Exploring Concepts of Race Among Gay Men Looking for Sex Or Dates Online
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Just a preference: Exploring concepts of race among gay men looking for sex or dates online Denton Callander A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Social Research in Health Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences August 2013 Table of Contents List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. ix Publications and Presentations ............................................................................................................ x Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 11 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Thesis aims .......................................................................................................................... 13 1.2 The thesis scope .................................................................................................................. 14 1.3 Thesis structure ................................................................................................................... 15 1.4 Locating myself ................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Prejudice and racism ..................................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Defining prejudice ............................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Stereotypes and discrimination ......................................................................................... 19 2.3 Research on prejudice and stereotypes .............................................................................. 20 2.4 Prejudice and media ........................................................................................................... 30 2.5 Racial prejudice, racism, and race ...................................................................................... 33 i 2.6 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 49 Gay men, dating and the Internet................................................................................................. 49 3.1 How we behave online ........................................................................................................ 50 3.2 Race and racism in an online world .................................................................................... 59 3.3 Gay men online ................................................................................................................... 62 3.4 “No Asians, please”: Gay men, race and the Internet ........................................................ 65 3.5 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 73 3.6 The current research ........................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................................... 76 Stage 1: Content analysis of racialised language on a sex and dating webservice ....................... 76 Overview of approach to mixed methods research ..................................................................... 76 4.1 Methods: Content analysis of racialised language on a sex and dating webservice .......... 80 4.2 Results ................................................................................................................................. 86 4.3 Inferences drawn from stage 1 findings ............................................................................. 96 4.4 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 104 Chapter 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 107 Stage 2: An online survey of attitudes, perceptions and experiences related to racialised partner discrimination online .................................................................................................................. 107 5.1 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 107 ii 5.2 Results ............................................................................................................................... 119 5.3 Inferences from stage 2 findings ....................................................................................... 135 Chapter 6 ......................................................................................................................................... 149 Stage 3: In-depth interviews with Australian gay men who use sex and dating webservices ... 149 6.1 Interview methods ............................................................................................................ 149 6.2 Results and inferences from stage 3 ................................................................................. 153 Chapter 7 ......................................................................................................................................... 197 Discussion.................................................................................................................................... 197 7.1 The subtlety of online sexual racism: Revelations of a pervasive issue............................ 198 7.2 Negotiating sexual racism as a normalised feature of sex and dating online .................. 202 7.3 Sexual racism and sexual liberty ....................................................................................... 207 7.4 Methodological implications ............................................................................................. 212 7.5 Directions forward ............................................................................................................ 213 7.6 Concluding thoughts ......................................................................................................... 215 References ...................................................................................................................................... 217 Appendix A: Survey instrument ...................................................................................................... 242 Appendix B: Interview guide ........................................................................................................... 249 iii COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. 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