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Sexual Talk And LGB Adolescents

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In addition to the five hypotheses, Bond poses three research questions. The first research question posed is, “What type of sexual talk is depicted in media popular with LGB adolescents?” Bond argues that this question is important to consider because quantity is as important as quality. It is important for programs to contain “diverse portrayals” and “nonstereotypical, normalized depictions of LGB individuals.” A result of such portrayals would result in LGB youth having access to a variety of different identifications and assist with the development of “sexual socialization and eventual acceptance of their sexual identities.” The second research question is, “Will validating depictions of LGB sexualities occur more or less often than demeaning…show more content…
The first variable, sexual behavior, was defined as “a sense of potential, likely, or actual sexual intimacy.” The behavior was further categorized by, “physical flirting, romantic kissing, intimate touching, sexual intercourse, and other.” Sexual talk consisted of two different categories which were “relationship talk and LGB talk.” It was important to differentiate between the two categories because being constantly exposed to heterosexual relationships within media could provide further difference between “heterosexual social norms and the sexual identities of LGB teens.” The categories that sexual talk was divided into included, “relationship talk, talk about sexual interests, talk about past sexual experiences, talk towards sex, LGB talk, and other.” In comparison, LGB talk was related to cultural and social aspects of sexuality rather than “sexual interests or behaviors.” The categories for the coded variable consisted of, “equality, coming out, gay culture, stereotypes, insults, reaffirming, speculation, and other.” Lastly, the nature of LGB sexual instances were coded as either “validating or demeaning.” Validating was defined by either talk or behavior that helped “humanize LGB individuals.” It also consisted of talk and behavior that portrayed LGB people as equal to heterosexuals. LGB individuals being portrayed as living healthy and normal…show more content…
Research question number one dealt with sexual talk. The content analysis of the media found that sexual talk that included, “relationship talk, talk about sexual interests, talk about past sexual experiences, and other sexual talk,” was heterosexual 90% of the time. In comparison, sexual talk in the form of LGB talk only accounted for 5%. The types of content that was coded for LGB talk were insults/jokes (18%), coming out talk (13%), and stereotypes (12%). Bond’s second research question focused on examining “the nature of LGB sexual instances.” Validating sexual instances was coded 108 times and made up the most sexual instances at 68%. In comparison, demeaning was coded 54 times and accounted for only 33%. The last research question focused on determining whether there were differences of the portrayal of sex and sexuality in varying media. In television, movies, magazines, and music adults and gay men accounted for most of the sexual instances. Additionally, “depictions of heterosexual sexual behavior were overrepresented and depictions of LGB sexual behavior were underrepresented” in the different forms of media examined in the study. The research question further examined LGB sexual talk in the different media types and found that the talk did not focus on “relationships
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