Gender-Role Attitudes 85
homosexuality are most likely to endorse these
stereotypes.
The media is one source of informa-
tion about prevailing stereotypes. The me-
dia depiction of homosexuals has changed
dramatically in the past 10 years. Whereas
homosexual characters in television shows
were almost nonexistent a decade ago,
homosexual characters are fairly com-
mon today. The first prominent examples
of homosexuals in television were Ellen
over the past 20 years (Blashill & Powlishta,
2009). As shown in Figure 3.7, gay men and
heterosexual women are perceived to be more
feminine than lesbians and heterosexual men;
and heterosexual men and lesbians are per-
ceived to be more masculine than gay men and
heterosexual women. People associate homo-
sexuality with a variety of emotional difficul-
ties and gender identity problems—especially
in the case of men (Boysen et al., 2006). Those
who have more negative attitudes toward
FIGURE 3.7 (a) College men and women viewed gay men and
heterosexual women as more feminine than heterosexual men
and lesbians; (b) College men and women viewed heterosexual men and
lesbians as more masculine than gay men and heterosexual women.
Source: Adapted from Blashill and Powlishta (2009).
Male Female
(a)
Heterosexual Gay Heterosexual Lesbian
Femininity
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Male Female
(b)
Heterosexual Gay Heterosexual Lesbian
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Masculinity
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