothesized that homosexual subjects, but not the heterosexual subjects, would rate the homosexual noncross-dressers as more masculine than the cross-dressers. Forty-five heterosexual and 45 homosexual male college students read stories about a character who was described as a heterosexual cross-dresser, a homosexual cross-dresser, or a plain homosexual. 83 subjects were Caucasian, 2 were Asian, and 5 were African American; about 60% of the subjects were middle class; 30% were from lower class families and 10% were upper class. Heterosexuals were much less tolerant of all three vignette characters than homosexuals, but neither group rated the characters much differently when they were labeled differently. Homosexuals, but not heterosexuals, rated the plain homosexual as more masculine than the cross-dressing characters. Results also showed that gay males with highly nontraditional attitudes toward women had higher self-esteem.     

Heterosexual and homosexual activity among gay males

Abstract

A total of 150 adult self‐professed homosexual men, age 20 to 40, living in three locales‐Manhattan, Suffolk County, (N.Y.), and Minneapolis‐were interviewed, in part to determine their heterosexual and homosexual activities. About two‐thirds (65%) said they had experienced intercourse with a woman at least once, but only 6% had done so in the year prior to the survey. The respondents with heterosexual experience (especially with several women) were more homosexually active currently than were those without it. This pattern holds true even when residence, age, bargoing, and education are controlled. The authors speculate that “action seeking” and sexual desirability account for the observed relationships. Even prior to taking on a homosexual identity, some men are more sexually active and seek out sexual “action” and are, in addition, sought out sexually. In a heterosexual sphere their activities will be heterosexual, but in a homosexual sphere their activities will be homosexual.     

Correlates of African American Men’s Sexual Schemas

Sexual schemas are cognitive representations of oneself as a sexual being and aid in the processing of sexually relevant information. We examined the relationship between sociosexuality (attitudes about casual sex), masculine ideology (attitudes toward traditional men and male roles), and cultural centrality (strength of identity with racial group) as significant psychosocial and sociocultural predictors in shaping young, heterosexual African American men??s sexual schemas. A community sample (n?=?133) of men in a southeastern city of the United States completed quantitative self-report measures examining their attitudes and behavior related to casual sex, beliefs about masculinity, racial and cultural identity, and self-views of various sexual aspects of themselves. Results indicated that masculine ideology and cultural centrality were both positively related to men??s sexual schemas. Cultural centrality explained 12?% of the variance in level of sexual schema, and had the strongest correlation of the predictor variables with sexual schema (r?=?.36). The need for more attention to the bidirectional relationships between masculinity, racial/cultural identity, and sexual schemas in prevention, intervention, and public health efforts for African American men is discussed.     

Sex-role identity and male and female homosexuality

The incidences of sex-role outcome within homosexual and heterosexual male and female young adult samples were compared using a fourfold typology (both masculine and feminine, masculine, feminine, neither masculine nor feminine). Sex-role identity disparities between the female groups were more clear-cut; the most striking difference was the high incidence of masculinity (60%) within the homosexual female group. No significant differences for males were found, although a trend was noted toward higher incidence of femininity and lower incidence of masculinity in homosexuals. The second purpose of the study was to search for possible developmental antecedents to heterosexual deficit in unselected college samples. The same key pattern of psychometric indices was identified for males and females. Low heterosexuality and the closest approximation to the modal sex-role identity among homosexuals of their sex were found in females primarily identified with masculine fathers and low in role consistency and in males primarily identified with feminine mothers and low in role consistency.     

Homosexuality in Biblical Perspective

Homosexuality in Biblical Perspective analyses, in their cultural context, biblical passages on homosexuality. Biblical anthropology did not distinguish between homosexual orientation and behavior. Biblical passages address homosexual behavior of heterosexual persons in cultic contexts, identifying the perpetrators with pagan worship practice, eclipsing their identity as the people of Yahweh. Such behavior is an abomination. The Bible says nothing about the morality of homosexual behavior within a committed and ethical troth relationship such as marriage.     

Operating within the mainstream: Coping and adjustment among a sample of homosexual youths

A sample (N = 37) of African American adolescent homosexual males was administered a questionnaire that focused on four areas of social psychological functioning (self‐identity, family relation, school‐work relations, and social adjustment). The findings contradicted several past studies that reported in general that homosexual males experience crippling cognitive dissonance. Even with the existence of homophobia in the society, the adolescents were found to possess an adequate social psychological attitude and survival skills. The sampled adolescents reported being comfortable with their sexual orientation even though the majority of them had not disclosed their homosexuality. The respondents reported how they managed self‐presentation among heterosexual persons. The adolescents appeared well‐adjusted and stable in their social functioning and disagreed with the idea that they needed professional counseling.     

Masculinity Ideology, Male Identity, and Romantic Relationship Quality Among Heterosexual and Gay Men

This research assessed factors that may affect men’s romantic relationships. One hundred men (50 heterosexual and 50 gay) in the Northeast US completed measures that assessed masculinity ideology, male identity, and relationship quality. We examined whether the quality of heterosexual men’s romantic relationships differ from that of romantic relationships among gay men, and whether masculinity ideology and male identity are related to the quality of heterosexual and same-sex romantic relationships. Results indicated no differences between heterosexual and gay men in the perceived quality of romantic relationships. However, in both gay and heterosexual men, traditional masculinity ideology and a male identity characterized by a lack of psychological relatedness to other men were associated with lower quality romantic relationships.     

