Discourses of Heteronormativity and Power: The Ethical Position of Confucianism on Same-Sex Behaviour in China

This article investigates the beliefs of Confucianism-China's authoritative philosophy-regarding same-sex behavior, by examining Confucian canonical texts-either directly or through the interpretations of other scholars-and the scholarly literature on the relationship between the Confucian ethics and same-sex behavior. Additionally, this article explores the empirical research and media focusing on the lives of Chinese homosexuals to ascertain whether Confucianism has a palpable impact on their daily existence. This article argues that compared to pre-modern China, the Confucian concept of filial piety has a profound influence on the lives of contemporary Chinese homosexuals.

Style shifting and the phonetic performance of gay vs. straight

This article examines the phonetic characteristics of speech performed in straight and gay styles by French males. Analysis considers features shown in other languages or in antecedent literature to be associated with perceptions of sexual identity: segmental quality (vowels, /s/, liquids), suprasegmental features (pitch, duration), and a number of language-specific variables. Results suggest that straight performances are characterized by decreased segmental duration and gay performances by differential use of vowel space, especially F2, nasal vowel duration, and fundamental frequency. A closing section provides comparison of these results to previous study and to other languages, while also addressing epistemological concerns raised by questions of identity, performance, and linguistic form.

Acoustic correlates of sexual orientation and gender-role self-concept in women's speech

Compared to studies of male speakers, relatively few studies have investigated acoustic correlates of sexual orientation in women. The present investigation focuses on shedding more light on intra-group variability in lesbians and straight women by using a fine-grained analysis of sexual orientation and collecting data on psychological characteristics (e.g., gender-role self-concept). For a large-scale women's sample (overall n = 108), recordings of spontaneous and read speech were analyzed for median fundamental frequency and acoustic vowel space features. Two studies showed no acoustic differences between lesbians and straight women, but there was evidence of acoustic differences within sexual orientation groups. Intra-group variability in median f0 was found to depend on the exclusivity of sexual orientation; F1 and F2 in /iː/ (study 1) and median f0 (study 2) were acoustic correlates of gender-role self-concept, at least for lesbians. Other psychological characteristics (e.g., sexual orientation of female friends) were also reflected in lesbians' speech. Findings suggest that acoustic features indexicalizing sexual orientation can only be successfully interpreted in combination with a fine-grained analysis of psychological characteristics.

Contextualizing Competence: Language and LGBT-Based Competency in Health Care

Changes in the language and terminology used to refer to individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), as well as how best to discuss issues of sexual and gender identity, can prove challenging for health care providers due to (1) lack of training; (2) interdisciplinary issues; and (3) prejudices on personal and institutional levels. Given the importance of language in the relationship between health care provider and patient as well as the myriad ways in which language can reflect knowledge, skills, and attitudes, we contend that language is both a facilitator and inhibitor of competence. In this article, we discuss language as a means of exhibiting cultural competence as well as the barriers to facilitating this degree of competence. Communicative competence, a concept traditionally used in linguistics, is discussed as a framework for contextualizing LGBT-specific cultural competence in health care. Ideally, a professional will be considered competent once they (1) acquire a foundation in issues associated with LGBT individuals, as well as a basic understanding of appropriate vocabulary' (2) reconcile personal beliefs with their professional role; (3) create an inclusive healthcare environment such that the influence of personal biases does not negatively impact care; and (4) use identifiers suggested by the patient.

Judgments of self-identified gay and heterosexual male speakers: Which phonemes are most salient in determining sexual orientation?

