Stereotyping and Healthcare decisions: Gays and lesbians

This essay focuses on general assumptions or stereotypes related to the gays and lesbians and their health. Background information about gays and lesbians, their issues, risks associated are presented in this essay.

Essay – Stereotyping and
Healthcare decisions: Gays
and lesbians
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Background information on gays and lesbians.......................................................................3
Defining stereotyping and common stereotyping labels in societal behaviour towards gays and
lesbians .................................................................................................................................5
Impact of stereotyping on gays and lesbians..........................................................................6
Strategies to promote inclusiveness of gays and lesbians......................................................7
Reflection on self-awareness and resilience....................................................................................8
Summary and conclusion.................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Culture, thoughts and societal ethics forms the basis of one’s thought process as to how they
will perceive others. Judging others’ and their actions by those pre-developed notions is known
as stereotyping (Buckle, 2015). This essay focuses on general assumptions or stereotypes related
to the gays and lesbians and their health. Background information about gays and lesbians, their
issues, risks associated are presented in this essay. Statistics related to gays and lesbians in UK,
their acceptance and societal acceptance towards their orientation are also presented in this essay.
Further, the essay discusses on social stigmas and their impact over physical and mental health of
gays and lesbians. It discusses about discrimination in choices and facilities available to them
and strategies to empower them and promote their inclusiveness (Lipkin, 2018). Also, a
reflection has been drawn on my self-awareness about my learnings about their issues and coping
mechanisms. In the end, a summary of the essay has been provided. For the sake of easy
understanding and coherent expression in this essay, a 47 years old homosexual man Shaun, who
lives with his gay partner is taken as example. Problems faced by Shaun within his family and
personal dynamics, work prospects, unfair treatment by heterosexuals and their impact over
mental well-being of Shaun is discussed.
Main Body
Background information on gays and lesbians
Homosexual men or gay men refers to those men that are sexually attracted to other men.
They are part of lesbian, gays, bisexuals and transgender community which is commonly known
as LGBT community (Clarke and Arnold, 2017). In the views of Fingerhut and Peplau, people
consider it as an active choice made by person and not their natural preference or something with
which they were born with. Therefore, they consider it as a sin and disables. This is considered
as a taboo topic to be discussed and it is assumed that if these things are not discussed openly,
this would not happen. LGBT people lack support from family members and doesn't feel
confident enough to be open and comfortable about their sexual orientation and gender identity
in the society which only considers heterosexuals as normal and acceptable (Garretson, 2015).
For example, Shaun who is a 47 years old homosexual man living with his gay partner is not
considered as normal by his family. Natalie considers it his personal decision to be a gay with
which she doesn't have any problem but doesn't want her children to know about homosexuals as
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she doesn't want them to “choose homosexuality”. Homosexuals are often subjected to public
humiliation and embarrassment such as keeping them excluded from events or activities, not
considering them manly enough to do physically challenging works, not accepting them as co-
workers, etc. They also suffer physical, mental, sexual and verbal abuses, harassment and
violence such as the This far less acceptance in society has resulted in increased risk of mental
disorder symptoms, suicide, AIDS stigma in them, (Haas and et.al., 2020) etc.
According to the Office for National Statistics, UK, there is an increase in proportion of
the UK population identifying themselves as LGB from 1.6% in 2014 to 2.2% in 2018. Also,
men are more likely to accept their sexual identity than women. Younger men from age range 16
to 24 years were most likely to accept their identity as LGB in 2018 and among all of ethnic
groups in England, white people in London were most likely to identify as LGB while people in
north-east were least likely. More than two-thirds of people who identified as LGB were single
and never married or have been in any civil relationship (Sexual Orientation, UK:2018, 2020).
This shows that society is changing and being open for good but the statistics shows that it is
case of young people in urban areas while older homosexual persons especially in rural areas still
need support to accept their gender identity.
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Defining stereotyping and common stereotyping labels in societal behaviour towards gays and
lesbians
Gender norms and stereotyping is ingrained in the society in which people have belief on
the characteristics of male and female. It is the assumption that they are all alike and the
assumptions are called stereotypes (Lipkin, 2018). They are because of the lack of awareness of
the information and are generally false. The problem with stereotyping is that they are inaccurate
and are based on racism, sexism and xenophobia. They are the image of the culture and it is not
interesting to have it because they define the class of people and making it difficult to have a
name in the society. It is offensive for the people who are facing it as they will not get the
respect.
The relevant names for homosexuality for male is gay and for females is lesbian but gay
denotes male and female homosexuals. The gays and lesbians have different characteristics and
they get attracted to the same sex, they behave in different ways and have a different personality
where their choices vary on the likings. From the point of view of Albuquerque, they are a part
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Illustration 1: Homosexual statistics, 2020

of the society but the stereotyping for them is making it difficult and they are not able to express.
