Analysis of age-related materials in the "personals" advertisements of hetero- and homosexual men was undertaken to test theoretical notions regarding differences between these groups in terms of accelerated aging (in homosexual men) and a special preference for young partners (among homosexual men). These stereotypic notions were not supported. The findings of this study, while limited to nonreactive data (newspaper advertisements), lend affirmation to the essential normalcy of the process of homosexual aging.
Growing Older Male: Heterosexual and Homosexual1 Mary Riege Laner, PhD2
J
496
The Gerontologist
Downloaded from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/ at Weizmann Institute of Science on June 8, 2016
sexuals as early as the early 30s to as late as the early 40s. At this time, they hold, the reduction of life chances produces serious feelings of depression and loneliness akin to those presumably felt by single or divorced heterosexual women. Successful transition through this period is dependent on the affection and support of others. Among heterosexuals, Chafetz (1974) suggests that "the model of the attractive male i s . . . taken to be the successful, middleaged man, graying slightly at the temples and having 'character' in his face." While this model may not be accepted by all heterosexual men or women — witness the effort to merchandise hair dyes for men and cosmetics to cover wrinkling, not to mention plastic surgery for the same purpose — in the world of the male homosexual, this model of attractiveness does not apply; gray hair and wrinkles are often considered repellent (Gagnon & Simon, 1973). McDevitt (1974) asserts that isolation and deThe heterosexual has his children, whose careers pression are characteristic of the middle years assure a sense of the future, and he has a wife whose of gay men's lives. sexual availability cushions the shock of declining The theoretical picture of the male homosexual attractiveness. In addition, the crisis of aging sexual experiencing himself as "getting on in comes later to the heterosexual, at an age when his years" at a time when male heterosexuals do sexual powers have declined and expectations connot yet have such concerns — an experience cerning the significance of his sexuality are considerably lower. The earliness of the impact of aging called accelerated aging — is contradicted in the life cycle of the homosexual is often out of by a few empirical studies. Weinberg and phase with other aspects of aging (occupational, Williams (1974), for instance, who investifamilial, etc.) (Gagnon & Simon, 1973). gated homosexuality in New York, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam, reported that older Gagnon and Simon place the onset of feel- homosexuals were higher in psychological ings of being "over the hill" for male homo- well-being than were younger homosexuals, even though the researchers had expected to find the reverse situation. Reiss (1976), 'Originally prepared for presentation at the annual meetings of the Society commenting on this finding, notes that it for the Scientific Study of Sex, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, June 1973. "is another instance of the need for research Asst. Prof., Dept. of Sociology, Arizona State Univ., Tempe 85281. The social gerontological literature deals almost exclusively with aging processes in presumed heterosexuals. Empirical information regard ing differences or similarities between, for example, male homo- and heterosexuals as they age, is relatively underreseached. However, there is no lack of theorizing about what it means to grow older as a "gay" male. The picture is frequently a pathetic one. West (1967), for instance, writes that, "the dread of growing old is a noticeable feature of male homosexuals." Similarly, Gagnon and Simon (1973) comment that, "while American society places an inordinate emphasis on youth, the homosexual community, by and large, places a still greater emphasis on this fleeting characteristic." These authors point out that the homosexual has fewer resources with which to meet the crisis of aging than does his heterosexual counterpart:
Vol. 18, No. 5, 1978
not lead to a unitary conclusion about autoperceptions of aging among gay men. While such autoperceptions are considered important by many researchers (Nardi, 1973), it may be that self-report data is contaminated by, for instance, the attempt to deny the stigma often attached to getting older, as may have affected Minnigerode's results, or by the internal ization of negative subcultural views of aging, as may have affected Kel ley's findings (although it is unclear why these two groups of gay male respondents saw the matter differently from one another). Thus the investigation of what has been called nonreactive data (Lewis, 1975), may be of special value for its contribution to the understanding of differences, if any, between male hetero- and homosexuals. A separate but related topic is the question of relational goals among older gay men. Bell (1971) speculates that most homosexuals want both love and permanent relationships; "If these values do not seem too important when they are young, they take on increased importance as the homosexual gets older." Sonenschein's (1968) study of the ethnography of male homosexual relationships suggests that while finding a permanent partner is a common goal for many homosexuals, it is not a universal goal, paralleling Stein's (1976) assessment of the relational desires of heterosexuals. However, Bell (1971) believes that "as the homosexual finds his competitive ability on the market decreasing, a permanent relationship becomes