...Carter Senior Seminar HSU 498 Professor Hogan March 25, 2010 Abstract The phenomenon known as the “Down Low” among African American Men who have sex with Men has caused much concern among black community leaders, the general population, and not to mention HIV/AIDS researchers. There are questions which are not being addressed regarding communication patterns of stigmatized groups specifically the “Down Low” group. Why is there little research about the “Down Low”, when there is more than half AAMSM in this world? This paper will explain why so many African American men are on the “Down Low,” why there is a lack of communication when it comes to speaking about the “Down Low. This paper will also help Human Service workers learn how to help AAMSM and their families. “Down Low”: Homosexuals in the African American Community A Review of the Literature Today, while there are men who are openly gay, it seems that the majority of those having sex with men still lead secret lives, products of a black culture that deems masculinity and fatherhood as a black man's primary responsibility (Roscoe, 2008). The “Down Low” culture has grown in recent years out of the shadows and developed its own contemporary institutions for those who know where to look for example web sites, chat rooms, private parties and special nights at clubs (Roscoe, 2008). Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, of Temple University...
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...Gender Identity Paper Rechelle Stevenson PSY/340 Annie Powers 4-27-2014 In the research paper the reader will learn the meaning of gender identity and how hormones and behavior interact with each other. Also how hormones and behavior affect the determination of gender identity. Included will be the roles of biological factors. This paper will determine which has greater influence on gender identity nature or nurture. Gender identity is the acceptance of ones membership into a certain group of people. How an individual perceives themselves male or female is considered gender identity. Hormones play a major role in a person’s life; it affects their sex in two ways. Hormones affect the development from the time a person is conceived until they have grown into sexual maturity. Sexual maturity of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral traits determine a person as a male or female by activating the reproduction related behavior of sexual mature adults. Endocrine glands main function is to release hormones (University of Phoenix, 2009). A biological factor has a big part in shaping physical development. Males and females are born with distinctive sexual organs, these differences emerge around puberty. Hormones are responsible for the appearance of these physical differences. Too much androgen plays a major part in a male or female. Boys that have an excess amount of androgens tend to be fine and behave normally. Girls on the other hand are a different story; they tend...
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...Higher Risks of Suicide among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Youth in America Teela Oxendine-Cummings CST5334 – Ethnic and Cultural Awareness Capella University Abstract This paper presents an overview of what is known about suicide and suicidal behavior among LGB youth. For the intention of this paper, the term youth is generally defined as people age 15 through 24. In developing this paper, the learner reviewed the relevant literature published from 1996 through 2011; researched suicide prevention and mental health support programs, and researched services for LGBT youth. After summarize research findings about the higher risk of suicidal behavior for LGBT youth, the paper explores risk and protective factors for this group and provides suggestions to the field that is used to reduce suicidal behavior among LGBT youth. Table of Contents Research Paper Title…………………………………………………………1 Higher Risks of Suicide among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) youth in America…1 Abstract …………………………………………………. 2 Table of Contents………………………………………..3-4 Introduction…..…………………………………………..5 Overview on Suicide ……………………………5 Illustration of the LGBT Youth………….............5-6 Sexual Orientation and Suicide………………...6-7 Scope of the Problem : Suicidal Behaviors ………….7 Suicide Deaths Among LGBT Youth…………...7 Suicide Attempts Among LGBT Youth…………7-8 Suicide Ideation Among LGBT Youth………….8 Conclusion on Suicidal Behaviors of LGBT...
