Being unattractive can lead to unhealthy sexual practices in urban gay males, according to a recent study by U of T sociology professor Adam Isaiah Green.

The study, entitled “Health and Sexual Status in an Urban Gay Enclave: An Application of the Stress Process Model” and published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, is the product of three years of observation and interviews in a gay community he calls “the Village.” For many of its members, sexuality and social life are intertwined.

Green outlines factors that contribute to a gay male’s unattractiveness, specifically age, ethnicity, physical fitness, and social class. These factors, he argues, influence one’s “desirability.” He outlines a Village status structure that favours young, fit Caucasians of a higher social class.

“For instance a man over 50 can have a really hard time in the urban gay downtown, and Asian men report they’re marginalized in the status structure,” Prof. Green said.

Less desirable males can suffer from depression or substance abuse as a result of repeated rejection in the “sexual marketplace.” The most sobering conclusion Green draws is that less desirable men can sometimes engage in unsafe sex to compensate for their undesirability factors.

Those doing gay social work, he said, need to start considering sexual attractiveness as part of an individual’s sense of community. He also noted that further research may show similar patterns in heterosexual or lesbian cultures, although other factors need to be considered such as material wealth.

Green has amassed a large collection of posters, magazines, and flyers from the Village, some of which he showed The Varsity. Every image was of young, fit, white models.

For gay males who don’t meet this criteria, “it communicates an erotic ideal that they don’t fit into and indeed what they’ll find [is] they have much less control over who approaches them or their ability to seek out a desired partner.”

“It’s a feeling of disempowerment and of marginality and in some cases it can be quite consistent and quite severe.”