Identity and Behavior

Question 1

What are the aspects that sexuality includes that may be linked but are not determining of one another

Answer 1

• sex
• gender identity
• gender expression
• romantic attraction
• sexual attraction
• sexual behavior

Question 2

What is Discordance

Answer 2

discordance is when sexual identities, behaviours and attractions do not “match”

Question 3

Gay and bisexual men vs. heterosexual men with having same sex encounters

Answer 3

• gay and bisexual men view their sex with other men as a manifestations of their identity
• straight-identified man see themselves as straight despite having sex with men
• heterosexuals who have same-sex encounters are not necessarily “closeted”

Question 4

What do sexual identities represent to an individual?

Answer 4

may represent how an individual perceives themselves, but they do not necessarily reflect a person’s sexual behaviour or attractions

Question 5

Give an example of how romantic and sexual attractions are distinct?

Answer 5

• some people are romantically interested only in people of a different sex, but experience sexual attractions to both women and men
• many such people identify as straight bc they form different-sex romantic relationships
• They perceive these romantic partnerships as more important to their identity than occasional same-sex sexual encounters

Question 6

How do heterosexual men generally justify their romantic attraction to women even when having same-sex attractions?

Answer 6

heterosexual men identify as straight because this identity indicated “the degree to which I want to get married and have a wife”

Question 7

How does gender impact discordance?

Answer 7

• women are more likely than men to engage in same-sex behaviour
• rates of same-sex contact are increasing over time for women but not increasing among men

Question 8

Why is heterosexuality perceived more central to men’s masculinity than to a women’s femininity?

Answer 8

• because men are considered more socially important than women in many societies, the range of behavior considered masculine is often more narrower than the range of behavior considered feminine for women
• men’s same-sex sexuality is socially regulated more strictly than women’s

Question 9

How do women think about their gender identity?

Answer 9

• many women believe that their status as mothers and partners to men makes an LGBQ identity irrelevant to them
• women think about their gender identity in relation to motherhood

Question 10

Why do men who have sex with men identify as straight?

Answer 10

• sex and romantic relationships are difference from each other
• just as sexual experience, does not define identity
• bonding
• being “gay” or “bisexual” doesn’t fit (associate gay with being very feminine, consider the stereotypes with the term)
• coercion

Question 11

What is an issue with survey/measurement of sexual identities and behaviors?

Answer 11

some heterosexual discordance is due to the fact that survey designers do not always allow respondents to self-identify as “mostly” straight, which leads many to identify as either bisexual or straight

Question 12

what do most hetero-sexual rural men focus on when talking about their sexual identity?

Answer 12

focus on romantic relationships with women, parenthood, integration in straight communities, and how they perceived their masculinity

Question 13

Why do some men who identify as straight have sex with other men?

Answer 13

• men wanted to have more sex than they currently had in their marriages, sex with men allowed access to sex without feeling as though they were threatening their marriage
• men less likely to take, so you’re less likely to get caught
• allowed them to experience sexual pleasure, without pressures they felt when they had sex with women (i.e., submit)

Question 14

What are the two main reasons that these men did not see themselves as bisexual?

Answer 14

1. a majority were partnered to a woman, and they felt that the identity “bisexual” was not relevant given their relationship status
2. none wanted to separate from their woman partners to romantically partner with a man