It is difficult to gauge people’s acceptance about same-sex sexualities, as responses to questionnaires are prone to social desirability bias. We offer a new proxy for understanding popular concern surrounding same-sex sexualities: prevalence of Google searches demonstrating concern over gay/lesbian sexual identities. Using Google Trends data, we find that Google searches about whether a specific person is gay or lesbian show patterned bias toward masculine searches, in that such searches are much more frequently conducted about boys and men compared with girls and women. We put these findings into context by comparing search frequencies with other popular Google searches about sexuality and otherwise. We put forth that the patterned bias toward masculine searches illustrates support for the enduring relationship between masculinity and heterosexuality and that it does so on a larger scale than previous research has been able to establish.
AldenHelana L.ParkerKaren F.2005. “Gender Role Ideology, Homophobia and Hate Crime: Linking Attitudes to Macro-level Anti-gay and Lesbian Hate Crimes.” Deviant Behavior26:321–43.
2.
AndersonEric. 2008. “‘Being Masculine Is Not about Who You Sleep with . . .’: Heterosexual Athletes Contesting Masculinity and the One-time Rule of Homosexuality.” Sex Roles58:104–15.
BiblarzTimothy J.StaceyJudith. 2010. “How Does the Gender of Parents Matter?” Journal of Marriage and Family72:3–22.
5.
BiernatMonicaKobrynowiczDiane. 1997. “Gender- and Race-based Standards of Competence: Lower Minimum Standards but Higher Ability Standards for Devalued Groups.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology72:544–57.
6.
BridgesTristan. 2014. “A Very ‘Gay’ Straight? Hybrid Masculinities, Sexual Aesthetics, and the Changing Relationship between Masculinity and Homophobia.” Gender & Society28:58–82.
BridgesTristanMooreMignon. 2018. “Young Women of Color and Shifting Sexual Identities.” Contexts18:86–88.
9.
BridgesTristanPascoeC. J.2015. “Masculinities and Post-homophobias?” Pp. 412–23 in Exploring Masculinities: Identity, Inequality, Continuity, and Change, edited by PascoeC. J.BridgesTristan. New York: Oxford University Press.
10.
CarneiroHerman A.MylonakisE.2009. “Google Trends: A Web-based Tool for Real-time Surveillance of Disease Outbreaks.” Clinical Infectious Diseases49:1557–64.
11.
CarrilloHectorHoffmanAmanda. 2016. “From MSM to Heteroflexibilities: Non-exclusive Straight Male Identities and Their Implications for HIV Prevention and Health Promotion.” Global Public Health11(7–8):923–36.
12.
CarrilloHectorHoffmanAmanda. 2018. “‘Straight with a Pinch of Bi’: The Construction of Heterosexuality as an Elastic Category among Adult US Men.” Sexualities21:90–108.
13.
ChykinaVolhaCrabtreeCharles. 2018. “Using Google Trends to Measure Issue Salience for Hard-to-survey Populations.” Socius. Published electronically March, 4. doi:10.1177/2378023118760414.
14.
ConnellRaewyn. 1987. Gender and Power. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
15.
ConnellRaewyn. 1990. “An Iron Man: The Body and Some Contradictions of Hegemonic Masculinity.” Pp. 83–95 in Sport, Men, and the Gender Order, edited by MessnerM. A.SaboD. F.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Books.
16.
ConnellRaewyn. 1992. “A Very Straight Gay: Masculinity, Homosexual Experience, and the Dynamics of Gender.” American Sociological Review57(6):735–51.
17.
ConnellRaewyn. 1995. Masculinities. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
18.
ConnellRaewynMesserschmidtJ. W.2005. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Gender & Society19(6):829–59.
19.
CorbettKen. 2001. “Faggot = Loser.” Studies in Gender and Sexuality2:3–28.
20.
CorrellShelley J.BenardStephenPaikIn. 2007. “Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?” American Journal of Sociology112:1297–339.
21.
CuddyAmy J. C.FiskeSusan T.GlickPeter. 2004. “When Professionals Become Mothers, Warmth Doesn’t Cut the Ice.” Journal of Social Issues60:701–18.
22.