While numerous studies have demonstrated that a male speaker's sexual orientation can be identified from relatively long passages of speech, few studies have evaluated whether listeners can determine sexual orientation when presented with word-length stimuli. If listeners are able to distinguish between self-identified gay and heterosexual male speakers of American English, it is unclear whether they form their judgments based on a phoneme, such as a vowel or consonant, or multiple phonemes, such as a vowel and a consonant. In this study, we first found that listeners can distinguish between self-identified gay and heterosexual speakers of American English upon hearing word-length stimuli. We extended these results in a separate experiment to demonstrate that listeners primarily rely on vowels, and to some extent consonants, when forming their judgments. Listeners were able to differentiate between the two groups of speakers for each of the vowels and three of the seven consonants presented. In a follow-up experiment we found evidence that listeners' judgments improved if they were presented with multiple phonemes, such as a vowel and /s/. These results provide important information about how different phonemes can provide discriminant information about a male speaker's sexual orientation.

The Gender of "Energy": Language, Social Theory, and Cultural Change in Women's Lands in the United States

Within women's intentional communities, women use the phrase women's energy to describe certain social interactions, a sense of community, and ideas about how gender is done or performed. For example, energy can express both difference in communication style between men and women and male dominance in social situations. During my fieldwork in these communities, I explored how this phrase suggests a reference to a precultural female body, but it is also sometimes used to explicitly reject biological reasons for gender difference. The term is easily understandable to a wide range of women from varying class backgrounds and encompasses both the unconscious side of social interactions and a possibility for future change.

Sounding gay and sounding straight

This paper presents a performance-based approach to the study of the phonetic encoding of sexual identity in Italian. Six male speakers were recruited after being controlled for familiarity, interaction, and comfort with members of both hetero- and homosexual communities. They were recorded reading introductory, scientific, and narrative paragraphs with the goals of conveying straight and gay identities, respectively, as well as in an unmarked style. Analysis focused on segmental (vowels, /s/, liquids), suprasegmental, and pragmatic components of performances, the results of which suggest that speakers use a combination of phonetic features to instantiate socially salient identities.

Men who have sex with men's attitudes toward using color-coded wristbands to facilitate sexual communication at sex parties

Sex parties are environments where men who have sex with men (MSM) have the opportunity to have sex with multiple partners over a brief period of time. Dim lighting and non-verbal communication are characteristics of sex parties that make sexual communication more challenging. We report on qualitative data from 47 MSM who attended sex parties in New York City. Participants responded to distinct hypothetical scenarios involving the use of color-coded wristbands to communicate (1) condom use preferences, (2) sexual position (e.g., top, bottom) and (3) HIV status at sex parties. The majority had positive-to-neutral attitudes toward color-coded wristbands to indicate (1) condom use preference and (2) sexual position (70.8%, 75.0% HIV-positive; 63.6%, 81.8%, HIV-negative respectively). These men cited that wristbands would facilitate the process of pursuing partners with similar interests while also avoiding the discomforts of verbal communication. In contrast, 41.7% of HIV-positive and 50.0% of HIV-negative men expressed unfavorable attitudes to using wristbands to communicate HIV status. These men cited the potential for HIV-status discrimination as well as suspicions around dishonest disclosure. Although participants were receptive to utilizing color-coded wristbands at sex parties to convey certain information, it may be unfeasible to use wristbands to communicate HIV status.

Perceived sexual orientation based on vocal and facial stimuli is linked to self-rated sexual orientation in Czech men

Previous research has shown that lay people can accurately assess male sexual orientation based on limited information, such as face, voice, or behavioral display. Gender-atypical traits are thought to serve as cues to sexual orientation. We investigated the presumed mechanisms of sexual orientation attribution using a standardized set of facial and vocal stimuli of Czech men. Both types of stimuli were rated for sexual orientation and masculinity-femininity by non-student heterosexual women and homosexual men. Our data showed that by evaluating vocal stimuli both women and homosexual men can judge sexual orientation of the target men in agreement with their self-reported sexual orientation. Nevertheless, only homosexual men accurately attributed sexual orientation of the two groups from facial images. Interestingly, facial images of homosexual targets were rated as more masculine than heterosexual targets. This indicates that attributions of sexual orientation are affected by stereotyped association between femininity and male homosexuality; however, reliance on such cues can lead to frequent misjudgments as was the case with the female raters. Although our study is based on a community sample recruited in a non-English speaking country, the results are generally consistent with the previous research and thus corroborate the validity of sexual orientation attributions.