even more desirable to him." The notion that older gay males have particular interest in younger men is supported by Slater, who also echoes themes mentioned earlier: Many male homosexuals can only be aroused by men who are young or exceptionally good looking. Reaching the age of 30 can be as great a disaster for a gay male as for a straight woman (1977). Slater's stereotypic (and sexist) view is amplified at length by Gagrion and Simon: A . . . major component in going to male prostitutes is a desire among many homosexuals for young men. .. . The society of the United States is youthoriented in both its heterosexual and homosexual worlds. The physical attractiveness of the young is a major element in sexual desirability. To gain access to the young and the attractive, it is often necessary to pay some kind of price whether one is heterosexual or homosexual — in today's world, the young desire the young. In order for an older male to enter
497
Downloaded from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/ at Weizmann Institute of Science on June 8, 2016
to examine what are thought to be obvious outcomes." The question of whether gay men actually consider themselves old as they move from their early 30s to their early 40s has been addressed by very recent research. Minnigerode (1976) obtained autoperceptionsof age from 95 homosexual men between the ages of 25 and 68, predicting that these respondents would anticipate an earlier onset of middle and old age than would heterosexual men, in accordance with the notion of accelerated aging in homosexual males. He found, however, that homosexuals did not differ significantly from heterosexuals in terms of the age status labels they attached to themselves ("young," "middle-aged," or "old"). Minnigerode's data suggest that homosexual men who anticipate an early onset of "old age" might possess poorer physical and/or psychological health than do those who do not have such expectations; however, he concludes that "in terms of age-status labeling, homosexual men appear to be more similar to heterosexual men than different from them." Kelley (1977) compared characteristics of 241 homosexual men with what he called "popular myths" regarding problems encountered by such men. Data obtained from his respondents, who ranged in age from 16 to 79 years, indicated that there was little evidence that being male and homosexual causes problems in aging; rather, he argues, negative societal attitudes toward homosexuals cause problems. Most of Kelley's homosexual informants saw age 50 as the beginning of old age. In sharp contrast, all of Minnigerode's (1976) homosexual informants who were over age 50 said that they were middle-aged. (In Minnigerode's sample, the mean chronological age given for the onset of old age was 64.78 years. Previously, Neugarten et al. [1965] reported that male heterosexual respondents placed the onset of old age at between 65 and 75 years. Similarly, Atchley's [1977] view of stages of the life course places old age [or "later maturity"] as beginning at about age 64 [1977].) It is noteworthy that by these criteria, Kel ley's gay male respondents saw the onset of old age as occurring some 15 years earlier than Neugarten et al. suggest (and some 13 years earlier than by Atchley's guidelines). Minnigerode's gay males, however, "accurately" placed themselves in middle age according to both Neugarten et al. scale and Atchley's life course formulation. Clearly, the findings of these two studies do
this world, he must pay either in money or in allowing access to rewards that would not normally be available to the young. While real affection can and does exist in both worlds between people of disparate ages, this is not a common phenomenon, and such encounters are often contaminated by other considerations (1973).
Table 1. Comparison of Heterosexual and Homosexual Men's Claimed Ages in Personal Advertisements, Shown as Percentages.
Age groups
Heterosexual Men (n = 318)
Homosexual Men (n = 233)
Young adulthood (ages 18-34)
39
61
The ''Personal" Ad as a Nonreactive Data Source
Early middle age (ages 35-48)
43
35
The concerns addressed above indicate the need to design research in such a way that agerelated information as to similarities and/or differences between hetero- and homosexual aging, in terms of autoperceptions and relational goals, can be obtained without tapping into the possible defensiveness that even anonymityguaranteed questionnaires might not be able
Later middle age (ages 49-62)
18
3.5
a
.5
advertisements provide one type of nonreactive data for such a study. Based on the theoretical differences and similarities between hetero- and homosexual men displayed above, the following hypotheses were generated: First, disproportionately more older than younger advertisers will be found in the "personals" ads for both hetero- and homosexual men (given the assumption that those who are more youthful — or youthful appearing — are more likely to seek companions, dates, or mates through face to face contacts, and less likely to need to spare themselves the potential embarrassment of rejection by hiding, as it were, behind the shield of a newspaper advertisement). Although it is expected that "young adulthood" and "early middle age" categories of advertisers will be underrepresented, it is also hypothesized that, Second, disproportionately more early middle-aged homosexual advertisers will be found, in comparison to heterosexual advertisers (given the assumption of accelerated aging among homosexual men). Third, disproportionately more homosexuals than heterosexuals will be found to advertise for young or younger-than-self companions, dates, or mates (given the assumption that homosexuals are more strongly drawn to the young than are heterosexuals). Findings: Differences and Similarities "Personals" advertisements for heterosexuals were obtained from a recent issue of the National
