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Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns are generally categorized under heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, while asexuality is sometimes identified as the fourth category.
A gender role, or sex role, is a set of socially accepted behaviors and attitudes deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity, although there are exceptions and variations.
Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors considered masculine are influenced by both cultural factors and biological factors. To what extent masculinity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is distinct from the definition of the biological male sex, as anyone can exhibit masculine traits. Standards of masculinity vary across different cultures and historical periods. It is sometimes contrasted to femininity.
Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being bisexual. Similarly to homophobia, it refers to hatred and prejudice specifically against those identified or perceived as being in the bisexual community. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative stereotypes about people who are bisexual. Other forms of biphobia include bisexual erasure.
Heterosexism is a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favor of heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships. According to Elizabeth Cramer, it can include the belief that all people are or should be heterosexual and that heterosexual relationships are the only norm and therefore superior.
Down-low is an African-American slang term specifically used within the African-American community that typically refers to a sexual subculture of Black men who usually identify as heterosexual but actively seek sexual encounters and relations with other men, practice gay cruising, and frequently don a specific hip-hop attire during these activities. They generally avoid disclosing their same-sex sexual activities, even if they have female sexual partner(s), they are married to a woman, or they are single. The term is also used to refer to a related sexual identity. Down-low has been viewed as "a type of impression management that some of the informants use to present themselves in a manner that is consistent with perceived norms about masculine attribute, attitudes, and behavior".
Gender expression, or gender presentation, is a person's behavior, mannerisms, and appearance that are socially associated with gender, namely femininity or masculinity. Gender expression can also be defined as the external manifestation of one's gender identity through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, voice, or body characteristics. Typically, a person's gender expression is thought of in terms of masculinity and femininity, but an individual's gender expression may incorporate both feminine and masculine traits, or neither. A person's gender expression may or may not match their assigned sex at birth. This includes gender roles, and accordingly relies on cultural stereotypes about gender. It is distinct from gender identity.
LGBT stereotypes are stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) people based on their sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions. Stereotypical perceptions may be acquired through interactions with parents, teachers, peers and mass media, or, more generally, through a lack of firsthand familiarity, resulting in an increased reliance on generalizations.
Gender nonconformity or gender variance is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-binary, or they may be cisgender. In the case of transgender people, they may be perceived, or perceive themselves as, gender-nonconforming before transitioning, but might not be perceived as such after transitioning. Transgender adults who appear gender-nonconforming after transition are more likely to experience discrimination.
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or antipathy, may be based on irrational fear and may sometimes be attributed to religious beliefs.
Childhood gender nonconformity (CGN) is a phenomenon in which prepubescent children do not conform to expected gender-related sociological or psychological patterns, or identify with the opposite sex/gender. Typical behavior among those who exhibit the phenomenon includes but is not limited to a propensity to cross-dress, refusal to take part in activities conventionally thought suitable for the gender and the exclusive choice of play-mates of the opposite sex.
In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity is part of R. W. Connell's gender order theory, which recognizes multiple masculinities that vary across time, society, culture, and the individual. Hegemonic masculinity is defined as a practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society and justifies the subordination of the common male population and women, and other marginalized ways of being a man. Conceptually, hegemonic masculinity proposes to explain how and why men maintain dominant social roles over women, and other gender identities, which are perceived as "feminine" in a given society.
The relationship between the environment and sexual orientation is a subject of research. In the study of sexual orientation, some researchers distinguish environmental influences from hormonal influences, while other researchers include biological influences such as prenatal hormones as part of environmental influences.
Eric Anderson is an American sociologist and sexologist specializing in adolescent men's gender and sexualities. He holds the position of Professor of Masculinities, Sexualities and Sport at the University of Winchester, in England. His research has been recognized for excellence by the British Academy of Social Sciences and he is an elected Fellow of the International Academy of Sex Research. Anderson is an advocate for the inclusion of gay men in sport and is America's first openly gay high-school coach, having come out at Huntington Beach High School, the same high-school that produced the nation's first openly gay, professional team sport athlete, Robbie Rogers who recently played for LA Galaxy.
