Can Gay and Straight Men Really Be Friends? | Psychology Today South Ai

Contents:

• GAY MEN AND STRAIGHT MEN AS FRIENDS
• IS FLIRTG BETWEEN GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN OKAY?
• GAYS VS. STRAIGHTS: ANY DIFFERENC SEXUAL SATISFACTN?
• 10 REASONS GAYS CHASE STRAIGHTS
• BRAS OF GAY PEOPLE REMBLE THOSE OF STRAIGHT PEOPLE OF OPPOSE SEX
• CAN GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN REALLY BE FRIENDS?
• GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN PREFER MASCULE-PRENTG GAY MEN FOR A HIGH-STAT ROLE: EVINCE FROM AN ELOGILLY VALID EXPERIMENT
• THE FACT NO ONE LIK TO ADM: MANY GAY MEN ULD JT HAVE EASILY BEEN STRAIGHT

GAY MEN AND STRAIGHT MEN AS FRIENDS

S., before there was such a thg as a gay inty, some straight men would, wh ltle shame, engage sexual ntact wh other men (ually allowg themselv to be fellated) when female partners were otherwise unavailable (see Gee Chncey’s semal book, Gay New York: Genr, Urban Culture, and the Makg of the Gay Male World 1890-1940) and there is good reason to believe this still occurs other untri and cultur. Dire cl long-term upl, but on average, men reta more sire than women, so we would expect men gay upl to feel the most sire, and women lbian upl the least, wh the men mixed-sex upl exprsg more libido than the women. My last post scribed a populatn of mal who nsir themselv heterosexual, do not label themselv gay or bisexual, chew volvement wh the LGBT muny, are often married or romantilly volved wh an oppose-sex partner, and who engage sex wh mal or exprs the sire to do so.

Due large part to the popularizatn of the topic the btsellg 2005 book On the Down Low: A Journey to the Liv of 'Straight' Black Men Who Sleep wh Men,[i] Lato and Ain-Amerin men are the primary subjects rearch wh non-gay intified MSM. One of the earlit studi, "The Bisexual and Non-Gay Attached Rearch Project" om the early 1990s, found that participants engagg same-sex sexual behavr but not intifyg as gay or bisexual scribed themselv as “kky,” “normal,” or “jt a guy.”[iii] A much more recent 2010 study nsisted of terviews wh heterosexually intified men who had engaged sexual activy wh another male the prev year; participants did not nsir this activy as discrepant wh their inty. Fally, while there is nflictg data, appears that non-gay intified MSM engage high levels of dg and alhol e.[vi] Many fact engage sexual activy wh other men as a means of obtag fancial rourc to procure such substanc.

[iii] Daryl Hood, Garrett Prtage, June Crawford, Tania Sorrell, and Chris O’Reilly, "Report on the BANGAR Project: Bisexual Activy/non Gay Attachment Rearch Targetg Strategi Intifitn Project." (Sydney: Natnal Centre HIV Epimlogy and Clil Rearch ,1994). Ramamurthi, Cleo Manago, Serg Ava, and Marv Jon, “Sexual Behavr, Sexual Inty, and Substance Abe Among Low-Ine Bisexual and Non-Gay-Intifyg Ain Amerin Men Who Have Sex wh Men,” Archiv of Sexual Behavr 37, no. The llectn clus Espac Dos (Spa) In the Name of the Father (Brazil), My Straight Boyiend (US), Tth or Consequenc (Brazil), Coffee Date (US), Poprn & Coke (UK), and productn, box office & pany PhotosMore like thisReview Half hearted llectn of gay short filmsThis is by far the poort llectn of gay shorts that I've seen marketed.

IS FLIRTG BETWEEN GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN OKAY?

Whispers of Marlene Dietrich's sctn of straight women and outright boastg om the lik of Tman Capote and Joe Orton morph to soft-foc gay romanc like Dert Hearts or Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, which heterosexualy is tossed asi the third act and "You know you want " is revealed as the ultimate tth. 5 THEY'RE THE "REAL THING" Call genr stereotypg or ternalized homophobia or whatever you like, but the socially accepted fns of man and woman have been heterosexualized for lennia, wh the ocsnal Greek vase or Michelangelo statue as the exceptns that prove the role.

Certaly, there are untls straight men and women out there oglg the bodi of gay men and lbians whout givg any thought to their sexual orientatn--and straights are jt begng to know the stant letdown of the appearance of a signifint other of the wrong sex. But attractive fac and enticg pheromon are both related to sex, and rpons to them uld be learned over Savic’s and Ldstrom’s new study shows that the differenc extend to fundamental aspects of the bra that aren’t directly lked to sex or behavur, and that are probably fixed om ia that straight men have more asymmetril bras than gay men fs wh prev rearch.

GAYS VS. STRAIGHTS: ANY DIFFERENC SEXUAL SATISFACTN?

