Constructions of masculinity and femininity and sexual risk negotiation practices among women in urban Ghana

Using qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews with women in Accra, Ghana, this paper explores narratives of masculinity and femininity and sexual risk negotiation practices among women. While women framed ‘proper’ masculinity in terms of stereotypical reproductive norms, they also acknowledged the fluidity and multiplicity of masculinities. Femininity was more uniformly characterised in terms of physical attractiveness and beauty, responsibility and reproduction. These features, especially those related to adherence to morally and socially appropriate sexual norms (e.g., menstrual and bodily hygiene, unplanned pregnancy etc.), influenced women's approach to sexual negotiation. Work aiming to support women to negotiate sex safely needs to pay attention to their notions of gender and practices of sexual negotiation.     

Male homosexuality,psychiatric patient status,and psychological masculinity and femininity

The personality dynamics of homosexuality, psychiatric patient status, and psychological masculinity and femininity were assessed for four groups of 45 male subjects in a full factorial comparison. Results show that homosexuality can be significantly characterized by the Dynamic Personality Inventory independently of psychiatric attendance and that aspects of sex role, considered both normatively and within the sample, are especially effective in that respect. Emphasis is laid on a multidimensional approach to masculinity and femininity. Results are further interpreted with regard to parental relations and the minority status of male homosexuals.The design and data collection of this study were supported by a grant from the Home Office (U.K.). Statistical analyses were made possible by a grant to the Center of Criminology, University of Ottawa, from the Ministry of Correctional Services, Province of Ontario.     

Sexual Orientation and Gender: Stereotypes and Beyond

In this essay, I explore empirical research about the relationship between sexual orientation and gender. Both concepts have multiple meanings, which hinder an unequivocal understanding of the relationship between the two concepts. One of the first studies assumed to establish a relationship between male homosexuality and femininity was conducted by L. M. Terman and C. C. Miles (1936). The study actually gives a much more complicated picture of the relationship. Terman and Miles actually found two groups of homosexual men with, respectively, extremely high masculinity and extremely high femininity scores. Subsequently, various other studies examined the relationship between sexual orientation and gender, introducing the concept of androgyNY. While these studies were executed, major changes took place in the homosexual world, which have been characterized as the masculinization of culture. It is unclear how these changes relate to the masculine and feminine properties of the men involved. Various suggestions are made for further research on the relation between gender and sexual orientation. This essay is based on the Presidential Address, International Academy of Sex Research, Bloomington, Indiana, July 16–19, 2003.     

Handedness,sexual orientation,and gender-related personality traits in men and women

This study assessed large numbers of heterosexual and homosexual men and women on handedness and gender-related personality traits. Initial analyses employed a dichotomous measure of handedness (right-handed vs. non–right-handed). For men and women combined, homosexual participants had 50% greater odds of being non–right-handed than heterosexual participants, a statistically significant difference. Homosexual men had 82% greater odds of being non–right-handed than heterosexual men, a statistically significant difference, whereas homosexual women had 22% greater odds of being non–right-handed than heterosexual women, a nonsignificant difference. When participants were classified into five graduated categories of handedness, both men and women showed significant homosexual–heterosexual differences in handedness distributions. Within groups, handedness showed a number of weak but statistically significant associations with sex-typed occupational preferences, self-ascribed masculinity, and self-ascribed femininity, but not with instrumentality or expressiveness. Rates of non–right-handedness were virtually identical for heterosexual men and women, suggesting that sex differences in handedness may result from higher rates of homosexuality in men.     

Binge eating and psychopathology in severely obese adolescents

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe binge eating and psychopathology in severely obese adolescents who are seeking treatment for obesity and search for specific psychological features that may be associated with binge eating. METHOD: Obese adolescents (n = 102) were assessed with the Binge Eating Scale (BES), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), and the Body-Esteem subscale from the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (PHCSS). They were also evaluated with the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Brief Scale for Anxiety (BSA). Two subgroups (i.e., binge eaters and non-binge eaters) were then established according to the BES score. RESULTS: Binge eating symptoms were frequent in this population and the binge eating dimension was related to high levels of anxiety and depression, as well as to low levels of self-esteem and body-esteem. The dimensions of anxiety and depression were associated specifically with binge eaters. DISCUSSION: As observed in the obese adult population, binge eating symptoms were found frequently in severely obese adolescents seeking treatment and were related strongly to studied parameters. Obese adolescents who binge eat are a subgroup with high psychopathologic distress.     

Gender-Related Traits of Heterosexual and Homosexual Men and Women

Two studies investigated the relation between sexual orientation and gender-related traits. Analyzing data from an Internet survey, Study 1 found that gay men and lesbians differed from same-sex heterosexuals most strongly on gender diagnosticity (GD) measures, which assess male- versus female-typicality of occupational preferences (effect sizes were 1.14 for men and 0.53 for women) and least strongly on instrumentality (I) and expressiveness (E). Study 2 found that GD measures showed large differences between 289 gay and 200 heterosexual men (d = 0.95) and between 296 lesbian and 435 heterosexual women (d = 1.32), whereas I and E showed much smaller differences. In Study 2 homosexual–heterosexual diagnosticity measures, computed from men's and women's occupational preferences, correlated very strongly with GD measures (r = 0.88 for men and 0.89 for women), indicating that occupational preference items that distinguished men from women also tended to distinguish heterosexual from homosexual individuals. LISREL 8 analyses showed that self-ascribed masculinity–femininity did not mediate the strong relation between sexual orientation and GD for men or for women.     

