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LGBTQ+ media representations that uphold heteronormativity, negativity, and homophobia can lead to perceptions of media as threatening. Drawing on intergroup threat theory, this study measured perceived media threats (in-person/group, realistic/symbolic) among English-speaking LGBTQ+ Filipinos (N = 817). The Perceived Media Threat Scale, developed for this study, showed a unidimensional structure with sound psychometric properties. LGBTQ+ identity challenges were found to be associated with an increased perception of threat from the media. However, perceived media threat was not associated with psychological well-being. The Perceived Media Threat Scale appears to be a sound measure of LGBTQ+ perceptions of media in the Philippines. Results suggest that perceived media threat may impact identity processes such as coming out but does not appear to be related to well-being in the LGBTQ + community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pride parades, serving as platforms for celebrating diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, often operate within a society that upholds and reinforces heteronormative norms. This commentary intends to argue how these activities are shaped by the presence of restrictions and censorship and the prevalence of ignorance surrounding queer experiences. By conducting ethnographic observations at Pride parades in Turkey and Spain, I delve into participants' lived experiences within these contexts. This approach sheds light on Pride parades' positive and negative aspects. Through an analysis of the interplay between heteronormative influences, restrictions, censorship, and ignorance within the context of Pride parades, I aim to provide insight into the complexities and nuances that shape the experiences of queer individuals. This commentary contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges faced and the progress made in the ongoing struggle for queer liberation and acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a 2010 online Reuter's news article, Andrew Stern claimed that Tiger Woods placed the condition known as 'sex addiction' in the spotlight. Accordingly, this article discusses the extent to which 'sex addiction' is discursively produced within, and by, the media and explores the extent to which Stern's claim can be substantiated. This paper presents an analysis of articles retrieved from nytimes.com that were published between February 18th, 2009, and February 20th, 2011. It goes on to summarize four key findings: (1) 'sex addiction' was more directly and openly discussed as a concept in the year following Stern's article than it was in the year prior; (2) 'sex addiction' was discursively constructed as a male problem and regarded as an underlying reason for them to commit extramarital affairs; (3) in the year before Stern's article 'sex addiction' was discursively positioned as a social problem; and (4) in the year following Stern's article, 'sex addiction' was also discursively positioned as a medical problem. The paper concludes that the concept of 'sex addiction' is discursively constructed, and that Tiger Woods did, indeed, place a spotlight on the topic. As a result, the author argues that the media has a significant impact on the production, interpretation, and understanding of what many consider to be a sexual problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we explore the experiences of male rural Chinese gay live streamers who find themselves at the mercy of "cruel optimism". This notion, first introduced by Lauren Berlant, explains how people's attachment to certain objects or ideas which they believe will bring them happiness or a better life can, in fact, be counter intuitive. Berlant argues that this attachment becomes cruel when it results in the individual compromising their own well-being and remaining attached to objects or ideas that are ultimately unattainable and, in some instances, even harmful. To better understand this phenomenon, we employ a critical ethnographic approach to observe the everyday cultural production of rural gay men through live streaming on Blued, China's most popular gay dating app. Our research findings reveal how the optimistic virtual entertainment streaming world is reinforcing cruel offline hegemonic and heteronormative rural social realities. Live streaming serves as an object of desire for rural gay streamers, as it provides them with the optimism to explore their gay identities and intimacies and create alternative forms of community and belonging. However, despite this optimism, audience members engage in discussions with them about the cruel realities they face. Our analysis contributes to the existing scholarship concerning live streaming within the Chinese LGBTQI + community, particularly by fixing a spotlight on the cruel optimism embedded within rural gay men's online practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research explores how secondary school students draw on commonly recognised sexual scripts to account for the consent practices of young people. We constructed three vignette variations which described a real-life 'hook-up' scenario using 'status-quo' scripts related to gender roles, gendered power dynamics, and alcohol consumption. Young people aged 14–17-years were recruited from five secondary schools across the Republic of Ireland. Participants (N = 613) rated their