Sexual Liberation on the Internet? Sexual Internet Use of MSM in 50 Different Countries

Abstract(!Based!on!communica-on!theories!of!self3disclosure!and!online!disinhibi-on!it!can!be!assumed!that!the!Internet!facilitates!the!sa-sfac-on!of!needs!that!are!socially!oppressed.!Many!researchers!have!thus!proclaimed!the!Internet’s!poten-al!for!sexual!fulfillment!and!libera-on.!In!the!present!study,!we!hypothesize!that!the!extent!of!a!country’s!oppression!of!same3sex!sexuality!is!strongly!related!to!gay!men’s!tendency!to!talk!about!their!sexuality!in!real!life.!In!contrast,!it!was!hypothesized!that!the!extent!of!a!country’s!oppression!of!same3sex!sexuality!has!no!influence!on!ac-ng!out!gay!sexuality!over!the!Internet.!In!other!words,!we!assumed!that!in!countries!with!a!high!extent!of!oppression!of!same3sex!sexuality,!fewer!gay!men!self3disclose!about!their!sexuality!in!real!life!than!via!the!Internet.!In!contrast,!we!assumed!that!this!difference!does!not!exist!in!sexually!liberal!countries.!!This!study!inves-gates!the!Internet’s!effect!on!sexual!libera-on!based!on!data!acquired!in!a!quan-ta-ve!online!survey!among!35,748!men!who!have!sex!with!men!(MSM).!The!survey!was!carried!out!in!May!2013!in!25!languages.!It!was!promoted!by!an!online!gay!da-ng!site!(Planetromeo.com).!Our!sample!contained!male!par-cipants!from!151!different!countries.!For!the!analysis!and!sta-s-cal!comparison,!only!the!50!countries!with!sample!sizes!with!more!than!40!par-cipants!were!selected!(mostly!European!and!Asian!countries,!where!Planetromeo.com!has!its!major!distribu-on).!Each!country!was!categorized!according!to!its!poli-cal!and!socio3cultural!oppression!of!male!homosexuality!using!the!country’s!value!on!a!three3point!same3sex!discrimina-on!index!by!UNAIDS!(2013).!!The!findings!suggest!a!strong!sexually!libera-ng!role!of!the!Internet!in!society:!In!highly!discrimina-ng!and!sexually!oppressive!countries,!only!few!MSM!talk!about!their!homosexuality!in!real!life!(23%),!whereas!in!sexually!liberal!countries!many!MSM!do!so!(72%).!In!contrast!to!these!findings!concerning!face3to3face!disclosure,!there!were!no!such!differences!between!countries!with!different!extents!of!same3sex!discrimina-on!in!terms!of!a)!the!frequency!of!sexual!chats!on!the!Internet!and!b)!using!the!Internet!to!find!other!gay!men!for!offline!sex.!In!other!words,!par-cipants!in!sexually!oppressive!countries!compensate!for!a!lack!of!possibili-es!for!sexual!fulfillment!in!real!life!with!the!opportuni-es!provided!by!online!communica-on.!No!significant!difference!was!iden-fied!in!the!frequency!of!gay!da-ng!and!gay!sex!in!oppressive!versus!liberal!countries,!thus!underlining!the!libera-ng!poten-al!of!online!communica-on!and!its!ability!to!ini-ate!offline!interac-on.!!

•  Sexual Internet Use of MSM in 50 Different Countries

Sexual Liberation on the Internet?

Richard Lemke Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) Department of Communication

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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UNAIDS 2013

Background I: Same-Sex Sexual Conduct...

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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Background I: Same-Sex Sexual Conduct...

„...not a criminal offence (but not protected)...“

„...legal and protective laws are in place (anti-discrimination, equal marriage)…”

“…criminalized…”

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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!  Theories of online self-disclosure (e.g. Joinson, 2001)

!  Online disinhibition (Suler, 2004) !  Theories of multiple identities (e.g.

Goffman, 1963; Turkle, 1995)

Background II: The Internet‘s Potential for Sexual Satisfaction

� The Internet can facilitate the satisfaction of needs that are socially oppressed in offline contexts. � Potential for sexual need satisfaction and liberation

(e.g. McKenna, Green & Smith, 2001; Ross, 2005)

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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Does a country‘s extend of oppression of same sex sexuality affect: 1.  Face to face disclosure of being gay („openly gay“

in real life)? 2.  Acting out gay sexuality over the internet (sexual

chats, arranging offline dates with other gay men)?

Study I: Research Question

?

?

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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� H1: Oppression of same-sex sexuality is strongly related to gay men‘s tendency to talk about their sexuality (ftf) in real life.

� H2: Oppression of same-sex sexuality has no influence on acting out gay sexuality over the internet.

Study I: Research Question

?

?

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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! May 2013: User survey among all users of PlanetRomeo.com !  provided in

25 languages !  ~1.5 Mio. members

worldwide

Study II: Method

! N = 150,141 !  25 % sexuological

appendix questionnaire !  n = 34,573

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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„Who knows that you (sometimes) have sex with men?“

Questionnaire Items: Face to Face Disclosure

Study III: Measures

nobody only 1 or 2

many (almost) everybody

among my friends � � � �

at my job � � � � OR

= openly gay

= secretly gay

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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„When was the last time you met a guy in real life that you first met online?“ !  never done that | during the last 4

weeks | longer ago „How often do you meet a person through the internet for sex in real life?“ !  never | around once a month (or more frequent)

| less frequent

Questionnaire Items: Online Disclosure and Initiation of Gay Offline Dates

Study III: Measures

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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Study IV: Sample and Data Cleaning

N = 30.343

(n<40 after deleting non-natives)

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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»openly gay« among friends or at workplace

Results I: Face to Face Disclosure

23%

50%

72%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

same-sex sexuality illegal

(n=1.439)

same-sex sexuality legal, but not protected

(n=1.442)

same-sex sexuality protected (n=27.462)

openly gay

Cramer‘s V=.241; p<.001

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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Offline-Dates

Results II: Initiation of Offline Sexual Activities

59% 60% 55%

5% 3%

56% 54% 49%

6% 6% 8% 0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

same-sex sexuality illegal

(n=1.439)

same-sex sexuality legal, but not protected

(n=1.442)

same-sex sexuality protected (n=27.462)

during last 4 weeks

„When was the last time you met a guy in real life that you first met online?“

never done that

„How often do you meet a person through the internet for sex in real life?“

once a month or more frequent

never

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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•  The findings suggest a strong sexually liberating role of the Internet in society.

•  Limitation: Study addresses only onliners. Different ratio of onliners vs. offliners among MSM in different nations can be expected. •  However: For those gay men who are users of an

online dating site, the Internet seems to be an opportunity to compensate for a lack of possibilities for sexual fulfillment in real life

Discussion

26. Mai 2011 | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

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•  Idea of sexual empowerment and liberation on the Internet is not a new one; several case studies analysed the role of the Internet in single nations (e.g. Chua, 2012; Offord, 2003) •  Present study: empirical support to this hypothesis

based on broad quantitative sample comparing multiple nations within the same study

•  Legal status = social climate?

Discussion

Thank you.

CONTACT: RICHARD.LEMKE@UNI-MAINZ.DE