498
p
Growing Older Male: Heterosexual and Homosexual1 Mary Riege Laner, PhD2
J
496
The Gerontologist
Downloaded from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/ at Weizmann Institute of Science on June 8, 2016
sexuals as early as the early 30s to as late as the early 40s. At this time, they hold, the reduction of life chances produces serious feelings of depression and loneliness akin to those presumably felt by single or divorced heterosexual women. Successful transition through this period is dependent on the affection and support of others. Among heterosexuals, Chafetz (1974) suggests that "the model of the attractive male i s . . . taken to be the successful, middleaged man, graying slightly at the temples and having 'character' in his face." While this model may not be accepted by all heterosexual men or women — witness the effort to merchandise hair dyes for men and cosmetics to cover wrinkling, not to mention plastic surgery for the same purpose — in the world of the male homosexual, this model of attractiveness does not apply; gray hair and wrinkles are often considered repellent (Gagnon & Simon, 1973). McDevitt (1974) asserts that isolation and deThe heterosexual has his children, whose careers pression are characteristic of the middle years assure a sense of the future, and he has a wife whose of gay men's lives. sexual availability cushions the shock of declining The theoretical picture of the male homosexual attractiveness. In addition, the crisis of aging sexual experiencing himself as "getting on in comes later to the heterosexual, at an age when his years" at a time when male heterosexuals do sexual powers have declined and expectations connot yet have such concerns — an experience cerning the significance of his sexuality are considerably lower. The earliness of the impact of aging called accelerated aging — is contradicted in the life cycle of the homosexual is often out of by a few empirical studies. Weinberg and phase with other aspects of aging (occupational, Williams (1974), for instance, who investifamilial, etc.) (Gagnon & Simon, 1973). gated homosexuality in New York, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam, reported that older Gagnon and Simon place the onset of feel- homosexuals were higher in psychological ings of being "over the hill" for male homo- well-being than were younger homosexuals, even though the researchers had expected to find the reverse situation. Reiss (1976), 'Originally prepared for presentation at the annual meetings of the Society commenting on this finding, notes that it for the Scientific Study of Sex, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, June 1973. "is another instance of the need for research Asst. Prof., Dept. of Sociology, Arizona State Univ., Tempe 85281. The social gerontological literature deals almost exclusively with aging processes in presumed heterosexuals. Empirical information regard ing differences or similarities between, for example, male homo- and heterosexuals as they age, is relatively underreseached. However, there is no lack of theorizing about what it means to grow older as a "gay" male. The picture is frequently a pathetic one. West (1967), for instance, writes that, "the dread of growing old is a noticeable feature of male homosexuals." Similarly, Gagnon and Simon (1973) comment that, "while American society places an inordinate emphasis on youth, the homosexual community, by and large, places a still greater emphasis on this fleeting characteristic." These authors point out that the homosexual has fewer resources with which to meet the crisis of aging than does his heterosexual counterpart:
Vol. 18, No. 5, 1978
not lead to a unitary conclusion about autoperceptions of aging among gay men. While such autoperceptions are considered important by many researchers (Nardi, 1973), it may be that self-report data is contaminated by, for instance, the attempt to deny the stigma often attached to getting older, as may have affected Minnigerode's results, or by the internal ization of negative subcultural views of aging, as may have affected Kel ley's findings (although it is unclear why these two groups of gay male respondents saw the matter differently from one another). Thus the investigation of what has been called nonreactive data (Lewis, 1975), may be of special value for its contribution to the understanding of differences, if any, between male hetero- and homosexuals. A separate but related topic is the question of relational goals among older gay men. Bell (1971) speculates that most homosexuals want both love and permanent relationships; "If these values do not seem too important when they are young, they take on increased importance as the homosexual gets older." Sonenschein's (1968) study of the ethnography of male homosexual relationships suggests that while finding a permanent partner is a common goal for many homosexuals, it is not a universal goal, paralleling Stein's (1976) assessment of the relational desires of heterosexuals. However, Bell (1971) believes that "as the homosexual finds his competitive ability on the market decreasing, a permanent relationship becomes even more desirable to him." The notion that older gay males have particular interest in younger men is supported by Slater, who also echoes themes mentioned earlier: Many male homosexuals can only be aroused by men who are young or exceptionally good looking. Reaching the age of 30 can be as great a disaster for a gay male as for a straight woman (1977). Slater's stereotypic (and sexist) view is amplified at length by Gagrion and Simon: A . . . major component in going to male prostitutes is a desire among many homosexuals for young men. .. . The society of the United States is youthoriented in both its heterosexual and homosexual worlds. The physical attractiveness of the young is a major element in sexual desirability. To gain access to the young and the attractive, it is often necessary to pay some kind of price whether one is heterosexual or homosexual — in today's world, the young desire the young. In order for an older male to enter