dis/agreement as to whether the vignette variation they were presented with demonstrated sexual consent, and provided written comments to explain their decision. Our findings from this research show that young people have complex, nuanced, and varied understandings of sexual consent. When accounting for sexual consent negotiation, youth drew on sexual scripts that both upheld and troubled a heteronormative binary that responsibilises women and absolves men. We highlight instances where youth responses illuminate possibilities for future pedagogical practices on the topic of sexual consent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies suggest that sexual minority individuals in the sciences face challenges resulting from a heteronormative climate. Many of these studies have relied on data collected using non-representative methods that make it difficult to generalize findings or data that do not allow for comparisons to heterosexual individuals. This study presents data from an original, nationally representative survey of graduate students in the United States in five natural and social science disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and sociology. The analyses find that students identifying with an 'other' sexual identity (e.g., queer, pansexual, asexual) report worse advisor relationships and a weaker sense of belonging in their science discipline as compared to heterosexual students. Gay or lesbian students report weaker identities as scientists compared to heterosexual students, but no differences are found in sexual minority students' confidence in completing tasks related to science. Implications for science training and study limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence was found that perceived similarity with a famous person in gender, age, cultural background and attitudes increases the attraction towards this celebrity. Previous studies have also revealed that sexual minority individuals and those with a sexual attraction towards a famous person of the opposite gender are more likely to become obsessed with their favorite celebrity. Based on these findings, this study aimed to explore how heteronormative attitudes—gender role and behavioral expectations for men and women—are associated with celebrity worship in LGB+ and heterosexual individuals. An online questionnaire was administered to 1,763 Hungarian adults (66.4% male, 14.7% LGB+ individuals, Mage = 37.2 years, SD = 11.4). Heterosexual individuals with a favorite celebrity of the same gender reported stronger heteronormative attitudes in terms of gender roles and behaviors than LGB+ individuals. Furthermore, this aspect of heteronormative attitudes predicted higher levels of celebrity worship in individuals with a favorite celebrity of their own gender, irrespective of sexual orientation. However, heteronormative attitudes explained only a small proportion of the variance of celebrity worship (1–6%), indicating that heteronormativity has no substantial impact on celebrity admiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Homosexism' is an early term originally proposed to more accurately reflect a prejudice, rather than a phobia implied in the term 'homophobia.' However, the term 'homosexism' never gained traction, but the roots of the word suggest a previously unrecognized prejudice based on sexual behavior, in contrast to a prejudice based on same-gender attraction. In this paper, homosexism, as a prejudice encompassing subtypes of male same-sexual behaviors, is differentiated from homophobia, which is based on sexual orientation. Homosexism can elucidate why cultural portrayals that emphasize anal sex as the central element of sexual behavior among men who have sex with men are not supported by research evidence. Homosexism, and its potentially damaging effects, cannot be redressed until it is identified, named, and managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how the so-called social construct, i.e., the frame of heteronormativity, can be maintained, reproduced and enacted by language within same-sex dating communities in the twenty-first century. That is, we examine heteronormativity in discourse collected from two popular same-sex dating websites in Taiwan in order to analyze how heteronormative ideologies influence the linguistic construction of homosexual desires, dating preferences, and queer relationships. By scrutinizing the keywords in the corpora through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics, we argue that there are still power relationships among Taiwanese gay men and lesbian women seeking romantic love online that are informed by heteronormative ideologies around gender within the scope of homosexuality. On the one hand, the keywords contain many binary roles providing conventional interactional modes for Taiwanese homosexual couples that show great similarity to those in heterosexual relationships. On the other hand, the analysis indicates that heteronormative constructions of masculinity and femininity are related to anxieties over mainstream preferences for dating on the two target websites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Queer teachers, as a result of inherent heterosexuality, have been historically living in a society of victimization and marginalization. Despite advances in LGBT rights and policies, research on queer teachers remains contextually undertheorized. Thus, this paper, based on life history