The Attitudes and Attitude Estimates of Catholic,Protestant, and Jewish Students

Summary

This study was a cross-cultural extension of previous research concerning the relationship between attitudes toward homosexuality, attitudes toward heterosexual sexual practices, personal sex-guilt, and sex stereotyping. One hundred twelve Brazilian male college students completed a series of attitude measures previously administered to a comparable sample of Canadians. As had been previously found in Canada, antihomosexual (Anti-H) Ss were more disapproving of various heterosexual sexual practices and reported greater personal sex-guilt than prohomosexual (Pro-H) Ss. The intercorrelations among the three principle attitude scales were only moderately positive in both samples, suggesting that attitudes toward homosexuality are somewhat independent of more general sexual attitudes. Anti-H Ss also stereotyped the sexes more than did Pro-H respondents and were more willing than Pro-H Ss to label a male as homosexual when he exhibited what they thought was a single feminine characteristic. In these respects the Brazilian and Canadian results were strikingly similar.

More antihomosexual prejudice was found in the Brazilians. They also assigned much higher probabilities to a “feminine” male being homosexual than did Canadian Ss. The findings of this study provide potent cross-cultural confirmation of Churchill's theory of antihomosexual prejudice within a sex-negative environment.     

The relationship between attitude,assertiveness and condom use

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships between attitudes, assertiveness and intention to use and actual use of condoms as a means of preventing infection from sexually transmitted disease. Both homosexual (n = 83) and heterosexual men (n = 128) participated in the survey. It was found that the homosexual men held more favourable attitudes, and reported greater intended and actdal condom use than the heterosexual men. Intention to use condoms was positively related to favourable attitudes, which were related to condom-specific assertiveness for both groups. For the heterosexual men only, general social assertiveness was negatively related to attitudes toward condoms. It was concluded that condom use was reassuringly frequent among homosexual men, but not for heterosexual men. Efforts to increase condom use among the latter will need to take into account negative attitudes and, in particular, the possible perception of condom use as an effeminate behaviour.     

Who's Afraid of Gay Theology? Men's Studies,Gay Scholars,and Heterosexual Silence

Abstract

Despite the growing body of gay scholarship in religious studies, there is a dearth of responses by heterosexual scholars in the field of men's studies in religion. Gay theology can still count more predictably on the ire of a conservative public than on a nuanced, non-homophobic critique by their heterosexual colleagues. What contributes to disregarding gay scholarly voices? Paradoxically, their voices are marginalized to the point of invisibility and yet are also in the center of public discourse. This article sifts through some reasons of why heterosexual men shy away from a public debate of the merits of gay scholarship. Besides methodological reservations, heterosexual male anxieties cause such weariness. Autobiographical insertions by gay scholars combined with discipline-transgressions may lead to ‘homosexual panic’ even among non-homophobic scholars. The article argues that heterosexual men's studies in religion need to overcome their silence and engage the scholarship of gay theology.     

Patterns of self-disclosure in homosexual and heterosexual college students

Two hypotheses concerning self-disclosure were investigated and confirmed in the present study, comparing homosexual and heterosexual college students. The first hypothesis was that self-disclosure, as measured by the Jourard Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, would be positively correlated with psychological femininity. The second hypothesis was that homosexual males and heterosexual females would exhibit similar patterns of high disclosure and femininity. No significant differences were found in total disclosure between homosexuals and heterosexuals, although homosexuals disclosed less to father, and more to friends than to parents. The conclusion was that psychological femininity and masculinity are more important than biological sex in determining self-disclosure.     

Brain Potentials from Normal Speakers and Stutterers

The purposes of this study were to determine the differences in self-esteeem and alienation between homosexual and heterosexual American males, and the differences in self-esteem and alienation in homosexual males, by selected demographic variables and sexual behavior. Eighty-six American male homosexuals indicated significantly greater alienation than heterosexual males, but similar self-esteem levels. Religion, oral-genital insertion preference, and marital status were significantly related to self-esteem and alienation, whereas anal intercourse insertion preference and degree of homosexuality were not found to be significantly related to self-esteem and alienation.     

The Relation Between Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Adult Masculinity–Femininity and Anxiety in Heterosexual and Homosexual Men and Women

Recalled childhood gender nonconformity (CGN) and adult traits—e.g., masculinity–femininity of occupational preferences (MF-Occ), self-ascribed masculinity–femininity (Self-MF), self-reported anxiety—were assessed in an ethnically diverse US convenience sample of California college students and gay pride attendees, including 238 heterosexual men, 127 gay men, 343 heterosexual women, and 197 lesbian women. CGN showed large heterosexual–homosexual and gender differences, with homosexual individuals higher than heterosexual individuals and women higher than men. CGN was significantly associated with both men’s and women’s MF-Occ and Self-MF, both within and across sexual orientations. CGN was associated with self-reported anxiety for men but not for women, a finding true for both heterosexual and gay men, suggesting that CGN had a more negative impact on men than women.     

