Discrimination Dot Com:

1
Discrimination Dot Com

• Racial discrimination in the online gay male
  community

William Brown, III McNair Scholars
Program University of California, Davis Mentor
Bruce D. Haynes, Ph.D.
2
Hypotheses

• Gay male internet community is discriminatory
  against people of African American and Asian
  decent.
• More so than the real life community
• Choice of acquaintances and/or bed partners is
  defined by a racial hierarchy that places
  Caucasian men squarely at the top

3
Goals

• To find out if such discrimination exists
• Is it discrimination?
• Is it preference?
• Is it lack of choices?
• To find out why such discrimination exists
• Heterosexual influence
• Gay media
• Sociological and sexual race roles
• Stereotyping

4
Goals (Continued)

• To determine the affects on the personal and
• psychological development of African
• American and Asian males

• Social Exclusion
• Exotification
• Exploitation
• Internalized racism

• Stereotype threat
• Intercommunity discrimination
• First/second party objectification

5
Significance of Project

• Stereotypes and discrimination have real-life
  consequences for not only the sexual practices,
  but also the psychological health, and social
  life of many gay African American and Asian
  American men.
• Identifying the problem will aid in stopping such
  types of discrimination and stereotyping.

6
Background

• Homosexuality is stigmatized
• Need for discretion
• A disclosed characteristic
• Internet Community
• Safe space
• Private community
• Undisclosed interaction

7
Background (continued)

• Black Stereotypes

• Asian Stereotypes

• Overly endowed
• Dominate
• Sexual top (the person who penetrates)
• Exotic (usually if mixed with other races)
• Muscular/strong
• Masculine

• Under endowed
• Submissive
• Sexual bottom (the person who is penetrated)
• Exotic (usually if mixed with Whites or Latinos)
• Skinny/weak
• Feminine

8
Background (continued)

• Gay.com

• XY.com

• Worldwide chat community
• 2,090,536 profiles
• Over 15,000 people chatting at any time
• Chat rooms
• All major cities in every continent.
• Age range 21-40

• Nationwide chat community
• 60,000 profiles
• Local area group chat
• Free member to member email
• Age range 15-24

9
Background (continued)

• San Francisco

• Los Angeles

• Census population
• 776,733

• Census population
• 3,694,820

New York City
San Francisco

• Census population
• 2,896,016

• Census population
• 8,008,278

10
Methods

• XY.com Profiles
• Sixteen (16) profiles
• Four (4) different races
• Four (4) of each race
• One of each race in each city
• Duration One (1) month

• One of each race in each major United States city
• Tally is kept with a hit counter
• Emails were counted and assessed
• Identical profile characteristics

11
Methods (continued)

• Gay.com
• Four (4) profiles
• Four (4) different races
• One of each race
• Each profile was put into a chat room at the same
  time
• All have the same statistical information.

• A tally of the private chat invitations was kept

12
Whtboylightning

• Looking for friends, or a long term relationship,
  I am a 21 year old White guy, I stand about
  511, and weigh about 175lbs.
• Ive never done this personal add thing before so
  Im unsure of what to say.
• I am a masculine guy who is outgoing and smart.
• I usually try to avoid politics whenever
  possible.
• Im a single guy and looking for people to hang
  out with or whatever comes along.
• I am into many different things and am open to
  new ideas and adventures.
• Im cool with meeting anyone as you have a nice
  personality and are a kind-hearted human being.
• Lastly, I dont smoke, drink or do any thing.
• If youre interested email me.

13
FlyBlkGuy

• This is my first time ever writing one of these
  so here I go. . .
• I am 21, Black, 511, 175lbs, looking for
  friends, or something long term.
• I am a masculine guy who is outgoing and very
  intelligent.
• Not really into talking about politics.
• I dont smoke, drink or do any drugs.
• I am single and looking for people to kick it
  with.
• I am into many different things and am
  open-minded about all kinds of activities.
• Im not picky when it comes to what I like in a
  person as long as you have a good personality and
  a kind heart.
• Email me and I will get back to you.

14
SatinLatinboy

• I am into many different things and am open to
  new ideas and adventures.
• I am 21, Latino, 511, 175lbs, looking for
  friends, or a long term relationship.
• I am a masculine guy who is outgoing and smart.
• I dont smoke, drink or do any drugs.
• I am single and looking for people to hang out
  with or whatever comes along.
• Im not picky when it comes to who I like or what
  I like as long as you have a good personality and
  a kind heart.
• I usually try to avoid politics.
• If youre interested email me and I will get back
  to you as soon as possible.
• Ive never done this before so Im kind of
  nervous.

15
asianSINsation

• I am 21, and Asian, 175lbs at 511 tall.
• Im looking for friends, or a relationship.
• Im not picky I just want a kind-hearted person
  with a pleasant personality.
• I am a masculine Asian guy who is outgoing and
  smart.
• Im not very political. Now that I am single Im
  looking for people to chill with or anything
  really.
• This is my first time doing one of these adds so
  I dont know what else to say.
• I am open to new ideas and am into doing anything
  new.
• Not a smoker, nor drinker, nor a partier meaning
  drugs.
• If your interested drop me a line.

16
Results and Data

• Caucasian and Latino profiles received over 50
  more responses as compared to African American
  and Asian profiles. (XY.com)
• There are one-third more self identified Asians
  males than Latin Males. (XY.com)
• Caucasian and Latino males were over 75 more
  likely to get a private instant message
  invitation than their African American
  counterparts and over 50 more likely compared to
  Asian Americans. (Gay.com)

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Results and Data (continued)

• Latino men rank highest in number of hits and
  responses, followed by Caucasian, Asian, and
  African American men, respectively
• Lowest representation in ads and other forms of
  media
• Asian (lowest), African American (second lowest),
  Latin (second highest), White (highest)

18
Analysis

• Is it lack of choices?
• Caucasians visible majority
• More Asians than Latinos
• Is it Preference?
• Preference vs. stereotype bias
• Is it Discrimination?
• Discriminatory practices
• Preference for Latinos vs. Asians does not
  coincide with the number of Latinos and Asians in
  online community

19
Next Steps

• Questionnaire
• Centralized among the African American and Asian
  American gay male community members
• Assessment of behavioral/psychological
  development after online gay experiences

• Interviews
• Interview of the general gay public in Davis,
  both University and community, and also in the
  Sacramento area.
• Online chat private interviews

20
Acknowledgements

• My mentor, Bruce D. Haynes, Ph.D.
• The UC Davis McNair Scholars Program
• Dr. Ellen Robert, Director
• Denise King, Advisor
• Breana Smith, Graduate Assistant
• Ray Shiraishi, Graduate Assistant
• The UC Davis Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
  (LGBT) Resource Center
• The LGBT Community

21
Discrimination Dot Com

• Racial discrimination in the online gay male
  community

William Brown, III McNair Scholars
Program University of California, Davis Mentor
Bruce D. Haynes, Ph.D.