A new study finds that many people, particularly heterosexual men, still perceive straight men as “more masculine” than gay men, Gay Star News reports.
158 men and women participated in a social experiment aimed at reducing prejudice and discrimination. The study was conducted by Mariana Pinho, a PhD candidate at the University of Lincoln, England. It asked participants to evaluate a fictional man.
The man was described to participants in a variety of ways: either straight or gay, and either single or married. All other facts about him remained the same.
Researchers observed that the man was considered by participants as “more masculine” when he was both heterosexual and married, and “more feminine” when he was described as gay.
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Researchers also found that participants considered the man “more competent” when he was single, regardless of his sexual orientation.
Finally, participants were asked to judge the fictional man. Heterosexual men proved more likely to view the fictional man as feminine when he was described as gay. They also expressed fewer positive feelings towards him. Women, however, claimed to be more curious about and friendly towards the man.
So what exactly does this all mean?
Pinho says: “Our findings shed light on the complex effects of individuals’ sexual orientation and marital status, on the way they are perceived and the emotions they elicit in other people. Increasing our understanding of the beliefs that surround homosexuality is a crucial step in the effort to reducing prejudice and discrimination.”
Charlie in Charge
And we still think they’re mostly douches. See, we’re both right.
Billy Budd
If this view was changed, many straight guys would become bisexual, or even gay. It is the stigma of not being a MAN anymore that makes them repress homosexual desires. Among other factors.
2500 years ago, homosexual relationships were a means of bringing a young man into adulthood, and preparing him to become a warrior and a valuable citizen of the Polis. Being “gay” was very “macho” at that time.
James Hart
It’s not just straight men who have this prejudice, it’s gay men, too. We all know that “straight-acting” is considered very important in the gay community. But, no matter how straight-acting a dude is, he can NEVER escape the fact that he has sex with other men. That, in and of itself, no matter how masculine you are, is considered effeminate according to many straight men. Sadly, most straight men believe gay or bisexual men are not “real” men.
Mezaien
Hahahaha straight think I am not Masculine enough? bring them over after all they are all wankirs anyway.
robirob
Some parents and other authority figures fill childrens’ heads with flawed belief systems that either suit said parents and other authority figures or they simply don’t know any better. Religion, strict gender roles, racism, politics, opinions about money, social status, values, obedience, education, etc.
For a lot of adults it’s quite difficult to change belief systems that they grew up with and a lot of people try their best to avoid making necessary mental adjustments even when life experiences ask for said adjustments (that’s when people distract themselves by getting into other people’s business; get addicted to food, alcohol, or drugs; or in some cases even get very sick).
bmwblonde
No, my comment will be deleted by Querty because it isn’t simpleminded and ignorant enough.
dannyboi2
And they needed a study to figure this out? I could’ve told you that for FREEEEEE!
KDub
Yes, and thanks to gay-owned channels like Logo and Bravo popularizing every negative gay male stereotype in the book, this will most likely not change.
tjr101
This study doesn’t reveal anything already known. This is also why gay men tend to have more straight female friends than straight male friends.
michael mellor
They only have to look at the gay media to see how camp and queeny we’ve become. Even the word ‘gay’ is camp.
DickieJohnson
Perhaps those hetero men who took the survey have been exposed personally only to that “10%, or so” stereotypical gay men who are most visible? They don’t see all the Marines, truck drivers, oilrig workers, construction dudes, cowboys, and other macho-types, the “other 90%”, as even possibly being gay. In my 45 yrs of being “out”, I’ve never dated a florist, a hairdresser, or anyone effeminate. I’m queer because I like MEN, and have dated all the aforementioned types, and more. Most Str8s don’t have a clue as to how many of us there are!
jayj150
Many of those so-called ‘straight’ men probably have gay sex themselves and have internalized homophobia. The so called T#anny chasers overwhelmingly identify as straight even though they love having what is by all means homosexual male sex. So-called men living “in the down low” also identify as straight. Most pedophile predators(most of which are married men with kids) identify as straight. I’ve learned that most REAL straight men, who are completely comfortable with their sexuality, are perfectly fine with gay people. It’s almost always the closeted crowd hiding behind the straight label who have problems with gay men.
etseq
As usual the comment section of Queerty is a sea of self-loathing gay men, misogynists, the “everyone is bisexual” fanatics, and just straight-up trolls. This will never change because Queerty’s business model is pure page hits and honestly, the comment section is entertaining if you view as a form of performance art.
Sebizzar
@James Hart: Exactly, and what’s ironic about it all is, how is 2 MEN having sex supposedly less MANLY? Hetero sex can only be half of that! Not to mention, gays know how to take it like a man 😉
Billy Budd
Here in Brazil we have MANY tran**y lovers, who by default ask to be fuck**d by the tran**y. Almost always they are the bottoms in the relationship. They are considered straight by everybody. Soccer player Roaldo once hired three trann**es at the same time and had an orgy with them in a motel. One of the tra**** died a few months later, of aids related issues.
