Writing “Only into masculine” or “Men who act like men only” viewed negatively
Are you a gay man who writes down “masculine only” on your Grindr profile? Do you state you’re only attracted to guys who “act like men”?
Guess what – new research suggests you are seriously turning off potential suitors. In fact, you may be screwing yourself out of a hot trick or potential husband!
According to a new study appearing in September’s Computers in Human Behavior, guys who use femmephobic language to describe themselves on hookup/dating apps are seen as less intelligent, less sexually confident and less dateable by those who do not hold anti-effeminate views.
What was this study about?
Researchers from the University of Missouri wanted to know the effect of femmephobic language in mobile apps for men who have sex with men (MSM).
The goal of the study was to gauge the perceptions of others who read femmephobic statements (i.e. “masculine only”, “No Fems”).
Related: Study suggests straight men are digging gay hookups
What is femmephobic?
To be femmephobic essentially means a person has a fear or strong dislike of someone who they view as feminine. The website SJWIKI has a fairly good definition of this term. It’s also been written about on Pride.com
Details about the research
Behavioral scientists at the University of Missouri recruited 144 gay men to participate in the study. All were volunteers using the snowball sampling method; a 25-cent term used to describe participants who are invited into a study by their peers.
Who were the guys in the study?
- Recruitment age group: 18-50
- Average age: 27
- 84% identifies as gay
- 13% as bisexual
- 3% mix of other (pansexual, polysexual, straight).
- 74% were Caucasian
- 8% were mixed race
- 7% Latino
- 4% Black
- 2% Asian
- 5% Native Indian/Pacific Islander
Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets were used as tools for outreach.
How was the research conducted?
Profiles were created to mimic the look and feel of actual MSM-specific mobile hookup apps; though they were not labeled as being related to particular app.
Anti-effeminate and non-anti-effeminate language were included in a random number of profiles. All of the femmephobic phraseology used to describe a given guy came from the website: Douche Bags of Grindr.
The anti-effeminate profiles included descriptions like:
- “Masculine Guy”
- “No Fems”
- “Not into men who act or sound like females”
- “I am a man – you should be too”
- “I’m allergic to fairy dust & I don’t have time for queens”
What did the results show?
The profiles that included femmephobic language (anti-effeminate) were perceived by the majority of subjects as:
- Significantly less intelligent (69%)
- Significantly less sexually confident (89%)
- Significantly less dateable (68%)
The more intense the femmephobic language, the less attractive the profile was perceived.
Note: The only people in the study who thought these men were smart, sexually confident and “datable” were guys who held femmephobic views.
At the end of the study, here is what the principle researchers shared:
“The findings indicate that the use of femmephobic textual elements negatively impacts a user's perceptions of potential mates, which might thus limit dating and friendship pools and create tension within these online communities.”
Additionally, the researchers shared:
“More research is needed on the other effects of femmephobic profile language, such as its impact on self-perception, sexual practices, or desire to participate as a member of the queer community”
Poll
Do use language in your profile that describes yourself as “masculine”? Also, do you view these kinds of phrases as femmephobic?
By: Conrad Braxton
