Homosexuality Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Homosexuality, including details on causes, biology, signs, statistics, trends.

Sexual objectification and the construction of whiteness in the gay male community.

Teunis N

Program in Human Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA. niels.teunis@gmail.com

This paper presents interview data and media analysis on the gay male community in the USA. It describes how sexual objectification is more than the outcome of racism in the gay male community. Sexual objectification of gay men of colour in the USA produces a white sexual community. Ideologies of inclusivity and non-discrimination blind white gay men to the harmful effects of sexual objectification. Moreover, discussing negative effects of objectification is met with considerable resistance. The experiences of African American men, described in this paper, show the pervasiveness of sexual objectification. The sexual objectification of men of colour forces them to play specific roles in sexual encounters that are not necessarily of their own choosing.

Published 25 April 2007 in Cult Health Sex, 9(3): 263-75.
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