interview, presents a narrative study of a non-local English teacher working in Thai higher education. Premised on the post-structuralist perspectives, this article aims to explore the construction of queer self as a professional language teacher through how sexuality is negotiated in the process of interacting with diverse subjects. The findings illustrate the fluidity of queer subjectivity within different discourses, where corresponding strategies are self-imposed to negotiate the boundaries between queer and professional selves. While queer individuals are affected by the dominant discourse of heteronormativity, queer visibility within institutional cultures comes down to a subjective piece. We conclude that queer teachers are professional subjects since the discourse of queer as professional is (re)constructed and normalised at the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that attitudes about gender roles and attitudes about sexuality are often intertwined. Heterosexual individuals expressing more traditional gender role attitudes, for example, tend to be less tolerant towards sexual minorities. Research examining sexual minorities' attitudes toward gender roles, however, is comparatively sparse. This study utilizes a nationally representative survey to compare the gender role attitudes of heterosexual individuals to gay or lesbian and bisexual individuals. We examine overall differences and gender-specific differences between sexual identity groups. Our analysis shows that, when it comes to household and family roles, both gay men and lesbian women are more likely than their heterosexual peers to reject traditional gender roles. This is partly a function of differences in political and religious ideology across the sexual identity groups. However, when it comes to gender roles in the public sphere, specifically the suitability of women for political office, gay men's opinions do not differ from the opinions of their heterosexual counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abolishment of women's and LGBTQ rights has become one of the main goals of the so-called "anti-gender campaigns" emerging on a global scale. This study investigates discourses and notions that reject the concepts of "gender" and "gender-based violence" in times of "anti-gender campaigns" in Bulgaria. Based on discourse analysis and data from social media comments, the study demonstrates how "gender politics of fear" in Bulgaria have been included in the heteronormative, political, religious, nationalistic, and anti-feminist discourses and how gender and LGBTQ equality policies are identified as a threat to the traditional Bulgarian values. Engaging with the concept of hegemonic femininity, the analysis identifies four main types of notions among women opposing women's rights policies and demonstrates how the socialist past of Bulgaria has strengthened these beliefs. Finally, the analysis discusses some possible directions towards a constructive and evidence-based dialogue in times of "anti-gender campaigns", taking into account the strategic "delegitimization" of gender studies globally and the potential of the progressive and feminist religious scholarship and "contextual reasoning". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore how (in)visibility is constructed and deployed in the construction of normalcy by using an intersectional approach to queer and disabled experiences. In the first part, the focus is on able-bodiedness and heteronormativity as similar systems of compulsion in the production and the definition of normalcy. In the second part, the challenges posed to the presumptions of systems of compulsion are discussed: inhabiting a grey zone of indefinite readability, these cases subvert common assumptions on visibility and embody the possibility of framing invisibility as a political choice. In the third part, the figure of the acousmatic subject is presented: a subject that produces voices from a position of invisibility, challenging the idea of passivity often connected to oppression and marginalisation. The final aim is to critically discuss some of the issues connected to (in)visibility and to overcome its limits through expansion towards a more encompassing metaphorical figuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While empirical studies on LGBT individuals coming out to their parents are common in Western societies, these studies are rare in non-Western societies. This article attempts to fill that void by shedding light on the experiences of Japanese individuals coming out to their parents. The coming-out narratives of Japanese LGBT individuals (N = 43) were examined. This study revealed three important findings. (1) Similar to the findings of studies in Western societies, Japanese LGBT individuals typically consider coming out to their fathers considerably more difficult than coming out to their mothers. Moreover, many study participants expressed the absence of a significant relationship with their fathers, even before coming out—making coming out to their fathers unnecessary. (2) Similar to the findings in previous studies, Japanese mothers’ responses are often reactionary and abusive; in fact, a disproportionate number of Japanese lesbian, bisexual female, and transgender Female-to-Male/X-gender individuals reported their mothers’ markedly negative, personal responses, illustrating why some were reluctant to come out to their mothers. (3) By