Sociology of sexuality refers to the study of sexual practices and attitudes. Sexuality is a fascinating field of sociology because sexual behavior is cultural universal. Sexuality describes sexual experiences, attraction, and identity that may or may not align with gender or sex. Natural phenomena refers to the things that manifest or occur without human input such as biological or physical processes. Social construction refers to ideas created and accepted in society ( Seidman, Fischer & Meeks, 2016). This paper will discuss the idea that “Gay men are effeminate” to determine whether it is natural phenomenon or a social construct.
Gay Men are Effeminate
The idea that gay men are effeminate is not intrinsic natural phenomena but rather it is a social construct. Naturally, people in all genders possess both feminine and masculine qualities. Normally, most men refrain themselves from experiencing and embracing the feminine qualities because they do not what to lose acceptance in society. Appearing feminine carries with it stigma of being accused to be gay, and that is why; men tend to conform to the societal stereotype. Evidence indicates that femininity manifestation in a good number of gay men could be an inborn “cross-gendering” that could possibly have stemmed from the way the brain was wired before birth. This may be due to hormonal influences, those that facilitate the male fetus to have the ability for male attraction as they grow up. These hormones enhances a mixture of female features in the brain, which influence behavior later in life. The brain is a mixture of female and male cells and each individual has a unique mix. According to Das (2015), many of the gay people were gender non-conforming from their childhood before they even obtain sexual awareness or had any knowledge regarding gayness.
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There is evidence of social variance, which shows the phenomenon that gay men are effeminate is not universal or natural but rather a social construct. The society perceive gay men to have traits regarded as unmanly or typical of a woman. The society expects men to have masculine traits and bringing out any feminine characteristics is unacceptable. These expectations have limited men such that they cannot enjoy certain things, which have been aligned with femininity because they will defined as effeminate. However, for gay men it is easier for them to embrace the feminine traits because they are already labeled as effeminate. For instance, gay men can wear pink; they can enjoy pumpkin spice lattes, and can be soft or affectionate unlike straight men even if they wanted to. They are able o the full versions of themselves because they are no longer hindered by the threat of being perceived as lesser in society for being effeminate. This means that they are just conforming to the stereotype that gay men are effeminate. Evidence indicate that most gay men are even more masculine than straight men. Some gay men are effeminate and some straight men are effeminate. This shows that the idea that gay men are effeminate is a social construction and not something innate. It is more socially acceptable for women to behave in masculine ways but when men behave in perceived feminine ways; they are condemned harshly by society ( Hansen, 2014).
Many Americans believe the phenomenon is natural because it is a common theme in their culture that sexuality congruent with the human sexual identities. They claim that gay men manifest feminine qualities because they are naturally conforming to nature. They argue that the gay flame cannot be nurtured in any way because their affectional and sexual orientation manifests naturally. The societal understanding of masculinity affects the relationships and self-image of many gay individuals in the United States. Men are generally expected to conform to the traditional masculine ideals and if any man exhibits feminine qualities, they are automatically defined as effeminate gay men. Gay men in most times are seen to break from the traditional masculinity ideology because their sexual orientation and clearly align with the societal expectations. Men are required to behave in masculine ways while women are required to behave in feminine ways. These ideas are based on the societal understanding of what it deems to be appropriate behavior for a “man or a “woman” and they should conform to what culture expects (Hansen, 2014).
The persistent stigma related with gays limits the ability of most of them to display their feminine qualities. In American society, they believe it is okay for men to be gay as long as they do not act too effeminate. For example, a variety of characteristics such as gender roles, mannerism, and style feed into the complex idea of effeminacy. Displaying of unoriginally feminine traits are seen as a sign of weakness and not strength because it is believed gay people are naturally effeminate (Hansen, 2014). Therefore, understanding and realizing that effeminate traits among gay people is not natural rather than a social construct will help change the perception of Americans towards gay individuals, which will allow them to fully embrace and display their feminine qualities.
Conclusion
It is evident that the phenomenon that gay men are effeminate is a social construction rather than natural or normal. Naturally, all genders poses both feminine and masculine qualities, which are manifested in different ways. However, due to society expectations regarding distinct female and male roles, men are not expected to align with feminine qualities in any way. If the phenomenon were acknowledge to be socially constructed rather than natural, there would be significant changes in society, whereby men would be able to embrace their feminine qualities without the fear of being judged or perceived as lesser by society.
Reference
Das, A. (2015). The influence of internalized homophobia and anti-effeminacy attitudes on gay men’s fashion involvement and subsequent preference for masculine or feminine appearance (Doctoral dissertation, Oklahoma State University).
Hansen, B. (2014). " Spitting Glitter": An exploration of gay men's socially contextualized performances of gay (Doctoral dissertation, University of Calgary).
Seidman, S., Fischer, N. L., & Meeks, C. (2016). The social construction of sexuality. In Introducing the New Sexuality Studies (pp. 59-66). Routledge.
