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The authors examined relationships among internalized homonegativity, body image, eating disturbance, and self‐esteem of gay men. Internalized homonegativity is believed to be experienced by all gay men and is tied to self‐esteem, which is a factor in the etiology of eating disorders and body image disturbance. It was hypothesized that internalized homonegativity would predict body image, self‐esteem, and eating disturbance. A total of 213 gay men participated in an online survey that used established measures. Results showed that specific components of internalized homonegativity predict body image, self‐esteem, and bulimic behaviors. Findings imply that internalized homonegativity is a viable link for assessing body image and self‐esteem among gay men. This study adds new dimension to the literature by linking internalized homonegativity with body image and by demonstrating a specific component of internalized homonegativity as predicting the variables tested. Future research and limitations are discussed.

As many as nine million people identify as a transperson in the United States, yet mass clothing designing and manufacturing do not meet the needs of this consumer group. This research examines the role of fit in ready-to-wear (RTW) clothing using qualitative research methods. 90 transpeople from the United States, Canada, and Ireland participated in interviews and data from interviews were analyzed using line-by-line analysis, resulting in three themes. Theme 1 explored current fit problems with RTW clothing, Theme 2 explored the desire to use clothing to hide parts of the body that did not align with one’s gender identity, and Theme 3 explored the desire to use clothing to highlight parts of the body that did align with one’s gender identity. Findings from this research confirm the assumption that current RTW clothing does not meet the needs of the transperson population and offers areas where designers and manufactures can reassess their methods relative to this consumer group.

Literature on gay men and body image are examined in relation to shopping behaviors, with hypotheses developed to test whether one's body image affects consumer choices. The researchers studied credit card debt, shopping frequency, amount of time spent shopping, and shopping venue. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 213 gay men. Results indicate that Appearance Orientation positively affects shopping in a specialty store, shopping in a thrift store, frequency of shopping, and time spent shopping, whereas Appearance Satisfaction negatively affects television shopping. Thus, body image and shopping are linked. For many gay men, shopping may be a means of establishing or reinforcing cultural identity or a way to express individuality and novelty. Findings can be used by academics and practitioners in developing and examining innovative retail environments. Future research is discussed.

Connections among internalized homophobia, self‐esteem and various shopping behaviours are investigated. Internalized homophobia, which affects nearly all gay men to some degree, and self‐esteem may affect shopping behaviours such as credit card debt, venue of shopping, enjoyment from shopping, amount of time spent shopping and frequency of shopping. Data from 213 gay men were collected using an Internet‐survey design. Results demonstrate that internalized homophobia has weak to moderate effects on thrift store shopping, discount store shopping and credit card debt. Although self‐esteem did not predict shopping behaviour, it was correlated with shopping enjoyment. Implications, limitations and future research are discussed.