Anti-effeminacy and Gay Male Relationship Formation

Abstract

Given the salience of feminine devaluation within the gay male community, several studies have outlined anti-effeminacy as a harmful, regulatory force within gay male relationships. This study explores how this prejudice informs gay male relationship formation. I developed a two part methodology to determine the role that anti-effeminacy plays in gay male relationship formation. First, I administered the Negative Attitude Towards Effeminacy survey to determine how anti-effeminacy was correlated with various relationship and demographic factors of gay men. Then, I conducted semi-structured interviews with gay men to determine how anti-effeminacy informed how they approached romantic, platonic, and community relationships with other gay men. Results indicated that masculine gender expression is positively correlated with anti-effeminacy and that anti-effeminacy works as a filtering phenomenon, motivating both feminine and masculine gay men to exclude themselves from potentially unfulfilling or harmful relationships based on assumed or perceived gender expression.