Tackling Bisexual Erasure: An Explorative Comparison of Bisexual, Gay and Straight Cisgender Men’s Body Image

Previous body image research often grouped both gay and bisexual men into a single category: sexual minoritised men, limiting our understanding of how sexual identity influences body image. However, there is strong reason to believe that bisexual and gay men experience distinct body image concerns. Here, we explored motivations to alter one’s leanness and muscularity, as well as (dis)satisfaction with overall body image, body fat, muscularity, height and penis size, and appreciation for the functionality of one’s body across gay, bisexual, and straight cisgender men. We sampled 378 white participants aged 18 to 85 (ngay = 128, nbisexual = 125, nstraight = 125). We found that gay men were significantly more motivated to be lean and showed greater overall body and muscularity dissatisfaction relative to bisexual and straight men. We found no differences across other measures. Our findings demonstrate that despite research perceiving the body image of bisexual and gay men as homogenous, they experience differences in their body image concerns concerning leanness and muscularity and overall body dissatisfaction. Future research should incorporate this understanding.

既往的体像研究往往将同性恋者和双性恋男性归为同一类别：性少数群体男性，这限制了我们对性认同如何影响体像的理解。然而，有充分的理由相信双性恋和同性恋男性在体像关注方面存在不同的体验。在本研究中，我们探讨了改变自身瘦削程度和肌肉量的动机，以及（不）满意于整体体像、体脂、肌肉量、身高和阴茎大小，以及对身体功能性的欣赏在同性恋、双性恋和直性恋跨性别男性中的情况。我们招募了378名年龄在18至85岁之间的白人参与者（ngay = 128，nbisexual = 125，nstraight = 125）。我们发现，同性恋男性相较于双性恋和直性恋男性，更有动机保持苗条，并表现出更高的整体体像和肌肉量不满意。在其他测量指标上，我们没有发现差异。我们的研究发现，尽管研究将双性恋和同性恋男性的体像视为同质化，但他们却在体像关注方面，特别是在瘦削程度、肌肉量和整体体像满意度上存在差异。未来的研究应纳入这一认识。