This study explores the identity development and psychological adjustment of bisexual individuals (n = 138) as compared to homosexual (n = 45) and heterosexual participants (n = 558). Undergraduate students recruited from psychology classes at a large metropolitan university in Florida (67% female, 65% Caucasian) took an online survey for course extra credit. Bisexual and homosexual participants scored higher in identity exploration than the heterosexual participants. Bisexual participants scored significantly higher in psychological symptom severity than heterosexual participants. The three groups were not significantly different in identity commitment nor in identity distress. Female bisexual participants scored more similar to the homosexual participants in identity exploration, while the male bisexual participants were more similar to the heterosexual participants. Among males, bisexual and homosexual participants reported greater psychological symptom severity than heterosexual participants. There were no differences between groups for female participants in regard to symptom severity. This study highlights the need for more research into the psychological correlates of bisexuality as a distinct group from homosexuality, as well as the need to focus on gender as a significant moderator of these relationships.

<p><strong>AIM </strong>People with marginalized sexual orientations experience mental health and substance use problems at a higher rate compared to heterosexuals. Experiences of discrimination have been identified as a significant factor in explaining such disparities, and a growing body of literature has developed seeking to explore the contexts in which discrimination occurs. However, one context that is understudied is the online environment. Based on Meyer’s (2003) Minority Stress Model (MSM), it is postulated that specific proximal group-specific processes mediate the relationship between discrimination and health outcomes, with other social factors providing protective effects. However, research is sparse empirically investigating different mechanisms, consequences, and potential modifying factors for sexual minority young adults experiencing online heterosexist discrimination (OHD). Thus, the current study aims to explore experiences of OHD among young adults. <strong>METHODS </strong>Using the MSM as a guiding framework, the study examined proximal factors of internalized heterosexism, online concealment, and rejection sensitivity as mechanisms underlying the effect of OHD on health outcomes and online social support as a moderating factor. 383 young adults (18-35) with marginalized sexual orientations were recruited from an introductory psychology subject pool, two online crowdsourcing platforms (Prolific, MTurk), and the community. They completed measures of OHD, online social support, online concealment, rejection sensitivity, internalized heterosexism, psychological distress, and substance use. <strong>RESULTS </strong>Path analyses in Mplus revealed that two proximal stressors (rejection sensitivity, sexual orientation concealment) were positively related to psychological distress as a result of OHD. Sexual orientation concealment was associated with increased risk for cannabis use due to OHD. Online social support from LGBTQ+ peers did not buffer these relationships. <strong>CONCLUSION </strong>The MSM is a viable guiding framework in exploring OHD. Rejection sensitivity and online sexual orientation concealment are important constructs to consider for future research and may be ideal treatment targets for individuals experiencing psychological distress or engaging in cannabis use due to OHD.</p>

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No description available.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the relationship between visual communication and female homosexuality within the field of magazine design. As the creative part of the project I have chosen to make a redesign of Lotus magazine, the very first Swedish magazine with lesbian and bisexual girls as the target audience. The questions of which the project is based on are: Which stereotypes, differences and similarities can be found in visual communication addressed to a heterosexual versus a homosexual target audience? What kind of design attracts non-heterosexual girls and how can I create a design for Lotus magazine that is appealing to lesbian and bisexual girls and yet still makes it possible to compete with traditional girls’ magazines?In order to examine my research questions I have done literature studies within the field of gender and sexual identity in relation to visual communication. Additionally, I have analysed the design of competing magazines on the market and conducted a survey among representatives of the target audience of Lotus magazine.