The identity of the people is not on the basis of the gender they are born with but on the bases of
the choices they make for their sexual needs. The most important factor for them is the sexual
orientation, identity, expression, role of the gender.
The gays are attracted to men and they feel comfortable when they are around men
because they are able to express themselves with them. The terms used for gay is carefree,
cheerful, bright and showy and people used it because they have a stereotype that men are
comfortable in sharing anything for others. The homosexual relationship in women are making
them comfortable and when they are called lesbian or by other adjectives, they do not like it.
Shaun is sharing the house with the same sex and is 47 years old. The family is not accepting it
and they feel uncomfortable when he explains his social life to the children.
The world war 2 has the made the fell comfortable slowly and gradually to expresses
their choices. The Europeans and Americans have started showing the sexual identification and
the people across the globe is understanding themselves and their choices better. They did not
know that they have special choices and the globalization and internet has made them
understand.
Impact of stereotyping on gays and lesbians
The conceptualisation of the masculine affects the self-image and the relationships of
gays men. The choice of being straight or gay is not the option which is chosen by the person.
They do not choose their sexuality like they cannot choose their eye colour. The society make
them feel that they are not the real men and they do not belong to the society (MacKenzie, A.,
2018). They are treated bad and they are bullied by others like they have the characteristics of
females. The people do not let them talk to their children openly on their choices because the
parents feel that they will become homosexual. Natalie did not like Shaun explain his life to the
children which is the situation of most of the people.
From the point of view of Tucker, the stereotyping can affect the relationships with the
family and relatives because they are not yet accepted by them when they explain their choices.
The relatives do not invite them to the functions because they are worried that it will spoil their
image. Shaun is a part of the family but Natalie did not want him to talk to children which make
him feel bad but she covered by saying that she did not have a problem with he being gay but she
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did not want her children to get influenced. The problem with this is when the families cannot
accept it, the society is made of families which do not want to accept it.
The gay men have to face the problems which are affecting their mental and physical
health because they feel depressed which will have an impact on their health and have mental
problems like disturbances, emotional attachments, they will feel they are not important and
physical health problem like heart problems, they do not take care of the diseases and it is
because they are discriminated and are affected by the socio economic factors (Kite and Bryant-
Lees, 2016). The family are important for increasing their confidence but they do not get the
comfort from the family it causes them to depression and they hurt themselves.
The health care is important for everyone and should not be discriminated based on the
sex and sexual opinions. The homosexual men are in minority and they have the right to get the
treatment. They do not get treatment because there are no laws for their problems. They are
called with different names like carefree, cheerful, etc. which is embarrassing for them and they
do not like it when they are bullied. The doctors do not treat their problems and make them feel
that they are not fine and needs a doctor to treat their mental diseases.
Strategies to promote inclusiveness of gays and lesbians
According to Poushter and Kent, support of LGBT inclusiveness has increased with time
and UK is considered as one of the countries which provides highest degrees of liberty and full
equality for LGBT people (The Global Divide on Homosexuality Persists, 2020). Government of
UK had officially extended its anti-discriminatory measures against homosexuals by extending
them protection in all areas under the Equality Act, 2010. Since 2016, they can also serve openly
in the armed forces to quash the stereotype that they are not manly enough. Gradually, they were
granted the right to enter into a civil partnership, legalise their same-sex marriage and also, to
adopt. This was done on the part of government but the situation in society is different.
Homosexuals still need to find equality in areas such as safety, health, education and
employment.
Government has aimed at creating an advisory framework that will focus on providing
guidelines to reduce healthcare access inequalities, improve gender identity services for
homosexual adults, etc. (LGBT Action Plan, 2018) Also, there is a need to create inclusive
education system that can prepare them for later life under which school management and
teachers should compulsorily have gender sensitivity training with a focus on LGBT sexual
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orientation. There is a need to create a system that ensures that support is available for those
homosexuals who are victims of hate crimes. Reporting framework shall be strengthened and
police shall be instructed to be prompt in responding to hate crimes, domestic abuse, online
harassment, etc. There is a need to increase awareness of support services for LGBT victims of
sexual assault and abuse, homeless and homosexual prisoners, etc.
Formal training of a child starts at school. It is important for schools to create an
atmosphere that will tackle homophobic bullying in schools (Wagner and et.al., 2016). Also,
there is a need for civil society to come forward to train healthcare professionals to be sensitive
about physical and mental health services issues faced by homosexuals, raise campaigns to
increase awareness of general people about homosexuality and the issues faced by homosexuals,
to encourage LGBT people to come forward and accept their identity, etc. At workplace,
employers shall set an example by welcoming homosexuals with open arms and making clear
policies against any kind of discrimination against them would not be tolerated. They should also
arrange for LGBT awareness training for their employees to deter them from making
assumptions about homosexuals which will help ensure that their safety and privacy is protected.