From prev studi, we know that the nnectns ually lk to different areas the bras of men and women, and sprout om different hemispher -the right men, and the left was the pattern that Savic and Ldstrom saw the straight volunteers om their study, but the homosexuals showed the reverse pattern. For example, the amygdalas of gay men had more mon wh those of straight women – the two halv were well-nnected, they had more nrons projectg om the left half (as opposed to the right straight men) and the nrons nnected to the same parts of the bra that those of straight women nnectns provi some tantalisg hts about how gay and straight people differ their behavur. Whereas most studi on perceptns of feme-prentg gay men have manipulated genr nonnformy via wrten scriptns, rearch suggts that behavural cu such as voice and body-language n migate or exacerbate prejudice toward a stereotyped dividual.

For heterosexual men, the preference for mascule-prentg actors was predicted by greater anti-gay sentiment, whereas ternalised anti-gay prejudice did not predict a preference for mascule-prentatn among gay men. This associatn between masculy and stat endowment has plex implitns for gay men, given the prevailg stereotype that they are more feme pared to heterosexual men (Ke & Dx, 1987; Lippa, 2000; Mchell & Ellis, 2011; Sanchez et al., 2009) Men and the Feme StereotypeSuch a stereotype reflects, to some extent, average differenc genr-typily between gay and heterosexual men.

10 REASONS GAYS CHASE STRAIGHTS

Policg of masculy among gay men is not only self-directed; there is also evince of prejudice toward more feme gay men om wh the gay muny (Bailey et al., 1997; Hunt et al., 2016) Penalti for Feme Gay MenContemporary theori of effective learship have challenged the perceived virtu of masculy. Theoretil explanatns for the fdgs nsistently foc on the possibily that gay men elic such discrimatn bee of the stereotype that they are feme and are therefore perceived as ls equipped to occupy higher-stat posns social hierarchi, such as the workplace (Ke & Dx, 1987; Lord et al., 1984). Siarly, Clsell and Fiske (2005) found that subgroup labels for feme gay men like ‘flamboyant’ eliced higher ratgs of warmth, but lower ratgs of petence pared to more mascule subgroup labels like ‘straight-actg’.

Th, the rearch appears to suggt that feme gay men are at particular risk of stat penalti, pecially om dividuals who posss anti-gay Sentiment Amongst Gay MenA further qutn regardg potential stat penalti for feme vers more mascule-prentg gay men is how plic gay men themselv may be perpetuatg such prejudice. Whereas most relevant rearch has ed heterosexual sampl, both lab and field studi on romantic partner preferenc amongst gay men highlight a monplace sire for mascule over feme tras potential partners (Bailey et al., 1997; Clarkson, 2006; Laner & Kamel, 1977; Sanchez & Vila, 2012; Tayawadep, 2002). Such a nnectn suggts that the extent to which gay men ternalise societal stigma about beg gay may fluence their treatment of dividuals who posss stigmatised is a nsirable lerature monstratg that gay men discrimate agast more feme gay mal beyond the romantic ntext (Brooks et al., 2017; Ravenhill & Visser, 2019; Sánchez & Vila, 2012; Taywadep, 2002).

The perceived femy/masculy of gay male targets was manipulated g wrten scriptns of their tras, terts, and qualifitns, which tapped to tradnal, stereotypil notns of masculy (henceforth masculy for simplicy). This effect among gay men mirrors siar fdgs observed among heterosexual participants (Aksoy et al., 2019; Frank, 2006; Pellegri et al., 2020) that also ed analogue tasks, which masculy/femy of gay male targets were manipulated via wrten scriptns.

BRAS OF GAY PEOPLE REMBLE THOSE OF STRAIGHT PEOPLE OF OPPOSE SEX

Provid important advanc offerg elogilly valid monstratns of the rctn stat btowed upon feme men by heterosexual dividuals, important unaddrsed qutns rema about whether gay dividuals also show such a bias, g d-visual stimuli, and what psychologil mechanisms might expla such bias. Demonstratg that gay men are as likely to discrimate agast feme gay men as heterosexuals would ntribute to the emergg awarens of tramory prejudice as an area of ncern for the gay Current StudyThe aim of this study is to explore whether a relatively feme-prentatn negatively impacts stat attament for gay men g a more elogilly valid methodology that allows meangful parisons of the reactns of gay and heterosexual men. Moreover, the study aims to tt psychologil mechanisms that may unrly the hypothised reluctance to endow stat to feme-prentg gay relevant lab studi to date have measured stat attament g direct measur, such as subjective ratgs of learship effectivens or behavural tentns.

Though not rmg primary hypoth, we also examed whether sexism may mediate preference for more mascule gay ndidat, given that Sanchez and Vila (2012) found that antifeme attus predicted a preference for mascule-prentg romantic partners. Six cis-male, Whe-Atralian profsnal actors, 25 to 35 years old (who all intify as gay real life) were filmed performg an intil vox pop script two ways; 1) once where they were directed to manipulate their voice and body language (VBL) to be more feme, and 2) once where their VBL was to be more mascule. ” (Actor lghs)The script ma no reference to the ndidate’s qualifitns, occupatn, skills, tn, or hobbi (that is, rmatn that may be nsted as genred by participants; Lippa, 2000), while makg the ndidate’s homosexualy explic (by mentng a same-sex partner).

