CCR-Block: Internalized Homophobia Within the LGBTQ community, internalized homophobia is an extremely prevalent occurrence. One in which members of the LGBTQ community believe that the negative connotations and stigmas towards LGBTQ individuals are true. This, in part, is due to anti-gay and heteronormative social environments which have mental health effects on gays and lesbians. Ilan H. Meyer, a psychiatric epidemiologist, has referred to these negative social environments as a form of minority stress and has done extensive research on describing its effect on mental health. Gregory M. Herek states that “At the core of minority stress is some kind of conflict or disharmony between the minority member and the dominant social environment.” The most insidious attribute of internalized homophobia is that the people who experience it may not realize that it is directly related to the person’s low self-regard …show more content…
Internalized homophobia makes the offender express and vocalize their own personal self-hate and then project it on others. Not only do offenders then contribute to the negative stereotypes, stigmas, and attributes made up about LGBTQ people, but they also perpetuate the homophobic attitudes and heteronormative ideals which cause low self-worth and internalized homophobia in the first place. Offenders might also argue that they were not raised around people who made negative remarks towards anyone in the LGBTQ
HIV/AIDS is a major risk factor affecting a large portion of the LGBT community, especially gay men. CDC.gov (2013) found that gay and bisexual men of all races continue to be at high risk for developing HIV. According to Krehely (2009) the drug and substance abuse risk factor, as well as mental health issues in the LGBT community often occur and are related to high rates of stress due to the lack of family acceptance of the LGBT lifestyle, systematic discrimination, and the lack of cultural competency in the health care environment. Sexu...
Imagine living your life pretending to be someone you are not. Of course hiding who you really are is going to have an effect on you in many ways. In “The Shadow Side of Everyday Life,” Zweig and Abrams suggest that every person has a shadow and “the shadow acts like a psychic immune system, defining what is self and what is not-self”(325). They also believe that our shadows contain dark qualities. When a homosexual person passes as straight, they suppress a dark shadow that is hidden from the world. Although, having a double life is often seen having a primarily psychological origin there are also social reasons that homosexuals choose that lifestyle. Laws such as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and same-sex marriage laws are some social causes that contribute to self-concealment. There are also psychological reasons such as family relationships and bullying that lead to living a double life. What can we do to stop this dilemma and make our society better? We can treat gays to stop being gay or inform society that being gay is not a choice depending on whether they chose that lifestyle or not.
Internalized homophobia is when negative attitudes from the primary group, mainly family but also the surrounding community, cause negative homophobic thoughts in a person that has same-sex attraction, but may not identify with it. This kind of internalization creates lack of self worth for those that do not “come out”. Research supports that internalized homophobia contributes to lower self-acceptance, loneliness, depression, and the lessened ability to come out to others. Internalized homophobia has a high impact on lesbians because society’s norms are to be married to a man and reproduce, and this norm is the majority in small, rural communities. Because of this norm, lesbians try to maintain a “normal”, “acceptable” lifestyle, and get married and have children, while fighting within themselves about their identity. “A number of studies have found that the degree of internalized homophobia was inversely related to relationship satisfaction in lesbians” (Spencer, 2007, pg. 258).
It is very reasonable to conclude that research on depression of those who identify as gay, lesbian or transsexual is not accurate; there is an underreporting of people who identify as these sexual orientations because of the fear of being different. It is understood that those apart of the LGBTQ community actively hide their identity in hopes to avoid being rejected or abused (Bird, 2013). Once the reporting issue of having a smaller percentage of the actual representation of the LGBTQ population is put aside, there is evidence that highly suggests that lesbians and gay men are at higher risk for psychiatric disorders than heterosexuals (Cochran, 2001). Even after underreporting, there is still enough information to conclude that sexual discrimination can have harmful effects on the quality of life. Common factors that have been observed in lesbians and gays that can potentially increase depression during Cochran's study are anxiety and mood disorders and decreased self esteem. Cochran and her partner also noted that dissatisfaction with how one is treated beca...
Homophobia is a terrible form of bullying and it is one of the largest issues in secondary schools today. The perceived opinions and concepts that come out of this type of harassment causes young adolescents who are part of the LGBTQ community or ones that remains closeted to fall into a stigma that can be extremely harmful. By falling into this stigma it opens the youth up to whole world of harassment, ridicule, physical altercations and numerous other acts that can ultimately diminish a person to nothing; which, in some cases can end unfortunately. One of the major questions you should ask is if we live in such a progressive society, why are youth in schools today stigmatized because of their sexuality? And where does this stigma come from? The reading suggest that there are many ways to put an end to this stigma but some only work in certain situations why others seem good in theory but fail in practice. This is means that we as a community have to come together as one to stop the spread of homophobia at first sight so that is does not escalate.