It makes sense to call these guys straight, because they reject the male form and accept only the female form. They want a dick but want it from a woman. It is crazy, I know, but theoretically they are still straight. Of course you can argue that they are just repressing desires for men. But that is another topic, and I don’t have data on that.
jayj150
@Billy Budd: In-denial gay/bi men and so-called ‘non operative’ transwomen need each other for the purpose of validating their delusion that they’re straight. The guy gets to be fucked by a penis and still call himself ‘straight’ because he is having sex with someone who resembles a woman, and the transsexual gets to put his dick inside a dude and still see herself like a woman because the guy identifies as ‘straight’. They both get to have what is by all means homosexual male sex without having to be embarrassed by the oh-so-offensive gay ‘label’.
jayj150
@Billy Budd: You said: “If this view was changed, many straight guys would become bisexual, or even gay”. You are right, but those men wouldn’t ‘become’ bi or gay, they would already be that, they’d just come out as gay/bi and start identifying as such. You are confirming what we gay and bi men know: that those so-called ‘straight’ men on the down low are anything but straight, they just don’t have the balls to be open about it.
drivendervish
I suppose their calling this another Ground-breaking study! These findings don’t shed light on anything that wasn’t known in Ancient Greece around 500 BC. I think the problem, if there is one, is the definition of masculine. In my opinion most people think that men having sex with women is a big part if not all of their definition of masculinity. The world still believes that a man who cares about others, is thoughtful and kind is less masculine than your average bank robber. It will be 1000’s of years before the definition of masculinity evolves to a point that gay men will have a chance of being considered as masculine as a heterosexual.
Stefano
My 3 brothers always told me that i’m not a”real” man because i don’t have sex with women even if i’m not effeminate.
@drivendervish : i agree with you.
jesaves
straight men are some of the most emotional people I have ever met
B Damion
Why is it that we care so much about what they think or how they view us. What the hell does it matter? As long as you put your C**k in another mans A**h***…they will never accept you or understand why you are the way you are. F*** them. And F*** these so called “str8 acting” gay men. Just like they gay community thinks that effem guys somehow ruin the “gay image”. The same can be said for the “str8-acting” gay guy. It’s such bs.
jar
@DickieJohnson: One has only oneself to blame for their invisibility. How out were all of these “macho-types” you’ve dated? Being out doesn’t mean going to gay bars, it requires identifying yourself to the public.
WuzUpYall
BUT, they will still sleep with a gay man when their significant other is out of town 😉
Niall
Why would they when gay men themselves don’t think gay men are masculine? The fact that the term “straight acting” is still prevalent among gay guys should tell you enough.
pierrot
How are the findings of this study shocking?
Let’s just say maybe 50% of gay men are feminine while the remaining 50% are the masculine type. Now these proportions are going to be lower in straight men (perhaps 10% feminine straight men and 90% masculine straight men). So when you take the average of the two groups, obviously the group of gay men will be less masculine in relative to the group of straight men. It’s just basic math people!
BJ McFrisky
. . . and in another shocking study, scientists find water to be wet.
toberlin
The result of the study came as no surprise for me.The Question is how to handle it.It`s about INDEPENDENCE.Every human itself has and need “masculine” and “feminine” character attributes to well-functioning and stay healthy regardless of Gender.So every family and the society. The less attributes like “masculine” and “feminine” are linked with a specific gender the more all people are free to live according to their own specific attributes/ character.
No meterorite named “STIGMA” has hit the earth.We still live in a straight mens world( Societies and Religions)It is still more a straight mens Job/”masculine” to penetrate brains countries and women( not necessarily in that order).SEX is still attached with DOMINATION.Yes,straight men like D*ck.They like they own 1.I don`t think you will ever get respect by straight men by sucking his D*ck.If he is not BI(=really Like/Love/Desire men) he will change the road or laugh with his friends about you like he does with the unattractive neighbor girl he used to f*ck.But if this is O.K to you just laugh back.To me it is about be independent/free of genderoles and to get the respect by “taking” it.I do not have the patience to “wait” for respect.
newecreator
I’ve seen more manly gay men than straight men these days.
Cy
It’s called stereotyping, and no, we don’t need another study to tell us that some people still practice it. We know they do.
andy.ec
I don’t understand why it’s so important to many whether others perceive them as masculine or not, or for that matter why they even care to try and strive for such an arbitrary and subjective construct.
litper
Is it surprising when even gay sites like Queerty are filled with Trans propaganda and Straight worshipping?
vonric
Was still very much closeted and certainly focused on the traditional steriotypes of “gayness” when I served as an Infantry officer in Vietnam.. my commanding officer was loud, brash – and could drink anyone under the table… at the time, all of those made him a “man’s man – “. In addition, he was a brilliant CO focusing on keeping his guys alive first (no easy feat) and getting the job done.
Ran into him while on leave….. both in the same bar…. we talked about why we were both in the same gay bar… and given the times, maintained absolute secrecy. But.. it was a revelation to me that masculinity/femininity and homo/hetero are both continuums, and on somewhat separate axis… When I abandon my small Midwest stereotypes… I could see other men for whom they are – certainly my CO was one of the most masculine men I’ve met/worked with, another, a fellow classmate in school with a wife and five kids has to have been one of the campiest dudes I’ve known… and unless he was closeted (and I know how to read THOSE signals) he was happily married to a delightful and equally feminine woman.
what matters about my CO in ‘nam and about my co-worker was not their masculinity/femininity but their authenticity in friendship….