contrast, Japanese gay and transgender Male-to-Female/X-gender individuals reported their mothers’ responses were comparatively undemonstrative. Also, they typically attribute their mothers’ negative responses to the fact that mothers are the solo overseers of heteronormative norms at home. Overall, Japanese LGBT individuals’ experiences reveal the gendered effects of Japanese sociocultural configuration, as well as the Japanese cultural implication of disclosing one’s sexuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses qualitative data with LGBT young people to explore police-LGBT youth interactions, and the outcomes of these interactions, as pedagogical moments for LGBT young people, police, and public onlookers. Although the data in this paper could be interpreted in line with dominant ways of thinking about LGBT young people and police, as criminalization for instance, the data suggested something more complex. This paper employs a theoretical framework informed by poststructural theories, queer theories, and pedagogical theories, to theorise LGBT youth-police interactions as instruction about managing police relationships in public spaces. The analysis shows how LGBT young people are learning from police encounters about the need to avoid 'looking queer' to minimise police harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their work on the human development sequence, Inglehart and Welzel (Modernization, cultural change, and democracy: the human development sequence. Cambridge University Press, New York, ) argue that there is a 'rising tide' of gender equality across various countries in the system. While the authors propose that the process that holds true for a rising tide in women's rights is also true for other outgroups including minorities and homosexuals, they do not test their proposed relationship on feelings toward these groups. At the same time, studies on sexuality and tolerance suggest that religious beliefs and government institutions play a significant role in shaping societal attitudes about homosexuality, promulgating beliefs and policies that place homosexuality in a negative light. In the case of government institutions, sexuality may also be framed as a security issue, making homosexuality appear as a threat. The present work performs an empirical test of the mechanisms of the human development sequence on tolerance toward homosexuality, and compares this theory to rival hypotheses regarding the effects of religion and heteronormative policies. Empirical testing using hierarchical linear models shows mixed support for hypotheses drawn from work on the human development sequence, but indicates that religious belief and heteronormativity in government policies have a significant relationship to levels of tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current research on sexual minority youth tends to be concentrated in the fields of public health, social work, and psychology with a focus on psycho-social health risks that often rely on sexuality as a fixed unit of analysis. A sociological understanding of the processes that drive an individual to identify as gay in the first place makes an important contribution to this existing body of literature, allowing an opportunity to understand not just how sexual minority youth are vulnerable, but why. Drawing on my ethnographic research with adolescent males who frequent a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth drop-in center, I demonstrate how sexuality gets constructed through four processes: violating compulsory heterosexuality, seeking an explanation, exploring sexuality, and negotiating identity. I will show how individuals make meaning of their sexual selves within the context of a patriarchal, heteronormative structural system, where symbols of homophobia and masculinity inform their identity development, and how that reiterates heteronormative development. I conclude by drawing attention to how the shifting boundaries of queerness should inform efforts to improve conditions for sexual minority youth and inform future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guys and Dolls, a BBC documentary premiering in 2007 sketches out the lives of four men in relationships with silicone-fleshed, anatomically correct Real Dolls (RDs). The men in the documentary treat their RDs as if they are alive-they dress their dolls, rub their feet, and discuss what sex and the relationship with their dolls is like. In relating with their RDs, the men respond to concerns of having 'no female company' at all. In this essay, combining Stein's (Sexualities and society: a reader, Polity Press, Oxford, pp 132-142, ) notion of 'be-coming out,' with Deleuze and Guattari's (A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, ) theory of becoming, we contend that the documentary actively represents the men's pasts in order to make sense of, justify, and construct the dynamics of their current sexual selves. Because the idollator's be-coming narratives illuminate their heteronormative shortcomings, these sexual origin stories take a confessional tone. Although confessions regarding sexuality are not soul cleansing acts but are approval seeking performances that reify normative social boundaries, we argue for a queer reading of the Guys and Dolls text which subverts the dominant logic of heteronormativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay uses autoethnography to investigate