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...Gender Identity Ryan Boyd PSY/340 February 28, 2013 Felicia Martin Gender Identity Many people are curious to know what controls a human beings sexual orientation. There has been an ongoing debate about nature versus nurture and its connection to human sexual orientation. There are also other influences that have an effect on sexual differentiation and gender identity. This paper will explain the interaction between hormones and behavior, and how these interactions affect the determination of gender identity. The sexual behavior of humans are shaped and influenced by cultural factors that lead human sexuality to be expressed in various ways through many cultures historically. The biological factors in sexual differentiation are very important to the human because it allows a person to grasp and understand the complexities and problems that are involved in human sexual conditions. The premature stages of sexual differentiation after birth are influenced by environmental factors. Once the child advance from childhood and into young adulthood the influences of biological, environmental, and culture has an effect on sexual differentiation. According to Ault and Brzuzy (2009), gender identity is a multifaceted system of ideas surrounding masculinity and femininity, in terms of the roles prescribed to men and women by society, and how they relate to maleness and femaleness in relation to the self. Gender identity is presented through behavioral expressions of masculinity...
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...and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Yet, it is still legal in 29 states to be fired for just being gay. In 33 of the 50 states of the United States of America, one can be fired for being transgendered. These states do not have legal protections for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community (Solmonese, 2009). So does the “American Dream” only apply to “first class citizens”? This paper explores if the Employee Non Discrimination Act (ENDA) would protect employment decisions, which should be based upon a person's qualifications and job performance, not sexual orientation or gender identity (Solmonese, 2009). For over 50 years when there has been a case of an American being denied employment or promotions for reasons that were unrelated to their skills in the workplace, Congress responded by passing laws which were aimed at designing a system based solely on employee- merit and guaranteeing that subjective considerations do not govern access to employment (Herman, 2009). A specific act that has been brought to legislation, although has not passed, is the Employee...
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...full length color picture. I will be using 40 participants (20 males and 20 females) that either identify sexually as gay or straight. The participants will all be shown a series of 20 pictures for 30 seconds each, of males and females, and will be asked to identify whether they think the person shown in the picture is either straight or gay. The males and females in the pictures will have been previously identified as being either gay or straight. All results, statements and answers will be kept confidential. Does Gaydar Exist? The issue of a person’s sexual identity has always been a controversial issue for some. When it comes to the Gay and Lesbian community there is a saying or “Theory” that someone who identifies themselves sexually as homosexual has a sixth sense that is referred to as “Gaydar”. This means that for some reason it is believed that other homosexuals can spot each other out based on appearance alone. This idea that gays may have some sort of sixth sense or ability to tell if someone else is gay or not without that person verbalizing it themselves are been criticized and viewed as just stereotyping; However, if you socialize with anyone from the Gay and Lesbian community than you have probably seen Gaydar in action. Many argue that one cannot simply know someone else sexual identity by just looking at them, but the Gay community disagrees. More often than not Gaydar is mistaken...
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...achievement of a common goal/s. Until recently, men have largely held leadership positions and men were thusly stereotyped to be more effective leaders. Women were seldom seen in senior leadership roles, and openly gay individuals were almost unheard of as leaders. However, currently with a more liberal trend to be open about one’s sexuality; gays and lesbians have become more frequent in the workforce over the past few decades, especially in management and leadership positions. The stereotypes are changing as more and more homosexuals enter leadership roles. Diversity in Leadership and Communication Today’s leader must be skilled in intercultural and diversity communication styles. As Van Hoyes and Livens state, “an organization’s success, profit and growth depend increasingly on the management of a diverse work force” (2003). Diversity includes such things as race, gender, age, color, physical ability, national origin, etc. The definition of diversity has recently been more broadly updated to include religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, language, lifestyle, beliefs, physical appearance and economic status. Sexual orientation represents a not so obvious or type of diversity, as opposed to more visible characteristics such as race or gender. The reason is that gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees choose as to what degree they reveal their sexual orientation in the workplace. “Lately, sexual orientation has received a growing amount of attention, including through the...