Addressing sexual and relationship violence in the LGBT community using a bystander framework

Sexual and relationship violence are two major public health issues that affect an alarming number of undergraduate students. As a result, many colleges and universities have protocols to serve victims of these forms of violence. Despite federal legislation stating that all students should have equitable experiences, current protocols and programs focus primarily on heterosexual students. College student victims of sexual and relationship violence who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender can face particular challenges, including disclosure of their sexual and gender orientations, and revictimization when seeking services. In recent years an increasing number of campuses have adopted bystander prevention strategies to address sexual and relationship violence. These strategies seek to engage community members in the prevention of sexual and relationship violence by training them to identify and safely intervene in situations where sexual or relationship violence is about to occur, is occurring, or has occurred. In this article we review published bystander prevention strategies that focus on preventing sexual and relationship violence in the campus community, and discuss how bystander strategies are addressing or can address relationship and sexual violence in the LGBT community.

Judgments of sexual orientation and masculinity-femininity based on thin slices of behavior: a cross-cultural comparison

Studies of North Americans suggest that laypeople can judge the sexual orientation of others with greater than chance accuracy based on brief observations of their behavior (i.e., "gaydar" exists). One factor that appears to contribute to these judgments is targets' degree of masculinity-femininity. However, behaviors related to sexual orientation and to masculinity-femininity might vary across cultures. Thus, cross-cultural work is needed to test whether judgments of sexual orientation are more accurate when targets and raters are from the same culture. American and Czech male targets, 38 homosexual and 41 heterosexual, were videotaped and brief segments of the videotapes were presented to American and Czech raters. Overall, raters' judgments of targets' sexual orientation were related to targets' self-reported sexual orientation. However, the relationship was stronger when targets were judged by raters from their own country. In general, results suggest that there are both cross-cultural similarities and differences in gaydar and in cues related to sexual orientation.

The Audacity of Affect: Gender, Race, and History in Linguistic Accounts of Legitimacy and Belonging

This review considers research on language and affect, with particular attention to gender, that has appeared in the past two decades in ways informed by the recent effloresence of work on affect in feminist, queer, (post)colonial, and critical race studies. The review is selective: It focuses on a few key ways that recent research is responding to gaps identified in earlier research and opening up promising areas for future research. This review thus attempts to connect linguistic anthropological and discourse analytic studies more fully with contemporary debates in feminist, queer, antiracist, and postcolonial studies. In general, I look at the rise of more fully historical approaches; in particular, I look at (a) affect in imperial and other global encounters; (b) language, neoliberalism, and affective labor; and (c) terror and hate, compassion, and conviviality in public speech. It also considers why we are, at this particular moment, witnessing such interest in affect.

Demographic, Psychological, and Social Characteristics of Self-Identified Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in a US Probability Sample

Using data from a US national probability sample of self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults (N = 662), this article reports population parameter estimates for a variety of demographic, psychological, and social variables. Special emphasis is given to information with relevance to public policy and law. Compared with the US adult population, respondents were younger, more highly educated, and less likely to be non-Hispanic White, but differences were observed between gender and sexual orientation groups on all of these variables. Overall, respondents tended to be politically liberal, not highly religious, and supportive of marriage equality for same-sex couples. Women were more likely than men to be in a committed relationship. Virtually all coupled gay men and lesbians had a same-sex partner, whereas the vast majority of coupled bisexuals were in a heterosexual relationship. Compared with bisexuals, gay men and lesbians reported stronger commitment to a sexual-minority identity, greater community identification and involvement, and more extensive disclosure of their sexual orientation to others. Most respondents reported experiencing little or no choice about their sexual orientation. The importance of distinguishing among lesbians, gay men, bisexual women, and bisexual men in behavioral and social research is discussed.

