Julie L. Nagoshi

Correlates of Homophobia, Transphobia, and Internalized Homophobia in Gay or Lesbian and Heterosexual Samples

This research assessed the correlates of homophobia and transphobia in heterosexual and homosexual individuals, based on a theory of different sources of perceived symbolic threat to social status. Compared to 310 heterosexual college students, a sample of 30 gay male and 30 lesbian college students scored lower on homophobia, transphobia, and religious fundamentalism. Mean gender differences were smaller for gay men and lesbians for homophobia, aggressiveness, benevolent sexism, masculinity, and femininity. Fundamentalism, right-wing authoritarianism, and hostile and benevolent sexism were correlated only with homophobia in lesbians, whereas fundamentalism and authoritarianism were correlated only with transphobia in gay men. Correlates of internalized homophobia were different than those found for homophobia and transphobia, which was discussed in terms of gender differences in threats to status based on sexual orientation versus gender identity.

The effects of parental acculturation and parenting practices on the substance use of Mexican-heritage adolescents from southwestern Mexican neighborhoods.

A sample of 189 Mexican-heritage seventh grade adolescents reported their substance use, while one of the childs parents reported parents acculturation and communication, involvement, and positive parenting with his or her child. Higher levels of parental acculturation predicted greater marijuana use, whereas parent communication predicted lower cigarette and marijuana use among girls. A significant parent acculturation by parent communication interaction for cigarette use was due to parent communication being highly negatively associated with marijuana use for high acculturated parents, with attenuated effects for low acculturated parents. A significant child gender by parent acculturation by parent positive parenting interaction was found. For girls, positive parenting had a stronger association with lower cigarette use for high acculturated parents. For boys, positive parenting had a stronger association with reduced cigarette use for low acculturated parents. Discussion focuses on how acculturation and gender impact family processes among Mexican-heritage adolescents.

Voices from the stories untold: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer college students' experiences with campus climate

ABSTRACT Twelve self-identified college students within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) spectrum were interviewed on campus climate perceptions and their experiences of discrimination and isolation at their university. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes from the data. This process resulted in the emergence of three themes, identified as discrimination, isolation, and avoidance. The most salient experiences of discrimination and isolation reported by participants came from within LGBTQ organizations or from lesbian or gay male individuals that participants sought out for social support. LGBTQ intra-community discrimination was considered to be particularly damaging to participants sense of belonging and involvement within the LGBTQ community. Discrimination and isolation from straight-identified organizations or individuals was reported mostly in the context of fraternities/sororities and religious organizations. Furthermore, actions by members of these latter groups caused participants to avoid these groups out of expectations of negative interactions. These results inform empirical research to bring awareness to acts of discrimination that continue to take place within the university toward LGBTQ students. Specific implications for social work practice with LGBTQ college students and future research on diverse LGBTQ populations and resources are discussed.

The Quantitative/Positivist Approach to Socially Constructed Identities

To challenge the social dominance of men, feminist theory challenged the assumptions that gender roles were inevitably tied to gender. Instead, feminist theorists argued that masculinity and femininity were social constructs, i.e., that traditionally defined gender roles were the result of historical and cultural forces and not necessarily inherent in being male versus being female. This immediately begs the questions of what other causal forces define gender roles and to what extent individuals can control their self-perceived and manifested social identities, questions which are addressed in other parts of this book.

Intersectionality and Narratives of Lived Experiences

The traditional heteronormative view of gender is that gender roles, gender identity, and sexual orientation/identity are all of one piece, such that an individual with a female gender identity is essentially predisposed to engage in predominantly feminine behaviors and appearances and to only be sexually attracted to those with a male gender identity, while an individual with a male gender identity is essentially predisposed to engage in predominantly masculine behaviors and appearances and to only be sexually attracted to those with a female gender identity.

Coalition Building Based on Socially Constructed Oppressed Identities Contributed by Robert Hess III

Within feminist, queer, and transgender theory there has been much debate and contention regarding the formation of multidisciplinary coalitions. This debate is due, in part, to the attempt to braid theoretical models with practice. While there is great value in theoretical discourses, in practice, these exchanges can create discord, which is counter-productive to the work of coalition building. It is possible that such theoretical discourses may be disconnected from the consciousness of the day-to-day practical tasks of coalition building.

Practice and Personal Empowerment

The trans-identity theory (Nagoshi and Brzuzy 2010) we have presented in this book emphasizes an all-encompassing theory of transgender and other gender and sexual identities. Many scholars have addressed these theoretical constructs over the last several decades but, for me, in order to get to the point where personal empowerment has been possible, I needed more than any one particular framework offers.

Feminist and Queer Theories: The Response to the Social Construction of Gender

One of the obvious trends seen in our interview study was that the responses regarding gender roles, gender identity, and sexuality became more nuanced and elaborated, as one moved from the straight to the gay/lesbian to the transgender interview participants. Gay/lesbian and transgender participants were more likely to have thought about the socially constructed and embodied aspects of gender and sexual identity, about the dynamic interactions between gender and sexuality, and about their own strategies for self-constructing their gender and sexual identities in the context of living in a social environment that defines and enforces norms of gender and sexual behaviors and appearances.

The Qualitative Approach to Socially Constructed Identities

As discussed in the previous chapter, quantitative research offers many advantages for addressing questions of interest to feminist scholars, including the promise of deriving free-standing, objective, and widely generalizable knowledge which identifies causal mechanisms that can be targeted for socially beneficial interventions.

Transgender and Trans-Identity Theory

As discussed in Chap. 2, among feminist theorists there has been considerable controversy over whether gender identity, as opposed to gender roles, is essential. Such an essentialist view of gender identity posits that being born physically male versus physically female immutably defines one’s membership and self-identification in one side or the other of the gender binary. While essentialism is not the same as embodiment, there is the implication that the bodily experiences of being a woman versus being a man create a sense of identity independent of socially constructed definitions of the expected physical and behavioral manifestations of gender.