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...whether it be a person’s gender identity or their cultural identity, people tend to judge others on their gender and their cultural identity. This essay will discuss the multicultural concepts on both gender identity and cultural identity and will talk about understanding the cultural differences. Gender identity Dictionary.com (2015) defines gender identity as an inner sense of a person and whether or not they are male or female. This identity usually happens during early childhood and as a result of how the child’s parents raise them and the social influences that happen during puberty by the changes in hormones. When children reach their teen years they start to feel differently about themselves, teens ask themselves if they were actually supposed to be female instead of male and vice versa, and when others hear about it then that is where the differences come from. In the transgender culture they are accepted because other teens and young adults like them have gone through the same things, but in other cultures they are looked down on. In our culture we are called transgender or homosexual or heterosexual, etc. but in the world of the Native American they are called two-spirits. According to Jacobs, Thomas, & Lang (1997) Native Americans refer to themselves as “two-spirit people” a term that is used in research by them that shows gender diversity and homosexuality in their respective tribes. In actuality “two-spirit” is used for gays and lesbians in the Native American...
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...The Impact of Gender Identity and Sexuality has on Adolescents Holly Kidd Liberty University Abstract The purpose of this paper is to not only to identify how and why gender identity and sexuality has such a huge impact on many of the lives of adolescents but also how they tend to deal with each. The period of adolescence tends to be a difficult time for many teenagers because of all the physical and even some emotional changes they experience through the adolescence period and unfortunately some tend to keep experiences and are even affected long after the adolescence period. In order, to identify how and why gender identity and sexuality but also note all the possible affects each one has on adolescents and how to deal with each situation. Finally, offer suggestions (such as identify ways to love one's self to showing one how to express themselves in a positive ways but also by offering counseling sessions to continue to learn how to understand themselves) for better solutions, which would benefit the lives of adolescents for many years to come. In the typical life of an adolescent it supposed to be the best years of that adolescent's life. But unfortunately that is not the case for many adolescents because many of them become victims of different types of bullying, which includes the impacts of Gender Identity and Sexuality. The word adolescent means becoming an adult (Isaacs, 2013 p.881), in which, all adolescents look forward too. However, some adolescents...
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...The word was first used by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) to describe the marginalization of black women during consideration of separate civil rights and women’s rights movements. The marginalization of individuals belonging to more than one stigmatized group is an important factor to consider when conducting research into discrimination and prejudice, and a focus on the experience of black women specifically is a valuable perspective (Aiken, Salmon, & Hanges, 2013; Rosenthal, 2016). In hindsight, it is clear that rights movements in the United States evolved alongside each other (Aiken et al., 2013). One of the earliest examples of this would be the fact that early calls for women’s suffrage were inspired by the abolitionist movement gaining ground in the late 1800’s (Aiken et al., 2013). Much later in our history, we witnessed a similar phenomenon as the radical politics of change that helped women and African Americans in the 1960s and 1970s emboldened gay rights activists (Aiken et al.,...
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... Embodying the gay self: Body image, reflexivity and embodied identity DUANE DUNCAN Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia ABSTRACT The emphasis on a sexualised muscular body ideal in gay social and cultural settings has been described as facilitating body image dissatisfaction among gay men. Drawing on a concept of reflexive embodiment, this paper uses qualitative interviews to analyse gay men’s embodiment practices in relation to discourses and norms that can be found across and beyond any coherent notion of ‘gay subculture’. The findings reveal body image to be more complex than a limited focus on subculture or dissatisfaction can account for. In particular, gay men negotiate a gay pride discourse in which the muscular male body generates both social status and self-esteem, and deploy notions of everyday masculinity that imply rationality and control to resist gendered assumptions about gay men’s body image relationships. KEYWORDS: body image; gay men; reflexive embodiment; sociology INTRODUCTION Body image dissatisfaction and gay men Following the shift from individual pathol-ogy to cognitive-behavioural and feminist perspectives in psychology (McKinely 2002; Pruzinsky and Cash 2002), a significant volume of psychological and health research has identi-fied a greater incidence of body image dissatis-faction, and eating disordered behaviour among gay men relative, in particular...
