The Gay Male Gaze

This article examines body image disturbance among gay men from various sociocultural perspectives. A review of the empirical literature on body image disturbance indicates that gay males experience greater body dissatisfaction than other groups due to their higher levels of gender nonconformity. The impact of gendered power relations on body image is considered in light of feminist, postmodernist, queer, and disability theories of the body. The history of gay bodily beauty is also examined, along with contemporary critiques of gay body politics. The author concludes that gender oppression constitutes a distinct mode of psychosocial oppression among gay men that is no less disabling than heterosexism, and therefore deserves greater attention in gay affirmative theory, research, and practice.