This research examines the sense-making activities of women who engage in intimate relationships with women following a significant period of heterosexual marriage. Using data gathered through interviews with 36 women, the study explores how subjects use common cultural ideas about sexuality to frame the stories they tell to explain their sexual histories. The idea that sexuality is something one is born with, rather than a choice is on the rise in the United States. This essentialist view in conjunction with cultural ideas about the timing at which sexuality is supposed to emerge implies that people should be "aware" of their sexuality at adolescence. For many of the women in the study that "normal" timing was not the case. In addition to the essentialist supposition is the notion the sexuality is binary. One is either heterosexual or one is the particular type of person known as the homosexual, a construct created in the 19th century that continues to be an important part of modern understandings of sexuality. Women who have spent significant time as heterosexuals and go on to have intimate relationships with women must contend with these cultural understandings as they try to make sense to themselves of a sexual story that seems to lie outside the bounds of that hegemonic narrative. Using modified grounded theory to analyze the collected interviews, four story types emerged. These four story types evinced different levels and types of commitment to the views of sexuality that exist in both the mainstream culture and the gay and lesbian community. They include "Always Knew" and "Retrospective" stories, which demonstrated a close commitment to the dominant narrative. The other two types - "Shifter" stories and "Left Fielder" stories - were more loosely connected to the ideas of essential and binary sexuality. As these stories emerged additional insights were provided in the form of the women's discussions of the impact of the social world in terms of lesbian invisibility, lesbian imagery, homophobia, and group or individual support for telling certain types of stories and/or taking on a lesbian identity. This study builds on, and adds to, scholarship in a number of areas. These include: narrative and identity; the social construction of sexuality; the changing nature of biography as people strive to make the past make sense of the present; and the influence of hegemonic cultural ideas in important areas of social and personal life. Additionally the study provides some insight into how heterosexuality is both a "goes without saying" sexuality route as well as a sometimes problematic achievement. / Sociology

The present study addresses three objectives: 1) to explore the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) persons who are coming in the United States as students and coming out about their sexual orientation, 2) to explore the cultural narratives that emerge in their disclosure process, and 3) to generate ways to support LGBQ international students. Research on the disclosure process for LGBQ persons have been comprised largely of white, middle-class individuals and families. This narrative inquiry broadens our understanding of how LGBQ persons from different cultures define and experience the coming-out process, particularly in the context of moving to a different country. Twelve LGBQ international students shared their coming in, coming out stories through interviews, journals, a timeline, online forum, and picture. Narrative analysis of their stories consisted of three methods: thematic, structural, and dialogic. These findings provide directions for future research, clinical practitioners, educators, and student affairs personnel working with international students. / Ph. D.

It has only been in recent years that eating disorder researchers have begun focusing on sexual orientation as a variable that may affect prevalence rates. Heeding the call for studies that extend beyond identification of fixed eating disorder risk factors (e.g., gender), this study was designed to explore factors that contribute to the development of disordered eating among lesbians. In this study, a hypothesized Lesbian Model of Disordered Eating was tested using structural equation modeling. Lesbian Sexual Identity and Social Supports were hypothesized to positively influence Psychological Health. In addition, Internalization of U.S. Societal Norms of beauty and attractiveness was hypothesized to negatively affect Psychological Health. Psychological Health, in turn, was hypothesized to negatively influence Body Image Concerns. Body Image Concerns was then hypothesized to positively affect Disordered Eating. The fit of the model was evaluated and one of the hypothesized pathways, Internalization of Norms was moved to directly predict Body Image Concerns. After adjusting the model, the model accounted for 54% of the variance in disordered eating. Most notably, the results highlight the potential affects of adopting a positive lesbian identity on disordered eating and underscore the importance of including sexual identity as a demographic variable in studies of body image and disordered eating. Implications for counseling and directions for future research are discussed.

