Is coming out just a white man thing? Looking back at many of the biggest coming out stories we and the other LGBT social media sites have covered over the years, they are predominantly stories involving white males. Then again, many feel that much of the media is whitewashed and only is focused upon WASPy topics and people.
New research has found that coming out verbally might be more important to white males than other ethnic groups. Coming out is important to all, but it's how you do it and to what extent that may differ depending on your cultural / ethnic background.
There’s evidence mental well-being is benefitted by coming out, but they may have had an ethnic bias. Previous studies looked at mental health in men after coming out. They show men are happier after doing so. Coming out in this sense means verbally confirming one’s sexuality with friends and family. However these studies may have been ethnically biased and only examined white men.
A new study compared white men and Latino men coming out, and Latino men don’t necessarily become happier. A doctoral student at the university of Kansas along with two other researchers completed the research. They asked white men and Latino men to fill out extensive questionnaires. They found white men were less happy if they didn’t come out, but Latino men preferred coming out nonverbally. Nonverbal coming out could mean bringing a same-sex partner to family events without clarifying the relationship is romantic.
Doctoral student Adrian Villicana told Medical Daily: ‘Scholars talk about gay identity as a white construction. It’s because the data we have comes from gay white men for the most part. While it’s good to understand this identity and related process, it limits our understanding of gay-related processes for other people. It’s confusing and potentially misleading to use data from one group and apply it to another group in the same way.’
Villicana says one of the differences between gay white and Latino men may be how important sexuality is in their identity. He says for white men it is more important, and coming out is seen as necessary to being your true, authentic self.
‘For gay Latino men, authenticity and incorporating others into how they view themselves is not influenced by their sexual identity but may be tied to their ethnic identity.’ – gaystarnews.com
After reading this, does it bring up a case of which came first? Are white men more in need of verbally coming out and that is what we cover or is it that we the media mainly cover white men coming out so that is what is deemed as important?
Do men from other ethnicities feel they do not need to verbally come out since they do not see fellow latino men (etc) coming out through the media in "real life?"
Or are we all just built differently and need to come out differently, too?
What are your thoughts, Instincters?
h/t : by Jack Flanagan and gaystarnews.com
This was either a very basic
This was either a very basic study or the article does not mention negative repercussions of verbally coming out on Latino men (leading to less happiness). The article fails to mention whether the study was controlled for cultural (machismo), religious, socioeconomic or other factors. In all likelihood, there's more to it than skin color, so the headline is bull.
This makes sense. For many
This makes sense. For many Latinos, family is everything and the closer an outside person gets to a Latino family, the more likely they will be make an honorary family member. So bring your partner to family events and the family gets used to him/her, they will become like family and acceptance would be likely.
Speaking from personal
Speaking from personal experience, I can vouch for what Ed B says. I've been with my Mexican husband for almost 13 years now. I've always told people: When you date a Mexican [Latino], you don't date them, you date their family. In fact, our second date was to see his sister and her new baby. I cannot tell you how many holidays, baptisms, communions, confirmations, quinceneras, weddings, funerals, etc. we have logged together. I swear to God, when I'm with my in-laws, it's like I've been a part of their family for my entire life. But, I'm used to it and was never put off by their acceptance because I come from a very large extended Irish Catholic family who has also treated my husband the same way for all the time we've been together.
I as a mexican has a harder
I as a mexican has a harder time coming out to my parents due to the culture and the machismo that comes with latino culture.
I know a couple of young guys that refuse to come out even though they make it obvious they're gay, but rather pretend to lead a heterosexual life.