Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans appearance and embodiment: A critical review of the psychological literature

2012/01/01 by Victoria Clarke, Nikki Hayfield, Caroline Huxley · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Adornment #Attractiveness #Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies #Embodied cognition #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Fashion and Cultural Textiles #Gender studies #Heteronormativity #Homosexuality #Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) #Human physical appearance #Insider #Lesbian #Male Homosexuality #Men who have sex with men #Perception #Physical attractiveness #Psychoanalysis #Psychology #Queer #Social psychology #Sociology #Transgender

paper · pdf · doi:10.53841/bpssex.2012.3.1.51

openalex publication_date 2012/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

This paper provides a review of the psychological literature on LGBT appearance and embodiment. Research on ‘outsider’ perceptions of LGBT appearance and embodiment has focused on the links between perceptions of physical attractiveness and homosexuality, and physical attractiveness and transsexuality, and on the detection of homosexuality from visual cues. ‘Insider’ research has examined LGBT people’s body image, and appearance and adornment practices in non-heterosexual communities. We identify three major limitations of LGBT appearance research: (i) the reliance on a gender inversion model of homosexuality; (ii) the marginalisation of bisexual appearance and embodiment; and (iii) the focus on trans as a diagnostic category and the resulting exclusion of the subjectivities and lived experiences of trans people.

Citations

• Homosexual Identity Formation:
• Brief exposures: Male sexual orientation is accurately perceived at 50ms
• The Influence of Target and Perceiver Race in the Categorisation of Male Sexual Orientation
• “I Want a Man”: Patterns of Attraction in All-Male Personal Ads
• Swagger, sway, and sexuality: Judging sexual orientation from body motion and morphology.
• The Roles of Featural and Configural Face Processing in Snap Judgments of Sexual Orientation
• Female sexual orientation is perceived accurately, rapidly, and automatically from the face and its features
• Dissecting “Gaydar”: Accuracy and the Role of Masculinity–Femininity
• At the Crossroads of Conspicuous and Concealable: What Race Categories Communicate about Sexual Orientation
• Sexual Orientation Perception Involves Gendered Facial Cues
• Accuracy and awareness in the perception and categorization of male sexual orientation.
• Sexual orientation biases attentional control: a possible gaydar mechanism
• Formal and Interpersonal Discrimination: A Field Study of Bias Toward Homosexual Applicants
• Predicting opposition to the civil rights of trans persons in the United Kingdom
• “It’s a Comparison Thing, Isn’t It?”

Cited by

• Body image [wikipedia]

Related

• Conceptions of Masculinity and Femininity as a Basis for Stereotypes of Male and Female Homosexuals
• “It’s a Comparison Thing, Isn’t It?”
• Body Image Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: An Intersectional Analysis
• Transgender people of color’s experiences of sexual objectification: Locating sexual objectification within a matrix of domination.
• A Social Identity Perspective of LGBTQ+ Identity Development