Sexuality and Larger Bodies: Gay Men's Experience of and Resistance Against Weight and Sexual Orientation Stigma
Being gay and being overweight are two stigmatized statuses in the United States. A range of work has considered the experience of being stigmatized and the consequences of stereotypes for overweight individuals and sexual minorities, but less research has examined the intersection of these two stig...
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| Format: | Others |
| Language: | English English |
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Florida State University
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| Online Access: | http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-5400 |
| Summary: | Being gay and being overweight are two stigmatized statuses in the United States. A range of work has considered the experience of being stigmatized and the consequences of stereotypes for overweight individuals and sexual minorities, but less research has examined the intersection of these two stigmas among larger gay men or collective efforts to resist such stigma. This dissertation extends this work by examining the joint consequences of being a sexual minority and having body dissatisfaction for men using a mixed methods design. In the first study, I contrast young gay men's weight dissatisfaction with that of heterosexual men to demonstrate the heightened risk of depression for overweight gay men using nationally representative data. But stigmatized individuals are not passive in their experience of weight and sexual orientation stereotypes. The second study qualitatively examines a subculture of gay men, the bears, to test theoretical models of stigma resistance. The results demonstrate the transferability of stigma resistance among multiple stigmatized attributes and the use of multiple strategies to resist one stigma. At the same time, it shows how subcultural dynamics both aid and undermine the resistance toward stigma, and the risk of reinforcing stigma's effect through criticizing others who embody a stereotype. The results also demonstrate how resistance strategies are both empowering and psychologically taxing for stigmatized individuals. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Fall Semester, 2012. === August 31, 2012. === body image, gender, sexuality, stigma, stigma resistance, subculture === Includes bibliographical references. === John Reynolds, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jasminka Illich-Ernst, University Representative; Douglas Schrock, Committee Member; Koji Ueno, Committee Member. |
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