497
Downloaded from http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/ at Weizmann Institute of Science on June 8, 2016
to examine what are thought to be obvious outcomes." The question of whether gay men actually consider themselves old as they move from their early 30s to their early 40s has been addressed by very recent research. Minnigerode (1976) obtained autoperceptionsof age from 95 homosexual men between the ages of 25 and 68, predicting that these respondents would anticipate an earlier onset of middle and old age than would heterosexual men, in accordance with the notion of accelerated aging in homosexual males. He found, however, that homosexuals did not differ significantly from heterosexuals in terms of the age status labels they attached to themselves ("young," "middle-aged," or "old"). Minnigerode's data suggest that homosexual men who anticipate an early onset of "old age" might possess poorer physical and/or psychological health than do those who do not have such expectations; however, he concludes that "in terms of age-status labeling, homosexual men appear to be more similar to heterosexual men than different from them." Kelley (1977) compared characteristics of 241 homosexual men with what he called "popular myths" regarding problems encountered by such men. Data obtained from his respondents, who ranged in age from 16 to 79 years, indicated that there was little evidence that being male and homosexual causes problems in aging; rather, he argues, negative societal attitudes toward homosexuals cause problems. Most of Kelley's homosexual informants saw age 50 as the beginning of old age. In sharp contrast, all of Minnigerode's (1976) homosexual informants who were over age 50 said that they were middle-aged. (In Minnigerode's sample, the mean chronological age given for the onset of old age was 64.78 years. Previously, Neugarten et al. [1965] reported that male heterosexual respondents placed the onset of old age at between 65 and 75 years. Similarly, Atchley's [1977] view of stages of the life course places old age [or "later maturity"] as beginning at about age 64 [1977].) It is noteworthy that by these criteria, Kel ley's gay male respondents saw the onset of old age as occurring some 15 years earlier than Neugarten et al. suggest (and some 13 years earlier than by Atchley's guidelines). Minnigerode's gay males, however, "accurately" placed themselves in middle age according to both Neugarten et al. scale and Atchley's life course formulation. Clearly, the findings of these two studies do
this world, he must pay either in money or in allowing access to rewards that would not normally be available to the young. While real affection can and does exist in both worlds between people of disparate ages, this is not a common phenomenon, and such encounters are often contaminated by other considerations (1973).
Table 1. Comparison of Heterosexual and Homosexual Men's Claimed Ages in Personal Advertisements, Shown as Percentages.
Age groups
Heterosexual Men (n = 318)
Homosexual Men (n = 233)
Young adulthood (ages 18-34)
39
61
The ''Personal" Ad as a Nonreactive Data Source
Early middle age (ages 35-48)
43
35
The concerns addressed above indicate the need to design research in such a way that agerelated information as to similarities and/or differences between hetero- and homosexual aging, in terms of autoperceptions and relational goals, can be obtained without tapping into the possible defensiveness that even anonymityguaranteed questionnaires might not be able
Later middle age (ages 49-62)
18
3.5
a
.5
advertisements provide one type of nonreactive data for such a study. Based on the theoretical differences and similarities between hetero- and homosexual men displayed above, the following hypotheses were generated: First, disproportionately more older than younger advertisers will be found in the "personals" ads for both hetero- and homosexual men (given the assumption that those who are more youthful — or youthful appearing — are more likely to seek companions, dates, or mates through face to face contacts, and less likely to need to spare themselves the potential embarrassment of rejection by hiding, as it were, behind the shield of a newspaper advertisement). Although it is expected that "young adulthood" and "early middle age" categories of advertisers will be underrepresented, it is also hypothesized that, Second, disproportionately more early middle-aged homosexual advertisers will be found, in comparison to heterosexual advertisers (given the assumption of accelerated aging among homosexual men). Third, disproportionately more homosexuals than heterosexuals will be found to advertise for young or younger-than-self companions, dates, or mates (given the assumption that homosexuals are more strongly drawn to the young than are heterosexuals). Findings: Differences and Similarities "Personals" advertisements for heterosexuals were obtained from a recent issue of the National
498
p