Influence of sexual orientation and age on disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in women

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the influence of age on the association between sexual orientation and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in women. METHOD: Heterosexual (n=47) and homosexual (n=45) women recruited from the community completed self-report questionnaires including the Body Esteem Scale, the Eating Disorders Inventory-2, the Reasons for Exercise Inventory, and the Self Esteem Scale. RESULTS: A multivariate analysis of variance of eating disorder variables revealed a main effect for sexual orientation on drive for thinness and exercise to control weight and a main effect for age on body mass index (BMI) and body dissatisfaction, but it did not reveal a significant interaction between sexual orientation and age. DISCUSSION: Sexual orientation may influence certain types of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in women such as endorsing an extreme ideal of thinness. However, homosexual and heterosexual women reported more similarities than differences.     

Masculinity,femininity, and transsexualism

This study examined the relationship between sex role and gender identity in a Polish transsexual population where, unlike in Western countries, male-to-female (MF)transsexualism is much less common than female-to-male (FM) transsexualism. One hundred and three FM (82 primary, 21 secondary) and 29 MF (16 primary, 13 secondary) transsexuals plus 135 control males (CM) and 303 control females (CF) completed a Sex Role Inventory, which measures sex-role identification, that is, the degree to which one self-identifies with masculine and feminine characteristics. Data obtained from primary transsexuals revealed that, on a femininity scale, MF transsexuals scores exceeded not only CM but also CF. On a masculinity scale, MF transsexuals rated themselves significantly lower than CM, but at a level comparable to CF. The comparison of FM transsexuals and controls showed that, on a masculinity scale, transsexuals scored higher than CF but were not different from CM. On the femininity scale, FM transsexuals rated themselves in between the two control groups: lower than CF but slightly higher than CM. The relations of secondary transsexuals' scores to CF and CM scores, on both masculine and feminine scales, were in the same direction as the primary transsexuals' scores. Secondary transsexuals rated themselves very similarly to their primary counterparts (the exception was a much higher score of MF-primary transsexuals than MF-secondary transsexuals on the femininity scale). Our study revealed that transsexualism does not imply a simple inversion of sex-role patterns: transsexuals differ not only from nontranssexual individuals of the same anatomical sex but also from those of the opposite sex. Moreover, MF transsexualism is not a mirror image of FM transsexualism: it constitutes a more extreme condition in the identification with feminine versus masculine personality traits. These differences seem to be universal for different countries and regions. The diagnostic value of our findings is discussed.     

Loss of control over eating, adiposity, and psychopathology in overweight children

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between loss of control over eating, adiposity, and psychological distress in a nontreatment sample of overweight children. METHOD: Based on self-reports of eating episodes, 112 overweight children, 6-10 years old, were categorized using the Questionnaire of Eating and Weight Patterns-Adolescent Version into those describing episodes of loss of control over eating (LC), and those with no loss of control (NoLC). Groups were compared on measures of adiposity, dieting, and eating behavior, and associated psychological distress. RESULTS: LC children (33.1%) were heavier and had greater amounts of body fat than NoLC children. They also had higher anxiety, more depressive symptoms, and more body dissatisfaction. 5.3% met questionnaire criteria for BED. Episodes of loss of control occurred infrequently, were often contextual, and involved usual meal foods. DISCUSSION: As in adults, overweight children reporting loss of control over eating have greater severity of obesity and more psychological distress than those with no such symptoms. It remains unknown whether children who endorse loss of control over eating before adolescence will be those who develop the greatest difficulties with binge eating or obesity in adulthood.     

Interaction of older brothers and sex-typing in the prediction of sexual orientation in men

Numerous studies indicate that homosexual men have, on average, more older brothers than do heterosexual men. One explanation of the older brother effect comes from D. J. Bem (1996), who argued that an increased number of older brothers in homosexual men can result if older brothers enhance a feminine boy's sense of being different from (and hence his attraction to) other males. Thus, he argued that an interaction between older brothers and sex-typing will occur, such that when a boy is high in femininity, number of older brothers may strongly predict a homosexual orientation; and when a boy is low in femininity, number of older brothers may not or may only weakly predict a homosexual orientation. In this study, the relations among sibling characteristics (e.g., older brothers), childhood sex-typing, and sexual orientation were examined using a database of a large sample of homosexual and heterosexual men (N > 1,000) archived at the Kinsey Institute (A. P. Bell, M. S. Weinberg, & S. K. Hammersmith, 1981a). No significant Older Brother × Sex-Typing interaction effect was observed. These results join other recent evidence that postnatal (e.g., learning/environmental) mechanisms probably do not underlie the older brother effect in men.     

Gender role and psychological adjustment

Three hundred and sixty-six university students (158 males and 208 females) completed a three-part questionnaire. The first two parts consisted of self-report inventories to assess psychological adjustment (Eysenck's Neuroticism Scale and Lanyon's Alienation Scale). The third part assessed gender role (Bem's Sex Role Inventory). Androgyny was scored as per both the Bem (1974) system and the Spence et al.(1975) system, and the groups obtained by these two systems were separately analyzed for differences in psychological adjustment scores. Feminine individuals (regardless of biological gender or system of classification) obtained less adjusted scores, and this was especially significant for males. It was also found that the Spence et al. system had more predictive power than the Bem system for classifying individuals. Analyses were performed at the McGill University Computing Centre with the assistance of a McGill Graduate Studies and Research Grant to William E. Piper and the author, who was, at the time, a McConnell Fellow.