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Gay College Males' Conceptions of Gender Transgression As Poverty Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs Volume 1 Issue 1 JCSHESA Inaugural Issue Article 5 April 2015 "It's Kind of Apples and Oranges": Gay College Males' Conceptions of Gender Transgression as Poverty Daniel Tillapaugh University of Maine Z Nicolazzo Northern Illinois University Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/jcshesa Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Tillapaugh, Daniel and Nicolazzo, Z (2015) ""It's Kind of Apples and Oranges": Gay College Males' Conceptions of Gender Transgression as Poverty," Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/jcshesa/vol1/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "It's Kind of Apples and Oranges": Gay College Males' Conceptions of Gender Transgression as Poverty Cover Page Footnote The authors wish to acknowledge the significant eedbackf and encouragement of Dr. Dafina-Lazarus Stewart who reviewed an earlier draft of this manuscript. This article is available in Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs: https://ecommons.luc.edu/jcshesa/vol1/iss1/5 JCSHESA Volume 1, Issue 1 “It’s Kind of Apples and Oranges”: Gay College Males’ Conceptions of Gender Transgression as Poverty Daniel Tillapaugh, California Lutheran University Z Nicolazzo, Northern Illinois University Abstract This paper explores the ways in which gay males in college make meaning of gender vari- ance and transgressions from the gender binary as a form of poverty. Using epistemolog- ical bricolage, the researchers analyzed data from 17 self-identified gay cisgender males attending three colleges in Southern California. Participants represented an array of racial backgrounds and were between 20 and 23 years old. The researchers posit that three key elements influence these gay males’ meaning making: (1) gender coding and policing, (2) hyperawareness of gender transgressions, and (3) reifying hegemonic masculinity. Keywords epistemological bricolage, gay males, gender, gender transgression, masculinities ISSN 2377-1291 © 2015 All rights reserved. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs is an open access journal and all pages are available for copying and distribution under a Creative Commons Attribution/Non-Commercial/No Derivative works license. Any authorized work must be properly attributed to the author(s). Work cannot be used for commercial means or changed in any way. 67 TILLAPAUGH & NICOLAZZO he terms gay, (e.g., Dilley, 2005; Ma- ininity (O’Neil et al., 2010), which further rine, 2011) queer, (e.g., Rhoads, 1994; manifests in men’s acceptance and enact- Umphrey, 1995; Eng, Halberstam, & ment of sexist values, attitudes, and behav- TMuñoz, 2005; Renn, 2010) and transgender iors (Kimmel, 2008). Additionally, gender (e.g., Valentine, 2007) continue to evolve and role conflict reifies hegemonic notions of the be sites of contestation in which definitions, categorization of masculinity. self-identification, and coalition building are not only difficult between groups, but also That individuals categorize themselves and within groups. Furthermore, while many others is an innocuous observation. Howev- social service agencies and universities have er, as Valentine (2007) suggested, “the ways created offices representing and in support in which these categorizations are made, and of sexual orientations and gender identities which categories come to have effects in the under the moniker of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, world, are never neutral” (p. 5). Cisgender1 and Transgender (LGBT), this conflation “is gay males represent one population within contested in theory and in practice” (Renn, which one can explore the effects of intra- 2010, p. 132). It is due precisely to these group categorizations, specifically in relation contested and multiple meanings of catego- to expressions of femininity. As a popula- ries and definitions that further explanation tion, cisgender gay males maintain certain is warranted, not just of themselves, but also privileges due to their gender identity (i.e., of their potential intersections, particularly men), but also face oppression due to their as it relates to the services provided by these sexual orientation (i.e., gay). Given these agencies and offices. complexities, the purpose of this paper is to blend constructivist and critical theoret- Similarly, the concept of masculinity (or ical perspectives, or what Kincheloe (2001) masculinities) continues to evolve through referred to as epistemological bricolage, to the work by scholars of men and masculin- explore the ways in which self-identified gay ities studies (Kimmel, 2008; Laker & Davis, males make meaning of gender variance and 2011; O’Neil & Crapser, 2012; Reeser, 2010). transgression from the gender binary as a The seminal work of James O’Neil and his form of poverty within the gay male popula- colleagues around gender role conflict, or tion. The questions framing the inquiry are: men’s fear of femininity, continues to serve as 1. What are the ways in which gay males foundational knowledge when working with make meaning of multiple expressions college men (O’Neil & Crapser, 2011; O’Neil, of masculinity within the gay male Helms, Gable, David, & Wrightsman, 2010). community? O’Neil et al. (2010) discussed six patterns 2. How do hegemonic masculinity, sexism, that exist within gender role conflict which and genderism influence the meaning include: “(1) restrictive emotionality, (2) making of gay males? homophobia, (3) socialized control, power, 3. How do the intersections of gay males’ and competition, (4) restrictive sexual and multiple identities influence their un- affectionate behavior, (5) obsession with derstandings of gender expression? achievement and success and (6) health care problems” (pp. 33-34). This concept of A Word on Poverty gender role conflict also creates a dangerous cycle of socialization for males due to the Poverty [pov-er-tee] restrictive and limiting behaviors that are 1. The state or condition of having little or placed upon them due to this fear of fem- no money, goods, or means of support; 1 Cisgender is a term that refers to individuals whose assigned sex at birth aligns with their gender identity (e.g., someone who is assigned a 68 female sex at birth and self-identifies as a woman). IT’S KIND OF APPLES AND ORANGES condition of being poor. cisgender or gender variant gay males as de- 2. Deficiency of necessary or desirable ficient, it is important for us to uncover and ingredients, qualities, etc.: “poverty of investigate how gay males view their gender the soil.” nonconforming peers as such. Doing so will 3. Scantiness; insufficiency: “Their efforts allow educators to gain a better understand- to stamp out disease were hampered by ing of the confluences and tensions among a poverty of medical supplies.” (Poverty, gay and gender nonconforming students. n.d.) This study, although specific to the afore- mentioned student populations, also has Before moving to the findings of our study, implications for understanding the com- it is important to discuss what we mean plexities of inter- and intragroup subcultural by using the words poverty and poor. As politics. the definition above mentions, the words poverty and poor are most commonly asso- Method ciated with socioeconomic class and a lack of money or wealth. However, within our The original qualitative study for which work, we are using these terms in a new way these data were gathered used constructivist to signify a deficiency or insufficiency. Ad- grounded theory (Charmaz, 2005, 2006) as mittedly, these are loaded terms, especially a means of understanding how gay males in when used in conjunction with marginalized college made meaning of their multiple iden- communities (e.g., gay males, transgender tities, specifically their sense of masculinity students). Although our use of the words and sexuality. Constructivist grounded the- poverty or poor could be misconstrued, we ory, which differs from traditional positivist use them in this study to relate to the way grounded theory, situates the data collected gay male participants saw gender variance within the systems of which participants are and gay male femininity as a deficiency of a part, including the researcher whose po- necessary or desirable qualities. We do not sitionality plays a role in making sense and mean our use of these terms to signal that meaning of the data as well (Charmaz, 2005). gay males and/or gender nonconforming Although the original study used construc- individuals are somehow deficient. Rather, tivist grounded theory, we utilized a different we seek to uncover the ways in which gay epistemological lens (i.e., epistemological male participants view gender variance and bricolage, which is discussed in the next transgressing the gender binary, specifically section) to draw findings and implications gay male femininity, as a form of poverty. from the data. Put another way, the participants in this study illuminated the potential for intra- Seventeen cisgender gay males between 20 to group dissonance and stratification within 23 years of age who were either attending
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