A presente dissertação é um estudo sobre o movimento GLBT (Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais e Transgêneros) e as relações desenvolvidas por esse movimento com um mercado segmentado destinado a homossexuais, ou mercado GLS (Gays, Lésbicas e Simpatizantes). O trabalho procura compreender essas relações a partir da pesquisa de campo realizada com foco na Associação da Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo (APOGLBT). Além disso, há um esforço no sentido de entender as dinâmicas do mercado GLS e do movimento GLBT a partir de meados da década de 1990, especialmente em São Paulo. O enfoque da dissertação recai sobre processos de aproximação e diferenciação entre movimento e mercado, envolvendo também situações de conflito e colaboração entre ambos os atores sociais. Tal abordagem foi elaborada a partir da discussão teórica sobre processos de construção de identidades coletivas presentes na constituição de sujeitos políticos, bem como da perspectiva da antropologia a respeito de processos de consumo. / This thesis is a study of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) movement and its relations with a segmented market that is focused on homosexuals or GLS (Gay, Lesbian and Supporter). This work departing from the conducted field research on the Associação da Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo (APOGLBT - São Paulo\'s Association for the GLBT Pride Parade) seeks to understand these relations. Besides this, an effort has been made to understand the dynamics of the GLS market and the GLBT movement, specially in São Paulo, since the mid 1990s. The focus of this thesis is grounded on an analysis of processes of rapprochement and differentiation between the movement and the market, involving situations of conflict and collaboration between both social actors. This approach has been elaborated from a theoretical discussion about processes of collective identity formation, present in the constitution of political subjects, as well as from an anthropological perspective on consumption processes.

Os transexuais são pessoas que se identificam com o gênero oposto ao seu sexo biológico: homens que acreditam e se comportam como se fossem mulheres, e vice-versa. Tal identificação gera um desconforto ou sentimento de inadequação em relação ao próprio corpo, com sofrimento significativo e um desejo de viver e de ser aceito como pessoa pertencente ao outro sexo. Com base nessa crença, promovem alterações em seus corpos, aproximando-os da aparência própria ao seu gênero de identificação. Cria-se, então, uma contradição entre a imagem e modo de vida da pessoa e seu estado civil, gerando constrangimentos que dificultam o gozo dos direitos civis, econômicos, sociais e culturais. A violência e discriminação dirigidas às pessoas transexuais ao redor do mundo têm sido denunciadas perante os órgãos internacionais da Organização das Nações Unidas e da Organização dos Estados Americanos. Diante dos fatos, tais órgãos recomendaram o levantamento de dados e a pesquisa interna, no âmbito de cada país, em busca de soluções jurídicas às questões de identidade suscitadas pelos transexuais. No Brasil, há especial interesse na questão, visto que o País permite a realização da cirurgia de transgenitalização desde 1997, atualmente nos moldes da Resolução nº 1.955/2010, do Conselho Federal de Medicina, sem que haja previsão legal quanto aos respectivos efeitos jurídicos. A falta de legislação contribui para a invisibilidade dos transexuais como vítimas de exclusão, tornando relevantes as contribuições doutrinária e jurisprudencial para a implementação de seus direitos humanos. Nesse contexto, a partir das concepções moral e jurídica de identidade e da essencialidade do seu reconhecimento social para a preservação da dignidade da pessoa humana, propõe-se a mudança do nome e do sexo, no estado civil da pessoa, como forma de inclusão do transexual, pela tutela de sua identidade de gênero. / The transsexuals are people who identify themselves with the opposite gender to their biological sex: men who believe and behave like they were women and vice versa. Such identification generates an inconvenience or a feeling of inadequacy concerning their own body, with a meaningful suffering and desire of living and being accepted as anyone belonging to the other sex. They make changes in their own bodies, based on this belief, getting close to the appearance itself related to the gender of identification. As a result, it´s created a contradiction between the image and the person´s way of life and his/her marital status, making embarrassments which raise difficulties for the fruition of civil, economy, social and cultural rights. The violence and discrimination addressed to transsexual people throughout the world have been denounced before the international organizations of the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Accordingly to the facts, these organizations have recommended the data survey and in-house research, in the range of each country, in order to find juridical solutions to the identity questions raised by the transsexuals. In Brasil, there is special interest on the question, considering the country allows the realization of transgenitalization surgery since 1997, currently according to the Resolution n° 1.955/2010, from the Medicine Federal Council, with no legal prediction related to the respective juridical effects. The lack of legislation contributes to the invisibility of the transsexuals as victims of exclusion, becoming relevant the doctrinaire and jurisprudential contribution for the implementation of their human rights. Inside this context, from the moral and juridical conceptions of identity and the essentiality of its social recognition for the maintenance of human being dignity, it´s proposed a change on the name and sex, in the person´s marital status, as a manner of inclusion of the transsexual, by the tutelage of his/her gender identity.