DemetriouDemetrakis. 2001. “Connell’s Concept of Hegemonic Masculinity: A Critique.” Theory & Society30(3):337–61.
23.
DiamondLisa M.2008. Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
24.
DiamondLisa M.2014. “Gender and Same-sex Sexuality.” In APA Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology. Vol. 1: Person-based Approaches, edited by TolmanD. L.DiamondL. M.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
25.
DiefendorfSarah. 2015. “After the Wedding Night: Sexual Abstinence and Masculinities over the Life Course.” Gender & Society29(5):647–69.
26.
DiefendorfSarahBridgesTristan. 2020. “On the Enduring Relationship between Masculinity and Homophobia.” Sexualities23(7):1264–84.
27.
DiGraziaJoseph.2017. “The Social Determinants of Conspiratorial Ideation.” Socius. Published electronically February. doi:10.1177/2378023116689791.
28.
DoanLongLoehrAnnaliseMillerLisa R.2014. “Formal Rights and Informal Privilege for Same-sex Couples: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment.” American Sociological Review79:1172–95.
29.
DozierRaine. 2005. “Beards, Breasts, and Bodies: Doing Sex in a Gendered World.” Gender & Society19(3):297–316.
30.
EderDonna, with EvansCatherine ColleenParkerStephen. 1995. School Talk. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
31.
EnglandPaula. 2016. “Sometimes the Social Becomes Personal: Gender, Class and Sexualities.” American Sociological Review81(1):4–28.
32.
EnglandPaulaFolbreNancy. 2005. “Gender and Economic Sociology.” In The Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by SmelserN. J.SwedbergR.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
33.
EnglandPaulaMishelEmmaCaudilloMónica L.2016. “Increases in Sex with Same-sex Partners and Bisexual Identity across Cohorts of Women (but Not Men).” Sociological Science3:951–70.
34.
FoschiMartha. 1996. “Double Standards in the Evaluation of Men and Women.” Social Psychology Quarterly59:237–54.
GrossNeilMannMarcus. 2017. “Is There a ‘Ferguson Effect?’ Google Searches, Concern about Police Violence, and Crime in U.S. Cities, 2014-2016.” Socius. Published electronically April. doi:10.1177/2378023117703122.
41.
HamiltonLaura. 2007. “Trading on Heterosexuality: College Women’s Gender Strategies and Homophobia.” Gender & Society21:145–72.
42.
HarrisScott D.2006. “Dictionary Adds Verb: To Google.” San Jose Mercury News, July7.
43.
HerekGregory M.1986. “On Heterosexual Masculinity: Some Psychical Consequences of the Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality.” American Behavioral Scientist29:563–77.
44.
HerekGregory M.2002. “Gender Gaps in Public Opinion about Lesbians and Gay Men.” Public Opinion Quarterly66:40–66.
45.
HirschJenniferKhanShamus. 2020. Sexual Citizens. New York: W.W. Norton.
46.
HlavkaHeather. 2017. “Speaking of Stigma and the Silence of Shame: Young Men and Sexual Victimization.” Men and Masculinities20(4):482–505.
HoyAaronLondonAndrew S.2018. “The Experience and Meaning of Same-sex Sexuality among Heterosexually Identified Men and Women: An Analytic Review.” Sociology Compass12(7):e12596.
49.
KaneEmily. 2006. “No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That!” Parents’ Responses to Children’s Gender Nonconformity.” Gender & Society20:149–76.
50.
KaneEmily. 2012. The Gender Trap: Parents and the Pitfalls of Raising Boys and Girls. New York: New York University Press.
51.
KilbourneBarbaraEnglandPaulaFarkasGeorgeBeronKurtWeirDorothea. 1994. “Returns to Skills, Compensating Differentials, and Gender Bias: Effects of Occupational Characteristics on the Wages of White Women and Men.” American Journal of Sociology100:689–719.
52.
KiteMary E.1984. “Sex Differences in Attitudes toward Homosexuals: A Meta-analytic Review.” Journal of Homosexuality10:69–81.
53.
KiteMary E.WhitleyBernard E.Jr.1996. “Sex Difference in Attitudes toward Homosexual Persons, Behaviors, and Civil Rights: A Meta-analysis.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin22:336–53.