The sexual orientation hypothesis is a hypothesis proposed by Donald McCreary in 1994 that attempts to explain the impact of gender stereotypes on judgments about sexual orientation. This hypothesis states that feminine men are more likely to be assumed gay than masculine women are to be assumed lesbians. This model asserts a broad tendency to associate gender-atypical behavior in men with homosexuality. This is combined with a stigmatization of behaviors held as signs of same-sex attraction in men, and reinforces a stronger culture of exclusive homophobia than among young women.
Compulsory heterosexuality, often shortened to comphet, is the theory that heterosexuality is assumed and enforced upon people by a patriarchal, allonormative, and heteronormative society. The term was popularized by Adrienne Rich in her 1980 essay titled "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence". According to Rich, social science and literature perpetuate the societal belief that women in every culture are believed to have an innate preference for romantic and sexual relationships with men. She argues that women's sexuality towards men is not always natural but is societally ingrained and scripted into women. Comphet describes the belief that society is overwhelmingly heterosexual and delegitimizes queer identities. As a result, it perpetuates homophobia and legal inequity for the LGBTQ+ community.
Discrimination against gay men, sometimes called gayphobia, is a form of homophobic prejudice, hatred, or bias specifically directed toward gay men, male homosexuality, or men who are perceived to be gay. This discrimination is closely related to femmephobia, which is the dislike of, or hostility toward, individuals who present as feminine, including gay and effeminate men.
Inclusive masculinity is an approach to thinking about masculinity in the context of social changes that have undermined traditional hegemonic masculinity and its associated homophobia, which each have driven men to avoid certain behaviors in order to avoid being publicly perceived as gay; it holds that there are increasingly societal spaces in which men no longer need to behave in hypermasculine ways in order to be accepted. When this occurs, men can engage in a variety of previously feminine practices without the fear of being perceived gay or weak.
Homophobia in ethnic minority communities is any negative prejudice or form of discrimination in ethnic minority communities worldwide towards people who identify as–or are perceived as being–lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), known as homophobia. This may be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs. A 2006 study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in the UK found that while religion can have a positive function in many LGB Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, it can also play a role in supporting homophobia.
Gender roles in non-heterosexual communities are a topic of much debate; some people believe traditional, heterosexual gender roles are often erroneously enforced on non-heterosexual relationships by means of heteronormative culture and attitudes towards these non-conformative relationships.
References
- ↑ Anderson, Eric (Fall 2011). "The Rise and Fall of Western Homohysteria" (PDF). Journal of Feminist Scholarship (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- 1 2 Bullingham, Rachel; Magrath, Rory; Anderson, Eric (2014). Changing the game: sport and a cultural shift away from homohysteria. Routledge Handbook of Sport, Gender and Sexuality. p. 276. ISBN 9781136326967 . Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- 1 2 3 Anderson, Eric. "Homophobia (psychology and society)". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- 1 2 Eric Anderson; Mark McCormack (2014-08-01). "The Influence of Declining Homophobia on Men's Gender in the United States: An Argument for the Study of Homohysteria" (PDF). Sex Roles. 71 (3–4): 109–120. doi:10.1007/s11199-014-0358-8. S2CID 143889593.
- ↑ John Ibson (2002). Picturing Men: A Century of Male Relationships in Everyday American Photography . Smithsonian. ISBN 9781588340559. ASIN 1588340554.
- ↑ Meridith G. F. Worthen (2014-08-01). "The Cultural Significance of Homophobia on Heterosexual Women's Gendered Experiences in the United States: A Commentary". Sex Roles. 71 (3–4): 141–151. doi:10.1007/s11199-014-0389-1. S2CID 144988396.
- ↑ Anderson, Eric; Bullingham, Rachael (2015). "Openly lesbian team sport athletes in an era of decreasing homohysteria" (PDF). International Review for the Sociology of Sport. 50 (6): 647–660. doi:10.1177/1012690213490520. S2CID 73653713.
- ↑ McCormack, Mark; Anderson, Eric (7 August 2014). "Homohysteria: Definitions, Context and Intersectionality" (PDF). Sex Roles. 71 (3–4): 152–158. doi:10.1007/s11199-014-0401-9. S2CID 144553623.
