Gay Stereotypes Essay

1614 Words7 Pages

There are many meanings to being an American in today’s society. There are so many different types of people that there is no clear definition as to what an ideal American citizen looks or acts like. While it is very fortunate that the country allows for so many different types of people, there is also a huge negative consequence to this: stereotyping. With so many different types of people, humans tend to want to put every person they meet into a category that is full of generic traits attributed to a small portion of who they are. One such group that suffers from this stereotype is homosexual men. Despite homosexuality being nothing more than determining whom one is attracted to, many stereotypes exist for this specific group within American …show more content…

Online dating is where a huge amount of this perpetuation takes place. When describing the experience of making an online dating profile specifically to attract other homosexual men, Cristo Foufas writes in the article “I'm Gay, but Given the Choice Would I Rather Be Straight?” that “(Homosexual online dating) is a showroom, a shop window; a chance to display your wares via a profile picture and a few words categorising (sic) the kind of guy you are. The kind of shoppers you're advertising yourself to are a fickle lot, making instant judgements and snap decisions”. For fear of being judged, gay men will judge each other preemptively because that’s the community and culture that the media has portrayed them, and with minimal guidance the media’s influence is easy to follow. The reason this is such a pressing issue is the fact that homosexual men are being drawn further away from normalization because the stereotypical expectations that are placed upon them trickle down into being exchanged by the members themselves. This becomes a vicious cycle that leads to even larger issues such as internalized homophobia and a dwindling sense of community with others that share common experiences. The division of gay men gets worse as time goes on because the more they are separated, the easier it is for media to manipulate