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...William Eve Research The original purpose of the interview and paper was to see if there were Gender Communications Expectations in another culture. In this case LGBT. After that I looked at 3 outside peer reviewed sources to see if they matched up to my findings and Terry’s experiences. For this paper I interviewed Terry, a 33 year old, married, LBGT female for the interview. She is senior manager at a major Boston area facility. She has worked in her Service industry for 10 years from the entry level to her senior position now. She has a BS and is applying for her MS program. Terry is very outgoing, educated and extremely athletic. Approximately 5’2”, below the shoulders sandy blond hair, in her signature pony tail with curls. She is wearing a woman’s black pin striped suit, black all leather sneakers and men’s red stripped black tie with a white shirt. The interview took place in Terry’s office: she at her desk, myself in the guest chair. She declined to allow to use audio or video recording. I recorded the interview via a notepad and pencil. Questions: Me: You come from a traditional Irish Catholic family in Boston. How did being LBGT affect your interactions with your family? Specifically: Parents: Terry: Looking sad and distant, arms folded, sitting back, still has a small smile. “My parents were/are very traditional. They believed marriage was the union of a man and a woman. While ...
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...orientation. There has been an ongoing debate about nature versus nurture and its connection to human sexual orientation. The are also other influences that has an affect on sexual differentiation and gender idenity. This paper will explain the interaction between hormones and behavior, and how these interactions affect the the determination of gender identiy. The sexual behavior of humans are shaped and influenced by cultural factors that leads human sexuality to be expressed in various ways through many cultures historically. The biological factors in sexual differentiation are very important to the human because it allows a person to grasp and understand the complexities and problems that are involved in human sexual conditions. The premature stages of sexual differentiation after birth are influenced by environmental factors. Once the child advance from childhood and into young adulthood the influences of biological, environmetal, and culture has an effect on sexual differentiation. According to Ault and Brzuzy (2009), gender identity is a multifaceted system of ideas surrounding masculinity and femininity, in terms of the roles prescribed to men and women by society, and how they relate to maleness and femaleness in relation to the self. Gender identity is presented through behavioral expressions of masculinity and femininity, feelings surrounding the body as a sexual, and individual perceptions regarding how others will respond to expressions of gender (Ault & Brzuzy...
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...How academic journals are related to each other McCann et al (2009) explore the notion that Australian heterosexual males attitudes and behaviors are greatly altered due to an inherent trepidation of being observed through societal constructs as gay. This trait tends to be seen from early teens to initial adulthood with single-sex settings heightening notions that in order to be a successful male one must distance themself from the alternate trait, concurrently exemplifying society’s utopian standard of masculinity. However once these ideas that shaped males were broken down there followed a process of greater acceptance towards difference and discarding of homophobia. Anderson and Adams (2011) explicitly and objectively refer to McCann et al (2009) and the contact theory. Anderson and Adams (2011) expand the contact theory delineating that ‘contact with gay men leads to acceptance of bi-men, as well’ (Anderson and Adams, 2011: 10) While this may be valid, it does not accurately reflect the findings of McCann et al (2009) who does not refer to ‘bi- men’. Further despite both journals conclusions vehemently relating, for example both articles recognize the importance of team sport in creating homophobia, McCann et al (2009) findings are only referred to once and are not discussed in a real substantive way, more used as a stepping stone for Anderson to add validity to his own argument. Additionally Hetzel (2011) accurately represents the content that was concluded...
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...gender duality within society, in which masculinity and the “male” voice is associated with the male body, and femininity and the “female” voice is associated with the female body. Thus, what is considered to be a “natural” voice is merely a choice made by an individual as to which of the two sides of duality they identify with more (Gamson). This choice is a representation of a gendered and sexualized identity that is influenced by discourse. Gender norms dictate that males identify with the more masculine voice, with a lower pitch and only slight increases in intonation. The stereotypical female voice, on the other hand, is more high pitched, with more variation in intonation (Bonds-Raacke). With this in consideration, Delph Janiurek’s thesis is that voices have a “geography”, and that they can be authored in a certain way within certain societal “spaces” (Giltrow 276). In other words, certain situations demand misperformance of hegemonic gender roles in the form of voice alteration. Delph-Janiurek’s argument is limited in the sense that it does not conduct enough research into different types of social roles in order to properly consider the effectiveness of vocal performance within them. Different geographical spaces have different expectations...
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