Heterosexism And Homophobia Among College Students Summary

2. In the essay “Gender Treachery: Homophobia, Masculinity, and Threatened Identities” the terms ‘homophobia’ and ‘heterosexism’ are discussed. Hopkins contends that there is no distinct boundary between the two terms, but he outlines ways in which to distinguish the two terms. First,

Homosexuality plays a big part in Sexual Prejudice in the United States today. According to Herek 2002, “Survey participants generally were more likely to regard gay men as mentally ill, supported adoption rights for lesbians more than for gay men, and had more negative personal reactions to gay men than to lesbians”. People in the present US society, mostly label gay men as completely wrong and are more favorable for lesbian

Through the use of interviews and ethnographic data on a college “party dorm” at a large Midwestern university, Laura Hamilton’s article(“Trading on Heterosexuality: College Women’s Gender Strategies and Homophobia”) refutes the idea that women are not homophobic. Hamilton’s research demonstrates that heterosexual women intentionally distance themselves from lesbians, in an attempt to increase their status in the erotic marketplace. The party scene /erotic marketplace encourages women to dress and act in ways that garner male attention(e.g., flirting with men for alcohol and dressing scantily). The more involved the women were in the party scene(and thus more engaged in the marketplace), the more likely they were to exclude lesbians. I have

Every day as a society, we come across some kind of discrimination or prejudice against others or towards us. One specific discrimination we come across is heterosexism. Although there are laws and rights that protect us from these kinds of discriminations/prejudices, it still occurs on a daily basis. The definitions of heterosexism vary from text to text, but we find it true that people in heterosexual relationships have more privileges than people who are in same sex relationships. In comparison to two other definitions of heterosexism, my textbook definition says, “Heterosexism describes an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationship, or community” (Whitley

A growing body of research on non-committed, casual sex among young adults demonstrates that over the past two decades, a significant shift in sexual behavior has occurred among college students, creating a highly charged sexual culture. While the data on prevalence varies with studies demonstrating ranges from 40-55% (Glenn and Marquardt 2001) to 70-80% (Paul and Hayes 2002) of college students reporting sexual hookups, it is clear that “hooking up” has become culturally normative on college campuses. Beyond the curious emergence of this new language and culture of sexuality on college campuses, the study and understanding of college student sexuality is significant due to the high-risk nature of the sexual encounters. As a member of Greek

The concept of heteronormativity is one that few people actually take the time to think about. Generally, the automatic assumed sexuality

Denissen, A, Saguy, A. (2014). Gendered homophobia and the contradictions of workplace discrimination for women in the building trades. Gender and Society, 28(3), 381-403. doi:10.1177/0891243213510781

The second topic I will be analyzing from C.J. Pascoe’s book is gender and more specifically the subcategory of masculinity. It is defined as “gender is a term that refers to social or cultural distinctions associated with being male or female. Gender identity is the extent to which one identifies as being either masculine or feminine.” (Little et al, 12.1). But gender identity is something different. Someone’s gender identity is an extremely important and personal thing, especially to young males who have, are constantly worried about wondering if their male peers think they are gay, and then, therefore, they might question their gender. With this comes bullying, and usually permanent and deeply emotional hurtful nicknames. When a male peer

Colleges and universities have published non-discrimination policies to protect faculty and students from discrimination because of sexual orientation. Traditional students may come to institutions from environments that promote and encourage homophobia. What are the proper strategies in educating its students on the social awakening of LGBT issues, and how to create a safe environment from homophobia and heterosexism are two challenges colleges and universities face across

The offenders tend to believe that others approve their behavior and actions and hence see no wrong in it e.g., the trend of job discrimination in most states of the U.S which is legalized (Palmer, 2011). Furthermore, homophobia being a community problem is extensively seen in the identification of gender roles. These stereotypes hold firmly that certain genders e.g. the male group are very firm and characterized by strength. Hence, unlike the female groups that are emotional and not strong enough. Homophobia is addressed more towards gay males than it would towards gay females. Hence, making men more likely to perpetrate violence towards gay men. The traditional and sexist stereotypes may make those with homophobia view gay men and lesbian’s women as being a threat to their traditional heterosexual conceptions of masculinity. Researchers have shown men experiencing conflict, which relates to four domains of a male gender role: These gender roles consist of success, power, and competition. Researchers have also concluded that religion is interconnected to homophobia.

For a very long time social psychologists have been trying to understand why some humans hold such strong negative outlooks on gay men. William James theorized that acceptance is learned while repulsion is instinctive (Herek, 1984). The disgust of homosexual activity is a normal reaction, for what of those who developed sexual instinct correctly (Herek, 1984). During Herek’s, (1984) research he accumulated multiple studies in the hopes of finding a correlation between negative attitudes towards homosexuals and the reasons behind it. The results he found were that homophobes are less likely to have individual contact with homosexuals, are older and not well accomplished, attend church and retain some sort of religious philosophy. The environment has more preventive attitudes towards traditional sex roles, and negativity is the model (Hereki, 1984). Gay men endure more

On a daily basis, LGBT youths face discrimination from society, relatives, peers and also their teachers and administrators. Different studies indicate homosexual and bisexual youths are most disadvantaged because they lack protection and support from parents and society. They spend most of their time in fear since they are aware that they are not accepted in society. Most parents prefer having straight children, most straight youths prefer having friends who are straight over gay and lesbians and schools prefers admitting straight students over gay and lesbian students. Most studies do not only stress on the discrimination that LGBT youth faces but also highlights some of impacts that discrimination have on these young people’s lives. These studies have shown that the rate of abuse and discrimination against LGBT youths is higher than one faced by heterosexual children (Kosciw et al.). However, there has been some efforts to integrate these discriminated families with the heterosexual families. The U.S. Supreme Court and policymakers are continuing to show some interest in LGBT issues by introducing laws that call for marriage equality and equal rights for all people regardless of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Various experts argue that such development will help LGBT youths to enjoy their sexual orientation without fear of discrimination or abuse from the society and peers (Toomey et al.). Despite all these efforts, LGBT youths continue to experience

Americans live in a society that seems constantly plagued by various types of discrimination. For instance, ableism, classism, and sizeism are a few examples of the sorts of systematic discriminations that Americans face every day. However, as of late, one of the most prevalent forms that targets homosexual minorities is Heterosexist discrimination. Heterosexism is defined as the discrimination or prejudice against homosexuals (“Heterosexism”). In addition to being prejudiced and discriminatory, Heterosexism is more often than not paired with the idea that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation, and therefore superior.

Americans live in a society that seems constantly plagued by various types of discrimination. For instance, ableism, classism, and sizeism are a few examples of the sorts of systematic discriminations that Americans face every day. However, as of late, one of the most prevalent forms that targets homosexual minorities is Heterosexist discrimination. Heterosexism is defined as the discrimination or prejudice against homosexuals (“Heterosexism”). In addition to being prejudiced and discriminatory, heterosexism is more often than not paired with the idea that heterosexuality is the normal sexual orientation, therefore superior. This kind of thinking is extremely detrimental to the wellbeing of homosexual people.

America today has an increase in multiple “isms” ranging from ableism to nativism down to colorism. One “ism” that has been around for some time but recently has had a spark in society in the past couple of years is heterosexism. Heterosexism is defined as “a prejudiced attitude or discriminatory practices against homosexuals by heterosexuals” (Dictionary.com).