Masculinity and Sexuality

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The attractiveness of male models has increased. Men still devoted more time to looking at women pictures rather than men. This adds to the evidence that regardless of whether a man is straight, gay, or bisexual, men are still more category specific than women. Heterosexual men claimed to be more attracted to female than male models, and this was evident due to their much larger viewing times of females versus male models. Moreover, this large difference in time depending on the sex of the model increased when models were very attractive. In contrast, heterosexual women claimed to be attracted to both sex of models, and their “attractions and viewing times to both sexes increased with models’ attractiveness.” Moreover, in comparison to men, the difference between women’s viewing time of models of differing sexes was much smaller.

Reading this research, I could not help but wonder whether or not this sort of aversion towards their own sex had to deal with the constant societal pressure for men not to be “fags” or for them to not look at other men. In a video I watched titled, “Tough Guise,” Jackson Katz and other men interviewed used the term “fag” to describe what one would be called if he did not measure up to a “real man.” Being a “fag” was looked down upon in comparison to being a “real man,” which was described as a guy who was strong, athletic, tough, etc. Additionally, according to Think, hegemonic masculinity refers to the “ideal, dominant standard of masculinity for which men are to aim.” In the United States, popular culture media representations provide a clear picture of ideal masculinity. Boys learn and acquire these masculine characteristics and traits throughout their life by their toys they play with, ...

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...rtisements. Sex Roles, 69(5-6), 237-249. Retrieved from http://electra.lmu.edu:2337/10.1007/s11199-013-0300-5

8. Welch, K. (2011). Think: Human Sexuality. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

9. Willoughby, B. J., & Vitas, J. (2012). Sexual desire discrepancy: The effect of individual differences in desired and actual sexual frequency on dating couples. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(2), 477-86. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-011-9766-9

10. Woo, J. S., T., Brotto, L. A., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2011). The role of sex guilt in the relationship between culture and women's sexual desire. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(2), 385-94. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10508-010-9609-0

11. Yitzchak M Binik; Kenneth Mah; Sara Kiesler. The Journal of Sex Research: Ethical issues in conducting sex research on the Internet.; Feb 1999; 36, 1; Research Library Core pg. 82

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