How Places Shape Identity: The Origins of Distinctive LBQ Identities in Four Small U.S. Cities

Brown–Saracino, Japonica

doi:10.1086/682066

Cited by 104 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Sociocultural factors can produce distinct experiences of sexuality inseparable from their local context (e.g., Brown-Saracino, 2015). For example, patriarchal gender hierarchies, perpetuated through cultural institutions such as sexual education, have been argued to fundamentally shape women’s experience of sexual desire, even outside their conscious awareness (e.g., Fine, 1988).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Geography of Sexual Orientation: Structural Stigma and Sexual Attraction, Behavior, and Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Across 38 European Countries

et al. 2016

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While the sexual identity and behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) varies across countries, no study has examined country-level structural stigma toward sexual minorities as a correlate of this variation. Drawing on emerging support for the context-dependent nature of MSM’s open sexual self-identification cross-nationally, we examined country-level structural stigma as a key correlate of the geographic variation in MSM’s sexual attraction, behavior, and identity, and concordance across these factors. Data come from the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS), a multi-national dataset containing a multicomponent assessment of sexual orientation administered across 38 European countries (N=174,209). Country-level stigma was assessed using a combination of national laws and policies affecting sexual minorities and a measure of attitudes towards sexual minorities held by the citizens of each country. Results demonstrate that in more stigmatizing countries, MSM were significantly more likely to report bisexual/heterosexual attractions, behaviors, and identities, and significantly less likely to report concordance across these factors, than in less stigmatizing countries. Settlement size moderated associations between country-level structural stigma and odds of bisexual/heterosexual attraction and behavior, such that MSM living in sparsely populated locales within high structural stigma countries were the most likely to report bisexual or heterosexual behaviors and attractions. While previous research has demonstrated associations between structural stigma and adverse physical and mental health outcomes among sexual minorities, this study is the first to show that structural stigma is also a key correlate not only of sexual orientation identification, but also of MSM’s sexual behavior and even attraction. Findings have implications for understanding the ontology of MSM’s sexuality and suggest that a comprehensive picture of MSM’s sexuality will come from attending to the local contexts surrounding this important segment of the global population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Geography of Sexual Orientation: Structural Stigma and Sexual Attraction, Behavior, and Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Across 38 European Countries

et al. 2016

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“…This work builds on a large literature that has examined the geographic and contextual nature of gay identities (e.g., Brown-Saracino 2015) to consider the particular intersections of stigma, mobility and health in the relatively understudied setting of the small city. Our analysis draws on semi-structured interviews collected among 29 gay and bisexual men living in two small New England cities: New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘The big ole gay express’: sexual minority stigma, mobility and health in the small city

Keene

Eldahan

Hughto

et al. 2016

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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Recent research has examined how gay and bisexual men experience and navigate the variations in sexual minority stigma that exist across geographic contexts, with implications for their health. We extend this literature on stigma, mobility, and health by considering the unique and understudied setting of the small city. Drawing on semi-structured interviews (n = 29) conducted in two small US cities (New Haven and Hartford), we find that these small cities serve as both destinations and points of departure for gay and bisexual men in the context of stigma. New Haven and Hartford attracted gay and bisexual men from surrounding suburbs where sexual minority stigma was more prevalent and where there were fewer spaces and opportunities for gay life. Conversely, participants noted that these small cities did not contain the same identity affirming communities as urban gay enclaves, thus motivating movement from small cities to larger ones. Our data suggest these forms of mobility may mitigate stigma, but may also produce sexual health risks, thus drawing attention to small cities as uniquely important sites for HIV prevention. Furthermore, our analysis contributes to an understanding of how place, stigma and mobility can intersect to generate spatially distinct experiences of stigmatised identities and related health consequences.

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“…However, much of the discussion about social context in which gay identities form continue to treat “context” as a given, rather than something that is socially constructed, and experienced differently by differently positioned social actors, during the process of identity formation. That is, while much has been done to examine the ways that different contexts lead to different types of gay identities (Brown-Saracino 2015), there has been a dearth of literature examining how members of different groups may experience these social contexts differently, thereby leading to different types of identity development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

West Hollywood Is Not That Big on Anything but White People: Constructing “Gay Men of Color”

Han

Ayala²,

Paul

et al. 2017

The Sociological Quarterly

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Rather than a defined endpoint that is waiting to be discovered or developed, racial and sexual identities can be considered social identities which are fluid, malleable, and socially created through a social process that defines what it means to be a member of a social group. This paper expands the work on how social identities are constructed by examining personal anecdotes used by gay men of color to discuss how they come to see themselves as “gay men of color.” In doing so, we find that gay men of color use a number of cultural tropes that provide them the framework necessary to structure their experiences within a larger social context of a largely white, heterosexual society. Drawing on these cultural tropes, gay men of color create a social identity that is simultaneously raced and sexed through the use of shared cultural tropes that define what it means to be a member of this group.

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How Places Shape Identity: The Origins of Distinctive LBQ Identities in Four Small U.S. Cities

Cited by 104 publications

References 60 publications

The Geography of Sexual Orientation: Structural Stigma and Sexual Attraction, Behavior, and Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Across 38 European Countries

The Geography of Sexual Orientation: Structural Stigma and Sexual Attraction, Behavior, and Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Across 38 European Countries

‘The big ole gay express’: sexual minority stigma, mobility and health in the small city

West Hollywood Is Not That Big on Anything but White People: Constructing “Gay Men of Color”

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