Competition or Community? The Backstage Experience of Men in Bodybuilding Competitions

Bodybuilding is an increasingly popular sport in the United States. Across fields of psychology, history, sociology, and anthropology, bodybuilding has been examined as being related to, or as manifestly being, a pathology. Extant work on men who are bodybuilders are often built on the assumption that narcissism, self-doubt, and insecurity are the driving forces for men’s involvement. The present study sought to examine the experiences of eleven men who have competed in bodybuilding competitions. In contrast to the dominant academic discourse on bodybuilding as an embodiment of toxic masculinity or as a reaction to underlying feelings of inferiority, the study participants described friendly, supportive competition contexts. That such feelings were found backstage, as opposed to in a gym, strengthens the need for a more nuanced distinction between bodybuilding as a culture, and bodybuilding as a sport. This study disrupts dominant narratives of bodybuilding as pathological and contributes to work on the construction of gender and masculinity in sport. The present work suggests a scholarly approach to men’s bodybuilding in an open and nuanced manner that does not focus on pathologizing bodybuilding or competition.

     

The relationship between attitude,assertiveness and condom use

The Australian study investigated condom-specific assertiveness and condom use as a means of prevention infection from sexually transmitted diseases. 211 men participated including 83 homosexual men (aged 19-62 years) and 128 heterosexual men (aged 17-49) who completed a questionnaire that comprised demographic details such as age, monogamy, and sexual activity as well as attitudinal and assertiveness measures. General assertiveness was measured by the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) which had been widely used across a wide range of social situations. Assertiveness relating specifically to situations involving condoms was measured by the Condom Assertiveness Scale (CAS). Intention to use condoms was positively related to favorable attitudes, which were related to condom-specific assertiveness for both groups. For the heterosexual men only, general social assertiveness was negatively related to attitudes toward condoms. For both groups, the condom-specific measure of assertiveness was positively correlated with attitudes toward condoms. Condom-specific assertiveness was positively related to general social assertiveness as measured by the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule for the homosexual, but not for the heterosexual men. The negative relationship between general assertiveness and attitude to condoms among the heterosexual men implies that the risk reducing behavior of condom use did not seem to accord with the perceptions of masculinity and social assertiveness among heterosexual men. Thus, female partners of such heterosexual men exhibiting negative attitudes toward condom use combined with assertiveness would have to overcome resistance to insist on the use of condoms. Recently some advertising campaigns have been directed at women. The promotion of condom use among heterosexual men has to deal with the perceptions of condom use as unmasculine behavior.     

Homosexuality,Transvestism and Transsexuality: Reflections on Their Etiology and Differentiation

SUMMARY

This article was first published in The American Journal of Psychotherapy, vol. 11, 1957, pp. 80–85. Prince distinguishes three types of male who may share “the desire to wear feminine attire.” She argues that although Havelock Ellis and Magnus Hirschfeld had distinguished transvestism from homosexuality almost 50 years earlier there was still a tendency to confuse the two. Arguing that the “discovery” of transsexualism and the possibility of sex reassignment surgery had further complicated the picture, she distinguishes the homosexual and the transsexual from what she calls the “true transvestite.” True transvestites are exclusively heterosexual. They value their male organs, enjoy using them and do not want them removed.     

The Effects of Personal Heterosuggestion and two Forms of Autosuggestion upon Postural Movement

Abstract

The relationships among marital status, gender role traits, and self-esteem in a sample of American men and women was investigated in the present study. Divorce was found to be associated with shifts in gender role identity, leading to greater masculine (but not androgynous) personality traits for both sexes. Intact marriages were associated with higher self-esteem and greater masculinity for both sexes, and greater feminity for women. Masculinity and feminity both contributed to women's self-esteem, but only masculinity was associated with male self-esteem. Finally, comparisons between the present data and those of Spence and Helmreich (1978) suggest the need for more research on gender role identification with nonacademic adult samples.     

The Relationship Between Religious Orientation,Right-Wing Authoritarianism,and Implicit Sexual Prejudice

The relationship between intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest religious orientations, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and implicit and explicit attitudes toward homosexual individuals were examined within a sample of predominantly Protestant college students in the United States. Implicit attitudes were measured with the Implicit Association Test, a computer program that recorded reaction times as participants categorized symbols (of heterosexual and homosexual individuals) and adjectives (good or bad words). Participants displayed fairly negative implicit and explicit attitudes toward homosexual individuals (i.e., sexual prejudice). Intrinsic religious orientation uniquely predicted increased explicit sexual prejudice (when extrinsic, quest, and impression management were statistically controlled), and RWA appeared to mediate this effect. In contrast, the positive relationship between intrinsic religion and implicit sexual prejudice did not disappear when controlling for RWA. Although RWA seemed to be related to self-reports of prejudice, intrinsic religious orientation was uniquely related to automatic negative attitudes toward homosexual individuals.