Sexual and Intimacy Issues for Aging Gay Men

Pope, Mark; Wierzalis, Edward A.; Barret, Bob; Rankins, Michael

doi:10.1002/j.2161-0029.2007.tb00033.x

Cited by 21 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Finally, hypermasculinity, which is also conceptualized as masculinity threat, is highly detrimental to the health of gay men (Stall, Friedman, & Catania, 2008) and has been implicated in sexual risk-taking as well as body image (Halkitis, Green, & Wilton, 2004), both of which have a direct impact on health. Rigid conceptions of masculinity may be additionally burdensome to gay men as they age (Pope, Wierzalis, Barret, & Rankins, 2007) due to wear and tear on the body and on sexual performance.…”

Section: Psychosocial Burdensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Toward a Holistic Conceptual Framework for Understanding Healthy Aging Among Gay Men

Halkitis

Kapadia

Ompad

et al. 2015

Journal of Homosexuality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the last four decades, we have witnessed vast and important transitions in the social, economic, political, and health contexts of the lived experiences of gay men in the United States. This dynamic period, as evidenced most prominently by the transition of the gay rights movement to a civil rights movement, has shifted the exploration of gay men's health from one focusing primarily on HIV/AIDS into a mainstream consideration of the overall health and wellbeing of gay men. Against this backdrop, aging gay men in the United States constitute a growing population, for whom further investigations of health states and health-related disparities are warranted. In order to advance our understanding of the health and wellbeing of aging gay men, we outline here a multilevel, ecosocial conceptual framework that integrates salient environmental, social, psychosocial, and sociodeomgraphic factors into sets of macro-, meso-, and micro-level constructs that can be applied to comprehensively study health states and health care utilization in older gay men.

show abstract

Section: Psychosocial Burdensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Toward a Holistic Conceptual Framework for Understanding Healthy Aging Among Gay Men

Halkitis

Kapadia

Ompad

et al. 2015

Journal of Homosexuality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although some studies have included older MSM in their samples, only a few studies have investigated sexual risk and HIV issues specifically in midlife and older MSM (Dolcini, Catania, Stall, & Pollack, 2003;Jacobs et al, 2010;Lelutiu-Weinberger et al, 2011;Lim et al, 2011;Murray & Adam, 2001;Ober, Shoptaw, Wang, Gorbach, & Weiss, 2009;Pope, Wierzalis, Barret, & Rankins, 2007). Rates of HIV infection among older urban MSM in the United States are very high, particularly among those in their 50s.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Condom Use, Disclosure, and Risk for Unprotected Sex in HIV-Negative Midlife and Older Men Who Have Sex With Men

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexual risk behaviors account for most HIV infections in men who have sex with men (MSM), and the risk of exposure from each sexual encounter increases with age. The focus of this study was to investigate which behaviors in midlife and older MSM influence their sexual risk/protection. Cross-sectional data were collected from a community-based sample of 802 MSM aged 40 years and older from community venues (e.g., bars) who completed an anonymous questionnaire. Data from a subset of 420 MSM who were HIV-negative (aged 40-81 years) were used to investigate which behaviors were associated with greater risk for unprotected anal sex. Regression analyses indicated that erection difficulties (odds ratio [OR] = 4.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8-12.2), practicing safe sex with outside partners but not with one’s primary partner (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.3-0.94), and recreational drug use (OR = 2.6; 95% CI = 1.3-5.1) were associated with higher risk for unprotected receptive anal intercourse. Younger age (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.9- 0.9), not telling partners about HIV status (OR = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.5-6.5), finding partners in backrooms/sex clubs (OR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.1- 6.8), and erection difficulties (OR = 10.3; 95% CI = 2.8-37.8) were associated with higher risk for unprotected insertive anal intercourse. These data indicate there may be certain factors specific to older MSM that influence their sexual risk taking behaviors. Programs may be more effective if they are tailored for older cohorts of MSM and address interpersonal communication, erection problems, and substance use to reduce health risks and promote healthier lifestyles.

show abstract

“…Accordingly, research has documented how older gay men spoke of the youth obsession of gay culture (Christian & Keefe, 1997) and how they felt about being rendered invisible and excluded from the mainstream gay community, and having to deal with the 'negative stereotypes' and 'discrimination regarding ageing' (Pope, Wierzalis, Barret, & Rankins, 2007). For example, in the USA, Lodge and Umberson (2013) compared the narratives of 15 gay men and 15 heterosexual men aged between 40 and 60.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Older Single Gay Men’s Body Talk: Resisting and Rigidifying the Aging Discourse in the Gay Community

Suen

2016

Journal of Homosexuality

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous research saw older gay men as subject to structural marginalization of ageism but yet possessing agency to interpret aging in diverse ways. I move beyond this duality, drawing on the theory of defensive othering to understand how older gay men live with the aging discourse in the gay community. Informed by grounded theory, I analyzed interviews with 25 self-identified single gay men aged 50 or above in England inductively. It emerged that many older gay men found it difficult to escape the discourse that marginalizes the aging body. Even when they argued they were the exception and "looked good," they were discursively producing a two-tier system: they themselves as the "good older gay men," as opposed to the other "bad older gay men," who "had given up." Such a defensive othering tactic seemingly allowed them to resist age norms from applying to them personally, but unintentionally reinforced an ageist discourse.

show abstract

Sexual and Intimacy Issues for Aging Gay Men

Cited by 21 publications

References 21 publications

Moving Toward a Holistic Conceptual Framework for Understanding Healthy Aging Among Gay Men

Moving Toward a Holistic Conceptual Framework for Understanding Healthy Aging Among Gay Men

Condom Use, Disclosure, and Risk for Unprotected Sex in HIV-Negative Midlife and Older Men Who Have Sex With Men

Older Single Gay Men’s Body Talk: Resisting and Rigidifying the Aging Discourse in the Gay Community

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About