the intersection of the dual identities of feminist scholar and media consumer as one mode of investigating television's role in women's identity construction. I draw on my experiences with the popular television programs My So- Called Life, Felicity, and Sex and the City as examples of becoming intertwined with the main characters' relational and purchasing choices on screen. I examine how women of the third wave, raised on television, have come to define our identities by the presence of a man, due in part to the limited, heteronormative media choices available to young women today. The essay closes with a discussion of how the author's own coming of age as a feminist media scholar parallels the 'coming of age' of the discipline of feminist media studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes as its starting point the observation that contemporary pornography is, in a significant sense, about masturbation. This connection has been largely ignored in recent research on pornography. Yet, if it is reasonable to posit that the heritage bequeathed by three centuries of concern over masturbation has not been entirely dispelled, then a question presents itself: What can an examination of the history of masturbation tell us about the digital pornography that circulates around the internet today? This article seeks to provide an answer to this question via a genealogical rereading of the history of masturbation from the perspective of the present. It suggests that the campaign against masturbation in the eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries was characterized by a heteronormative framing that situated the practice as a threat not only to the social order, but also to a natural order presumed to underlie and ground human social relations. In this context, masturbation was especially problematic for boys and men as it represented a loss of control over (their own) nature, thereby undermining their masculine status. Ultimately, the article argues that a focus on the history of masturbation allows us to appreciate the extent to which it is central to the way in which masculinity is produced via pornography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Jamaica the public discourse on homosexuality is voluminous, however little or no empirical research or suitably detached policy-oriented discussion is in evidence. This multidisciplinary qualitative paper uses the content analysis of publicly available information to explore the posture of key public-policy actors on homosexuals and homosexuality. The observable implications of the findings for society and the rights of homosexuals are articulated. The paper concludes that this discourse evinces a settled heteronormative value system, reflecting a consensus on either side of the political divide and applauded by popular culture and popular opinion. At a time when most of the western world is embracing sexual diversity, these conclusions carry profound implications for legal reform, employment relations, social justice and public policy in Jamaica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Showtime series The L Word (2004–2009) marked one of the first dramatized representations of prominent lesbian characters. While many popular culture scholars are focusing attention on the recent “gaying” of television narrative (e.g., Battles and Hilton-Morrow in Critical Studies in Media Communication 19: 87–105, ; Shugart in Text and Performance Quarterly 23: 30–54, ; Critical Studies in Media Communication 20: 67–91, ), far less attention is given to non-romantic interpersonal relationships surrounding main characters in these narratives. Sexuality scholarship notes that lesbian individuals must negotiate their self-disclosure to heterosexuals (Dindia in Dialectical approaches to studying personal relationships, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Mahwah, NJ, ), and that this can be challenging for forming relationships and maintaining identity (Meyer in Communication Quarterly 51: 262–276, ). Ultimately, this essay argues that despite the gains in visibility and even in intimacy, The L Word articulates an ideology of avoidance whereby the underlying problems of heterosexism and homophobia are left unchallenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyze what counts as sex using a qualitative content analysis of the sexuality and health advice columns in Seventeen from 1982 to 2001. These columns are a useful source for identifying adolescent sexual norms including what counts as sex. Previous sex research often assumed that sex meant penile–vaginal intercourse and was the cause of virginity loss. Thus, I use virginity-related key terms (e.g., virgin, sex) to identify the sexuality and health advice columns pertinent to this project. These columns illustrate how multiple sexual acts can cause virginity loss; however, Seventeen remains ambiguous in its discussion of what counts as sex. Letter writers are concerned with what sexual acts they can participate in and still remain virgins and what act defines virginity loss. My analysis reveals that the columns reinforce heteronormativity by telling readers virginity is lost only through penile–vaginal intercourse. Additionally, Seventeen supports the sexual double standard by placing the responsibility of sexual behavior solely on female adolescents rather than on them and their partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]