CAN GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN REALLY BE FRIENDS?

3Frequency of Vot for Each Actor by Heterosexual and Gay Participants (N = 256)Full size imageMeasurStat EndowmentA sgle forced-choice em askg participants to select their preferred ndidate read as follows:“Please now vote for the actor you thk should be st the Ad Campaign promotg tourism to Sydney. Internalised Anti-Gay Attus (Gay Participants Only)The 3-em ternalised homophobia subsle of the Lbian, Gay and Bisexual Inty Sle (LGBIS; Mohr & Kendra, 2011) was ed to asss negative attus toward onelf as a gay person.

Usg 5-pot Likert sle where a sre of “0” dited “Totally agree” and a sre of “5” dited “Totally disagree”, gay participants were asked to rate how much they endorsed the ems, “I wish I were heterosexual”; “If were possible I’d choose to be straight”; and “I believe is unfair that I am attracted to people of the same sex”. The average of each participant’s three rpons were lculated to create their Internalised Homonegativy Attus (Heterosexual Participants Only)To measure anti-gay attus we ployed an adapted 6-em versn of the Morn Homonegativy Sle (MHS; Morrison & Morrison, 2002), as ed by Morton (2017), to exclively asss ntemporary negative attus toward gay men. Usg 5-pot Likert sle, where a sre of “0” dited “Totally agree” and a sre of “5” dited “Totally disagree”, heterosexual participants were asked to rate statements such as, “Gay men have all the rights they need”; and “Gay men seem to foc on the ways which they differ om heterosexuals, and ignore the ways which they are siar”.

The average of each participant’s six rpons were lculated to create their Homonegativy Sexism (All Participants)A 5-em subsle om the Morn Sexism Sle (Swim et al., 1995), asssg ntemporary negative attus toward women was ed.

GAY AND STRAIGHT MEN PREFER MASCULE-PRENTG GAY MEN FOR A HIGH-STAT ROLE: EVINCE FROM AN ELOGILLY VALID EXPERIMENT

Fally, logistic regrsns examed whether a preference for mascule vios was predicted by pre-existg levels of ternalised homonegativy (for gay participants) and homonegativy (for heterosexual participants), followed by exploratory analys also g logistic regrsns.

195], that we predicted higher ternalised homonegativy levels would be associated wh a lower likelihood of votg for a feme gay exploratory logistic regrsn analysis was unrtaken to exame if morn sexism predicted ls likelihood of choosg a feme gay male (over a mascule gay male) actor, and if this effect was morated by each participant’s sexual orientatn.

THE FACT NO ONE LIK TO ADM: MANY GAY MEN ULD JT HAVE EASILY BEEN STRAIGHT

The fdg that stronger anti-gay negativy predicted preference for the mascule-prentg actor amongst heterosexual men also replit prev studi (Morton, 2017; Pellegri et al., 2020), offerg further evince for the nnectn between feme-prentatn among gay men and the creased risk of stat-penalti om dividuals who harbour anti-gay attus, even unr circumstanc of affirmative actn (i. (2021a) found that stronger ternalised anti-gay sentiment predicted masculy-bias – le wh the proposn that the more shame one feels about their sexualy, the ls likely they will want to be reprented by a fellow group-member who perpetuat negative the current study, however, a preference for mascule-prentg actors amongst gay participants was not signifintly predicted by levels of ternalised anti-gay sentiment. The three-em ternalised homonegativy subsle (Mohr & Kendra, 2011) clud ems, such as “I wish I was heterosexual, ” that may have suffered om a floor-effect, whereby the ems were too extreme to be endorsed by a ntemporary sample of gay men (particularly if such gay men were motivated to nceal obv -group prejudice).

Other recent studi (see Hunt et al., 2020; Salvati et al., 2021a, b; Sanchez & Vila, 2012) have ed more prehensive measur to operatnalise ternalised anti-gay prejudice, such as the 7-em Reactn to Homosexualy Sle (RHS: Smolenski et al., 2010). Given the robt theoretil ratnale for ternalised anti-gay sentiment as a mechanism unrlyg masculy-bias amongst gay men, future studi should ntue to vtigate s role stat-penalti agast feme gay men (g prehensive measur). However, future studi uld vtigate how masculy and attractivens teract ntributg to stat attament for gay male targets, pecially to terme whether attractivens is protective agast stat-penalti for feme-prentg gay sign of the current study did not allow for direct asssments of the unrlyg reasons for a masculy bias to avoid raisg participants’ spicn, but future rearch wh a different sign may benef om tappg such reasons more directly.

Whereas the mediatn analys tted anti-gay sentiment, ternalised anti-gay prejudice, and morn sexism as potential explanatns, the cross-sectnal sign lims drawg sual nclns for those explanatns (Bullock & Green, 2021). That a more mascule prentatn was enough to elic preferential treatment, the absence of rmatn regardg qualifitns, highlights that greater awarens is need regardg how outdated bias unfairly impact feme-prentg gay men.