Dawn Michelle Baunach

SOUTHERN (DIS)COMFORT: SEXUAL PREJUDICE AND CONTACT WITH GAY MEN AND LESBIANS IN THE SOUTH

Recent surveys have found antigay attitudes and behavior to be commonplace. In this article, we use contact theory to explain these prejudicial attitudes. We contribute to the literature on contact and prejudice by expanding contact to include not only whether the heterosexual knows any gay men or lesbians, but also how many, for how long, and in what ways. To these, we add a new and unique measure of contact: a persons contact with the gay community. The data are from a survey of 956 undergraduate students at a large urban university in the southeastern United States. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses find that contact with gay men and lesbians significantly reduces prejudice toward them; although, only as contact with gay friends or the gay community. Contact has stronger effects on womens prejudice than mens prejudice; however, the attitudes of African Americans toward lesbians and gay men are unaffected by gay contact. The results suggest that contact intervenes between prejudice and sex, race, religiosity, and gender attitudes.

Competition, Race, and the Measurement of Female Labor Activity*

Not all groups compete equally in the labor market. Here, we focus on women’s competition with men for jobs. This competition assumes that women’s employment is affected by men’s, and vice versa. We use two statistics—female labor force participation and share—to uncover this competition. 1990 U.S. census data on 281 metropolitan statistical areas were analyzed using weighted least squares regression. Supply-side explanations of female labor activity (education, children, household headship, and government assistance) receive more support than demand-side explanations (poverty, industrial mix, and region). Evidence of competition along gender and race lines is found. Men’s employment is buttressed in metropolitan areas by higher wages, less poverty, and more women with children. Welfare benefits (AFDC) and deindustrialization lower black women’s employment, while only white women benefit from advanced education and a “feminized” occupational structure. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

HIV/AIDS Prejudice in the American Deep South

The “Deep South” has become the epicenter of the American HIV/AIDS epidemic in the twenty-first century. It is vital that we understand what contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Deep South, and while many factors contribute, prejudice against persons living with HIV/AIDs is an important component. Analyzing a convenience sample of 955 students at a large university in Atlanta, Georgia, we find that more traditional attitudes toward gender roles and more negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians are associated with greater HIV/AIDS prejudice. We also find that greater HIV/AIDS prejudice reduces participation in various sexual acts and increases ages at initial sexual experiences, while reducing HIV testing. The article concludes with recommendations for HIV/AIDS prevention and education campaigns in the Deep South.

Progress, Opportunity, and Backlash: Explaining Attitudes toward Gender-Based Affirmative Action

Abstract A wealth of research attests to the importance of interest, prejudice, and stratification beliefs in the explanation of race-based affirmative action attitudes. Little research, however, has been done on the importance of interest, prejudice, and stratification beliefs in the explanation of gender-based affirmative action attitudes. This study examines whether these three well-documented explanations are as effective in explaining attitudes toward gender-based affirmative action as they are in explaining attitudes towards race-based affirmative action. Logistic regression analysis of 1996 General Social Survey data reveals that explanations of attitudes toward gender-based affirmative action are related to but distinct from attitudes toward race-based affirmative action. Whereas race, a component of interest explanations, is a strong predictor of race-based affirmative action attitudes, gender is not a strong predictor of gender-based affirmative action attitudes. All three explanations work less well in the determination of gender-based affirmative action attitudes than they do for race-based affirmative action attitudes. Additional research is necessary before the origins of support for and opposition to gender-based affirmative action are truly understood.

GENDER, MORTALITY, AND CORPOREAL INEQUALITY

Most previous empirical analyses of gender inequality have focused on modern economic indicators such as income. The advancement of theory on gender stratification requires detailed analysis of indicators with greater endurance and prevalence in world-historical terms. Sex mortality differentials are presented as cross-cultural indicators of corporeal gender inequality, defined as differential access to basic bodily resources for life and health. Indeed, mortality differentials represent a more fundamental form of gender inequality, in that women first must be alive before they may be denied access to other resources such as equal pay. Analysis of United Nations and World Bank data on developed and developing countries evidence the importance of ecological, economic, and familial explanations in determining corporeal gender inequality. Womens familial roles are found to be more important for gender inequalities in death at younger ages, and womens economic roles are more important for death at older ages. Implications of the results for mortality decline and gender stratification theory are discussed.

Sexual Disclosure among College Students in the American Deep South: Toward a "Sexuality as Structure" Approach

We investigate sexual disclosure among college students in the American Deep South. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual students were more likely to disclose their sexuality to friends than family. Sexual disclosure was reduced for younger students, international students, and students with more anti-gay prejudices, who live in less populous areas, and who were raised in the South. The results indicate sex and race privileges; men disclosed their sexuality more than women, and Whites disclosed more than Blacks. We conclude with a discussion of the importance of recognizing the diversity of GLB experiences and the utility of the “sexuality as structure” perspective.