Employers shall encourage engagements and interactions between homosexual staff and their
chosen families and other staff and their families to know more about each other and promote
social inclusion.
Reflection on self-awareness and resilience
I knew homosexuality is the attraction between the same sex. From the above essay, I got
to know that the degree of stereotyping varies from culture to culture and it has a profound
impact on the mentality of the people. It is like a social psychology and people have a belief that
sexual attraction can only happen between people of different sexes and a certain section of the
society is going against the nature by choosing partner of the same sex. Somewhere deep down
within me, I was holding the same view that they are not normal people and are like this because
of some disability in them and that they shall be kept separate and treated differently. I was not
aware that their sexual orientation is normal and natural and has resulted in so many experiences
for them that has left a significant impact on their physical, mental and sexual health and
wellbeing. That their specific needs are not always taken into account such as they often have to
face embarrassing and inappropriate questions by people including family and healthcare
professionals who are supposed to know everything about their physiology. Gay men like Shaun
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are many a times subjected to negative and embarrassing experiences in family and when they
report to GP for mental health services, they are asked embarrassing questions which made them
feel that it is better to stay quiet and endure negativities which is not right for their mental health.
After going through this essay, I got to learn so many things and now I see homosexuals
and their issues in a new light. I am educated enough now to understand that it is something
natural only and not some decision that they have taken for themselves and that it is important
that they are made to feel that they are normal and shall be treated equally so that it motivates
them to have self-confidence and they will be able to have a good life. They are a part of the
society and it should not make a difference based on the sexual choices of the people (Blanchard,
2018). The discrimination should be eliminated and they should get the good environment to
explain their social life. I would want to work for creating awareness amongst people so that
more youngsters like me shed and shred their conservative thinking and promote their inclusion
in main stream.
Learning about the stereotypes and their impact over the people who are being
stereotyped has opened my eyes and thoughts that we should not create any generalised mind
barriers in our mind for any type and any kind of people. And at the reversed side, it has helped
me learn that stereotyping is a typical behaviour on the part of society and this is necessarily
nowhere closer to the reality. It will help me not to get affected by any stereotype that I might be
subjected to at any part and point of my life. It has helped me develop a defence mechanism
against unwanted generalisation of people and I would like to help members of LGBT
community to develop same defence mechanism that can help them live their life without being
affect by societal stereotypical pressure.
Summary and conclusion
From above, it can be concluded that stereotyping is common in society and has a long-
lasting impact. LGBT community has protection against discrimination under the statutory rights
provided by legislations in UK yet their social inclusion is far less in society which considers
only heterosexuality as normal and acceptable. Coming to terms with sexual orientation which is
different from others is all about self-acceptance. It is not an easy thing to do and getting positive
affirmation from family, friends and society can make all the difference in helping homosexuals
to be happy, healthy and confident in their true selves.
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References
Books and Journal
Blanchard, R., 2018. Fraternal birth order, family size, and male homosexuality: Meta-analysis
of studies spanning 25 years. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 47(1). pp.1-15.
Buckle, S., 2015. The Way Out: A History of Homosexuality in Modern Britain. Bloomsbury
Publishing.
Clarke, H.M. and Arnold, K.A., 2017. Diversity in gender stereotypes? A comparison of
heterosexual, gay and lesbian perspectives. Canadian Journal of Administrative
Sciences/Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Administration. 34(2). pp.149-158.
Garretson, J.J., 2015. Exposure to the lives of lesbians and gays and the origin of young people’s
greater support for gay rights. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 27(2).
pp.277-288.
Haas, S.M. and et.al., 2020. Exploring current stereotypes and norms impacting sexual partner
HIV-status communication. Health communication. 35(11). pp.1376-1385.
Kite, M.E. and Bryant-Lees, K.B., 2016. Historical and contemporary attitudes toward
homosexuality. Teaching of Psychology. 43(2). pp.164-170.
Lipkin, A., 2018. Understanding homosexuality, changing schools. Routledge.
Lipkin, A., 2018. Understanding homosexuality, changing schools. Routledge.
MacKenzie, A., 2018. Prejudicial stereotypes and testimonial injustice: Autism, sexuality and
sex education. International Journal of Educational Research. 89. pp.110-118.
Wagner, W. and et.al., 2016. Essence politics Identity work and stereotyping in. The social
psychology of everyday politics.
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BMC International Health and Human Rights. 2020. [Online]. Available
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Homosexual Statistics. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/
bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2018>
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