Hi all --

Jim was kind enough to post a story about my PhD research on the site, but I thought I'd also give a head's up here in the forum.

I'm doing a study about how gay athletes think about their bodies. It is for my PhD, which is being co-supervised by Eric Anderson (Coach Gumby). Eric has done a great deal of work on the lives of gay athletes, and is probably the world leader in that area of research, so I'm really lucky to have him on board.

My study involves to parts. Part one is an individual interview with me, which should last about 90 minutes. We'll talk about topics such as being an athlete, body image, being gay, and masculinity. The second part occurs two weeks later, and is a brief (less than 30 minute) online survey. All data collection will remain confidential, and I will use code names for my participants in my write-up of the research.

To participate you need to be:
*18-35 years of age
*White
*Have played your sport for at least the past 15 months
*Have played, in your life time, in at least the state level of your sport (high school teams count)
*Practice 10 hour a week (counts actual practice, as well as cross-training and gym time)

Those restrictions aren't to be biased, but just to add focus to my study.

If you're interested, please e-mail at shaun.filiault@postgrads.unisa.edu.au

This study is fully approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of South Austraila.

Thanks!

Not that I'm going to participate in your study or anything, but out of curiosity why/how does race play a factor in your research?

It's explained in the article.

Thanks Jim that makes it much more clear.

Thanks for the question! I wish I could interview more guys for this project, but then my write up would become 3,000 pages rather than 300 pages! As it is, I've already had to turn guys down who don't fit in the limitations, and I do feel badly in doing so ... but it does tell me there is need for future projects which look at the experiences of men of all ages and races! I've already got a career's worth of work ahead of me!

I do apologize if any one has taken offense to the limitations in the study. I'm certainly not saying that the experiences of other men aren't important -- not at all! I'm just saying that I needed to add limitations to my study so as to add clarity and keep things manageable.

Good luck w/ your research project Shaun. I'm sure you'll find the right candidates.

That would be interesting. After all, you need something to which to compare your newly-found stats, don’t you? Gay c/ to straight; or gay & white c/ gay & not-white; or gay & athletic c/ gay & non-athletic, etc. Very interesting, indeed; I wish you much success with your research. [And although I fit most of your study criteria, I’m way too OLD to participate; thanks for reminding me! ]

Has any other grad students in the university taken an intrest in this type of research, and not to sound dumb but i though medical research shows that race plays no meaning on the actual body other than exterior trates. Most research limits the number of applicants to a region and geographic area instead. White in america a general term when some people who may enter your study are mixed and refer to themselves as white no the less because of social and econimic standings.
but again it is your research but felt that you should know that labes are one thing most people fear.

Thanks for the response. You're right -- most medical research shows that race doesn't play any meaning except for how the body looks. Of course, that's my whole topic area -- how do people think about how their body looks?

You're right, White in America does tend to be a general term, and some people may identify as "White" but have other racial roots. But, for my study, it is identity, and how you think of yourself, that matters. So, while someone might be mixed race, if they see themselves as "White" that's what matters.

Great questions!

Posting this as a big THANK YOU to the men from Boston, Denver, and San Francisco who participated in my study. Over the past few weeks I had the opportunity to meet some amazing guys who are doing great things in their sports. So, again, thanks.

I look forward to collecting the rest of my data from all around the world, and will certainly let you all know how this turns out!

I have a colleague, Paul Tontz, who is also a doctoral student, doing his work out of the US. He's doing his thesis on the life experiences of gay DI NCAA athletes in California. If that's you, you might want to contact him at paul_tontz@yahoo.com

Let's keep on doing more research on gay athletes and show the world you can be gay, athletic, and happy!

I was curious how your study might "show the world you can be gay, athletic, and happy," given the significant limitations you've placed on your population. The results can't validly be applied to anyone other than the group you're interviewing. And how does whether an athlete likes to show off his body, or what he chooses to wear, demonstrate whether a man is "gay, athletic, and happy?"

You're right -- qualitative methodology makes no claim to generalizability. However, we do find commonalities in individuals' stories, which might be applicable to other people, too. I don't claim that my results will apply to all gay men, or even all White, athletic, young gay men ... but there are likely some similarities in their experiences.

Some very preliminary findings, given a brief perusal of my research data from the US and Oz, shows that these guys are fairly happy with their bodies. That happiness isn't because they think they have attractive bodies, or ideal bodies ... but because the whole notion of body image dissatisfaction doesn't seem to really matter to them. Their sport has given them something bigger to involve themselves with, and perhaps has given them perspective on other issues in life. In other research, we find that sport has "psychoprotective" qualities -- that is, athletes tend to have less mental health issues than the general population (I'm talking about athletes as a whole here ... I'm sure we can all think of examples of athletes who aren't well adjusted). I think that's what we're finding here. Sport has acted as a "psychoprotective" for these guys, sheilding them the body image issues that are reported more generally in gay men. Does that mean these guys are 100% happy with their bodies, don't want to change a single thing? Not at all. But on the whole, they're okay with themselves. And, as I said, that "okayness" is, I think, because of their involvement in sport. So, at least so far, they're "gay", "athletic", and "happy", as I define happy in a study about body image.

Also, these results have been similar in the US and Australia, so I think there is a certain element of generalizability there.

So far, I'm kind of stunned by these results! Of course, they are only preliminary, and I've still got the UK and Canadian guys to go ... but so far, wow.

Now that I have read more about your study and what you are looking at, it reminds me of studies done on young (presumably straight) athletes. Young men and women who participate in sports have been shown to have much better self image than those who don't participate, and be less susceptable to a range of teen problems from eating disorders to depression to pregnancy. They do better in school etc.

R