Gay Men In China Research Articles

Relationships between pathogen disgust sensitivity and preference for male facial masculinity in gay men in China

Recent studies suggested that pathogen-related factors were positively correlated with preferences for sex-typical characteristics in heterosexuals. The present study examined the relationship between pathogen disgust and individual male facial masculinity among 295 gay men in China. Disgust sensitivities were assessed by the Three Domain of Disgust Scale. Each participant was then asked to choose a preferred face in each of 10 pairs of male faces presented sequentially, with each pair consisting of a masculinized and feminized version of the same base face. Results showed that preference for male facial masculinity was negatively correlated with pathogen disgust, but not with moral or sexual disgust domain. Chinese gay men with high pathogen disgust showed stronger preference for facial femininity in male faces. Facial masculinity preference was related to pathogen disgust, but not to moral or sexual disgust domain, regardless of sexual orientation.

Top/Bottom Sexual Self-labels and Empathizing-Systemizing Cognitive Styles Among Gay Men in China.

Gay men across a variety of countries label themselves by their preferences for insertive anal intercourse or receptive anal intercourse. A "top" is defined as someone who prefers the insertive role, a "bottom" as someone who prefers the receptive role, and "versatile" as someone who has no preferences regarding anal sex role. Previous studies documented that tops showed a masculine profile and bottoms showed a feminine profile in gendered personality traits. In this study, we examined the association among sexual self-label groups and empathizing-systemizing (E-S) cognitive styles among 509 gay men across multiple cities in China. There were significant differences in systemizing among sexual self-label groups, with tops scoring higher on systemizing than bottoms and versatiles. Tops were more likely to have S > E and high E and S cognitive styles than bottoms. Bottoms were more likely to have E > S and low E and S cognitive styles than tops. There was a significant indirect effect of systemizing on sexual self-label through Self-MF. There was also a significant indirect effect of sexual self-label on systemizing through Self-MF. The findings suggest that sexual self-labels among adult gay and bisexual men may reflect more than preferences for anal sex.

Young gay men’s sexism predict their male facial masculinity preference in China

Previous studies have indicated that sexism is related to romantic partner preference in heterosexual men and women. We examined the association between sexism and preference for male facial masculinity among 185 gay men in China. Hostile sexism (HS; hostility toward women who oppose traditional roles) was positively correlated with facial masculinity preference. Protective paternalism, a component of benevolent sexism (BS; ideation of women who conform to traditional gender roles) was negatively correlated with facial masculinity preference. These findings indicated that sexism was related to male facial masculinity preferences in gay men. Thus, regardless of sexual orientation, men high on HS tend to prefer sex-typicality in potential partners.

The Effects of Media Usage and Interpersonal Contacts on the Stereotyping of Lesbians and Gay Men in China

Relatively little research has investigated the association of information sources and the stereotyping of homosexuals in other cultures. This study is a survey of 226 Chinese college students about their stereotypes of homosexuals and their sources of information on gays and lesbians. The stereotyping of homosexuals is predicted by the size of community, interest in knowing homosexuals, and in-person contacts. A higher level of negative stereotypes is associated with frequent usage of Chinese media.

Dating Violence Among Gay Men in China

This is the first study on the prevalence of dating violence and threats of being forced to "come out of the closet" among Chinese gay men. Data on social demographic information and the experience of dating violence, including types of abuse, threats of "outing," and the gender of abusers were collected from 418 gay men and 330 heterosexual men by self-administered questionnaires. Mann-Whitney U test, χ(2) test, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to test group differences. Up to 32.8% of the gay men had experienced one abuse or more. Among those experiencing abuse, 83.9% of the gay men never told anyone about their abuse. The experience of any form of abuse by gay men was 5.07 times higher than the rate of abuse among heterosexual men controlling for age in logistic regression models. In addition, 12.4% of the gay men have experienced the threat of being outed. Overall, dating violence is more prevalent in gay men than in heterosexuals. Efforts to prevent dating violence, especially among gay men, should be made in China.

Attraction to Male Facial Masculinity in Gay Men in China: Relationship to Intercourse Preference Positions and Sociosexual Behavior

Distinctions are commonly made regarding preferences for insertive or receptive anal intercourse within gay male communities. Three sexual self-labels are typically specified: "top," meaning a man who prefers the insertive role, "bottom," meaning a man who prefers the receptive role, and "versatile," meaning a man willing to perform either role. In this study, we examined the association between intercourse position preference and preference for male facial masculinity among 447 gay men across multiple cities in China. Each participant was shown 10 pairs of male faces sequentially, with each pair consisting of a masculinized and feminized version of the same base face. Tops preferred the feminized male face over the masculinized face, bottoms preferred the masculinized male face over the feminized face, and versatiles did not have a preference. Tops preferred more feminized male faces than did bottoms and versatiles. Preferences for male facial masculinity were also associated with sociosexual orientation and the nature of the associations differed by sex role preferences. Among tops, men who were less restricted preferred more feminine male faces compared to men who were more restricted. Among bottoms, men who were less restricted preferred more masculine male faces compared to men who were more restricted. Among versatiles, there was no association between sociosexual orientation and preferences for male facial masculinity. These findings provide new evidence that less sociosexually restricted men have stronger preferences for sexual dimorphism in the sexual partners they prefer than do more restricted men.

