Gay men, body identity and the politics of visibility

Abstract

In much psychological literature, gay men are reported as experiencing body image dissatisfaction as a result of participating in an appearance-focused subculture. Based on interviews with gay men, this paper uses discourse analysis to explore the wider media and consumer images informing gay identity in relation to contemporary political discourses underpinning gay and lesbian movements. Personal and political questions around masculinity, visibility, and the status of gay men in society more broadly informed these men's body-identity relationships, with implications for how gay men might embody their identities and be understood by the dominant psychological research on body image.