The article “How Homophobia Hurts Everyone” by Warren J. Blumenfeld describes the effects that homophobia has on all people, not just the person who is homosexual. The article tells the story of two siblings and one thing that stood out to me was “throughout our school years, she was constantly teased for having a ‘faggot’ brother”. In addition to this, she was questioned about her own sexuality and peer pressure, that resulted with her being less close to her brother for her own protection. It is not fair that the author was bullied for being the person that he is, and it is definitely not right that his sister was bullied for who her brother is.
Kelleher, C. (2009). Minority stress and health: Implications for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 22(4), 373-379. Retrieved April 21, 2014, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09515070903334995
D’Augelli, A.R. (1998). Developmental implications of victimization of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths. In G.M. Herek (Ed.), Stigma and sexual orientation: Understanding prejudice against lesbians, gay men and bisexuals (pp.187-210). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
In a study conducted by Stellers, et al, 2003, the researchers investigated possible direct, mediating, and moderating relationships among racial identity, racial discrimination, perceived stress, and mental health out comes in a longitudinal study of 555 African American young adults. And they found a relationship between racial identity variables and African American psychological functioning suggesting that stress may be one pathway by which experiencing racial discrimination may have deleterious effects on individual’s mental health. Racial hassles seem to make life more stressful for African Americans, which, in turn, have an affect on their levels of anxiety and depression. Interestingly racial identity was protective factor for some. Those who considered their race as a central identity to who they are were shielded from the negative effects of discrimination and stress. A possible explanation for protective factor could be that because their self-confidence about being black helps them dismiss the experience rather than internalize it as one about their selves. However, racial and ethnic minorities have health that is worse overall than the health of White Americans (Bahls, 2011). So it appears that discrimination in this case, caused increased psychology stress ultimately leading to mental health issues. Just like race, sexuality can be a subjected to
Kuehnle, K., & Sullivan, A. (2001). Patterns of Anti-Gay Violence: An Analysis of Incident Characteristics and Victim Reporting. Journal of Intrapersonal Violence .
In a study done by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 71 percent of transgender people said they hid their gender or gender transition to try to avoid discrimination. Heteronormativity is a term used by sociologists to describe the cultural presupposition that heterosexuality is the appropriate standard for sexual identity and practice and other alternative sexualities are deviant, abnormal, or wrong. In the literature article I chose titled, Stigma, Mental Health, and Resilience in an Online Sample of the US Transgender Population, the main purpose of the authors and research conductors was to assess the association between mental health, minority stress and potential ameliorating factors in a large, community-based, geographically diverse sample of the US transgender population. Among a Minnesota sample of 181 transgender participants in a sexual health seminar, 66% reported being discriminated against because of their gender identity or presentation (Brockting et al.). Even for those that grow up receiving the help they needed to live a healthy transgender life, society is still harsh on them, simply because they aren’t following the norm. In a US study of 402 transgender persons, 56% reported experiencing verbal harassment; 37%, employment discrimination; and
I feel homosexuals go through a lot in society such as not being accepted for who they truly are, not being able to pursue their careers, and not getting the appropriate respect they need. I am acquainted with a couple of people who are in the LGBTQ community (outside of my family), and most of them are afraid to be themselves around non-LGBTQ people. These acquaintances have confided in me people might think the worst of them. On the other hand, some of these acquaintances opinions from other people do not matter to them; however, it is the opinions coming from their family members that matter the most. I have come to believe that if you are not stepping out of your comfort zone, then you are not comfortable with being whom you are. This is how society affects the members of the LGBTQ community. Another key point to this essay is that people who really do not have a problem with homosexuals, let the people around them corrupt their mind to the point where they are not thinking for themselves and witnessing that type of thinking can really take a toll on your moral
They are also prone to being victimized by homophobic individuals and this along with other factors can often lead to poor psychological issues (Hackimer, & Proctor,
Genders and sexuality cannot leave homosexuality behind, however this is not so true for the traditional society. Just because “homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgender were not seen very often does not mean they are invisible” (Levy, D. L. 2009). The reactions of individuals in the society to these particular sexes lead the homosexuals, transgender, and bisexual being seen as different which tends to people being more depressed and anxious. This brings about the ideology of superior over inferior (Dukeminier 2018). There is a sense of shame attached to these sexes, where they cannot freely express their identity and be themselves.
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.