Health discourse, sexual slang and ideological contradictions among Mozambican youth: implications for method

Despite the urgency of improving an understanding of sexual cultures in the face of a globally devastating HIV epidemic, methodological reflection and innovation has been conspicuously absent from qualitative research in recent years. Findings from fieldwork on condom use among young people in Mozambique confirm the need to remain alert to the ideological and linguistic bias of applied methods. Interviewing young people about their sexuality using a conventional health discourse resulted in incorrect or socially acceptable answers rather than accurate information about their sexual behaviour. Young people's resistance to enquiry, the paper argues, is due to ideological contradictions between their sexual culture and slang, on the one hand, and Western health discourses associated with colonial and post-colonial opposition to traditional culture and languages, on the other. Mixing colloquial Portuguese and changana sexual slang is constructed around ideas of safedeza and pleasure, while dominant health discourses address sexuality as both 'risky' and 'dangerous'. In order to gain a deeper understanding of sexual cultures and to make HIV prevention efforts relevant to young people, it is suggested that researchers and policy makers approach respondents with a language that is sensitive to the local ideological and linguistic context.

Not so great expectations: sex and housewives in Hong Kong

The study explores the life of married women who are being described as having "good," "normal," "blessed" sexuality. The case of si-nais (housewives) in Hong Kong shows that we can never assume that married women (or any social category) are privileged by virtue of their status on the sexual hierarchy. The blessings of social respectability apparently enjoyed by these women may work to enable or hinder women's expression of their erotic desires and sexual fulfillment, depending on their special social circumstances. These women's imagination and experience of good sex is composed of a multitude of components. Women may feel good because they can achieve other psychological and social aims that are important in their lives (which could be related to the maintenance of marriage or the peace of the family). Women may feel good because of the erotic satisfaction that they derive from different pursuits including interests, leisure or other intimate relationships, rather than sexual fulfillment in terms of orgasm or physical pleasure. Women may reformulate their pleasure variously at different stages of their lives. Social respectability, orgasm, emotional intimacy, or any other specific element, may all enter or leave the formula for good sex.

"He's a big old girl!" Negotiation by gender inversion in gay men's speech

On the basis of participant observation in the gay communities of San Francisco, Paris and Oslo, this article charts a pattern of gender inversion in the negotiation of identities and social relations that can be related to an international gay culture. The use of gender inversion in gay men's speech is seen as evidence of the discursive construction of specific generic identities whose capacity to carry meaning is dependent on conventional categories of gender.

Queer Studies in the House of Anthropology

This review examines anthropological research on sexuality published in English since 1993, focusing on work addressing lesbian women, gay men, and transgendered persons, as well as on the use of history, linguistics, and geography in such research. Reviewing the emergence of regional literatures, it investigates how questions of globalization and the nation have moved to the forefront of anthropological research on questions of sexuality. The essay asks how questions of intersectionality, inclusion, and difference have shaped the emergence of a queer anthropology or critical anthropology of sexuality, with special reference to the relationship between sexuality and gender.

Legacies of Derrida: Anthropology

This article considers the legacies of Jacques Derrida in and for Anglo-American sociocultural anthropology. It begins with a survey of Derrida's own engagement with themes that have historically been foundational to the field: (a) the critique of sign theory and, with it, the questions of language and law in Lévi-Straussian structuralism; (b) the question of the unconscious; (c) the critique of the performative and its consequences for the idea of ritual; (d) the rereading of Marcel Mauss's concept of the gift, and of economy more generally; and (e) the analysis of the metaphysical basis of law, in both religious and ostensibly secular formations. It then considers the state of the field at the time when it was being infused with different forms of poststructuralism and explores the competing claims made by these discourses in relation to deconstruction. Finally, after tracing the convergences and divergences between Derridean deconstruction and theory in sociocultural anthropology, it treats two main examples of works produced against and under the influence of Derrida's thought, respectively.