Modelling HIV/AIDS Epidemic among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China

A compartmental model with antiviral therapy was proposed to identify the important factors that influence HIV infection among gay men in China and suggest some effective control strategies. We proved that the disease will be eradicated if the reproduction number is less than one. Based on the number of annual reported HIV/AIDS among MSM we used the Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) simulation to estimate the unknown parameters. We estimated a mean reproduction number of 3.88 (95% CI: 3.69–4.07). The estimation results showed that there were a higher transmission rate and a lower diagnose rate among MSM than those for another high-risk population. We compared the current treatment policy and immediate therapy once people are diagnosed with HIV, and numerical studies indicated that immediate antiviral therapy would lead to few HIV new infections conditional upon relatively low infectiousness; otherwise the current treatment policy would result in low HIV new infection. Further, increasing treatment coverage rate may lead to decline in HIV new infections and be beneficial to disease control, depending on the infectiousness of the infected individuals with antiviral therapy. The finding suggested that treatment efficacy (directly affecting infectiousness), behavior changes, and interventions greatly affect HIV new infection; strengthening intensity will contribute to the disease control.

The Relationship Between Intercourse Preference Positions and Personality Traits Among Gay Men in China

Distinctions are commonly made regarding preferences for insertive or receptive anal intercourse within the gay male community. Three sexual self-labels are typically specified: "top," meaning a man who prefers the insertive position, "bottom," meaning a man who prefers the receptive position, and "versatile," meaning a man willing to perform either position. The aim of this study was to examine personality differences among these three groups in gay men in China. We sampled 220 Internet-obtained Chinese gay men on instrumentality, expressiveness, gender-related interests, self-ascribed masculinity- femininity (Self-MF), and Big Five personality traits. Significant differences were found among sexual self-label groups in sexual behavior and in gendered traits and interests. Tops scored higher than the bottoms on instrumentality, gender-related interests, and self-ascribed masculinity-femininity (Self-MF) and bottoms scored higher than tops on expressiveness. Versatiles' scores in gender-related traits were intermediate between that of tops and bottoms. There were no significant differences in Big Five traits among the three groups. Sexual self-labels appear not only to distinguish sexual behavior patterns but may also suggest gender role differences among Chinese gay men.

The Traffic in Money Boys

This essay addresses the anxiety that many urban gay men in China express about “money boys”—a term used in English to refer to male sex workers who have sex with other men for money. The essay argues that money boys are a pressing issue for Chinese gay men because homophobia and dilemmas about the proper ways to challenge it are framed by the tremendous transformations, often called neoliberalism, that have occurred in China over the last twenty-five years and by the recent mobilization of Chinese national and cultural identity that creates tensions for gay men about desire and about cultural citizenship, or belonging. The essay further analyzes a recent experimental film by Cui Zi'en about money boys that challenges homonormativity in China.

Desiring a Coherent China

Desiring a Coherent China

Imagined Comrades and Imaginary Protections

This paper describes the recent development of identity and community among gay men in China. It focuses both on the ways emerging forms of gay identity relate to larger ideological and discursive shifts within society, and on the ways these new forms of identity and community affect situated social interaction among gay men themselves. In particular, it addresses the question of how these emerging forms of gay identity and gay community affect the ways gay men in China understand the threat of HIV and make concrete decisions about sexual risk and safety. Among the chief tactics used by gay men in China to forge identity and community involves appropriating and adapting elements from dominant discourses of the Party-State and the mass media. This strategy has opened up spaces within which gay men can claim “cultural citizenship” in a society in which they have been heretofore marginalized. At the same time, this strategy also implicated in the formation of attitudes and social practices that potentially increase the vunerability of Chinese gay men to HIV infection.

A walk in the park: Frames and positions in AIDS prevention outreach among gay men in China

that those who deliver them claim for themselves and impute onto their targets. Because of the stigma associated with HIV infection, claims and imputations of identity in HIV/AIDS education and counseling always involve the risk of invoking what Goffman (1963) calls ‘spoiled identities’. Leap (1990, 1995) has noted, for example, how in HIV counseling sessions participants choose features of grammar and discourse to create as much discursive distance as possible between themselves and the virus, and Silverman and Perakyla (Silverman 1994, 1997; Silverman and Perakyla 1990), studying similar counseling situations, have shown how even subtle interactional features like pauses, hedges, and the structure of turn taking act as tools with which participants control the imputation and assumption of identities or ‘risk’ and ‘safety’. This research note considers the interactional demands of an act of AIDS education which, although seemingly simple, is in many ways even more complex than the HIV counseling sessions discussed above: the act of handing an AIDS prevention pamphlet to people in a public place. Whereas in more formal HIV counseling sessions participants generally have a longer time to do their interactional business, targets of the