54.
KuperbergArielleWalkerAlicia M.2018. “Heterosexual College Students Who Hookup with Same-sex Partners.” Archives of Sexual Behavior47:1387–403.
55.
LaumannEdward O.GagnonJohn H.MichaelRobert T.MichaelsStuart. 1994. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
56.
LevanonAsafEnglandPaulaAllisonPaul. 2009. “Occupational Feminization and Pay: Assessing Causal Dynamics Using 1950-2000 U.S. Census Data.” Social Forces88:865–91.
57.
LiebersonStanleyDumaisSusanBaumannShyon. 2000. “The Instability of Androgynous Names: The Symbolic Maintenance of Gender Boundaries.” American Journal of Sociology105:1249–87.
MessnerMichael. 2000. “Barbie Girls vs. Sea Monsters: Children Constructing Gender.” Gender & Society14:765–84.
62.
MishelEmma. 2019. “Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women.” Journal of Official Statistics35(4):859–84. doi:10.2478/jos-2019-0036.
MishelEmmaEnglandPaulaFordJessieCaudilloMónica L.2020. “Cohort Increases in Sex with Same-sex Partners: Do Trends Vary by Gender, Race, and Class?” Gender & Society34(2):178–209. doi:10.1177/0891243219897062.
65.
MizeTrenton D.ManagoBianca. 2018. “Precarious Sexuality: How Men and Women Are Differentially Categorized for Similar Sexual Behavior.” American Sociological Review83:305–30.
66.
MosseGeorge. 1996. The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity. New York: Oxford University Press.
67.
Moss-RacusinCorinne A.DovidioJohn F.BrescollVictoria L.GrahamMark J.HandelsmanJo. 2012. “Science Faculty’s Subtle Gender Biases Favor Male Students.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America190:16474–79.
68.
MunschChristinGruysKjerstin. 2018. “What Threatens, Defines: Tracing the Symbolic Boundaries of Contemporary Masculinity.” Sex Roles79:375–92.
69.
NagoshiCraig T.CloudRavenLouisJ.LindleyM.NagoshiJulie L.LothamerLucas J.2018. “A Test of the Three-component Model of Gender-based Prejudices.” Sex Roles80:137–46.
70.
O’ConnorEmma C.FordThomas E.BanosNoely C.2017. “Restoring Threatened Masculinity.” Sex Roles77:567–80.
71.
PageStewartYeeMary. 1985. “Conception of Male and Female Homosexual Stereotypes among University Undergraduates.” Journal of Homosexuality12:109–18.
72.
PascoeC. J.2007. Dude You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
73.
PascoeC. J.DiefendorfSarah. 2019. “No Homo: Gendered Dimensions of Homophobic Epithets Online.” Sex Roles80:123–36.
74.
PelligriniAnn. 1992. “S(h)ifting the Terms of Hetero/Sexism: Gender, Power, Homophobia.” In Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, edited by BlumenfeldW. J.Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
PhillipsLynn. 2000. Flirting with Danger: Young Women’s Reflections on Sexuality and Domination. New York: New York University Press.
77.
RidgewayCecilia L.1993. “Gender, Status and the Social Psychology of Expectations.” Pp. 175–97 in Theory on Gender, edited by EnglandPaula. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
78.
RidgewayCecilia L.CorrellShelley J.2004. “Unpacking the Gender System: A Theoretical Perspective on Gender Beliefs and Social Relations.” Gender & Society18:510–31.
SchiltKristen. 2006. “Just One of the Guys? How Transmen Make Gender Visible at Work.” Gender & Society20:465–90.
81.
SchiltKristenWestbrookLaurel. 2009. “Doing Gender, Doing Heteronormativity: ‘Gender Normals,’ Transgender People, and the Social Maintenance of Heterosexuality.” Gender & Society23:440–64.
82.
SchiltKristenWiswallMatthew. 2008. “Before and After: Gender Transitions, Human Capital, and Workplace Experiences.” The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy8(1):1–26.
83.
SchwartzJason. 2010. “Investigating Differences in Public Support for Gay Rights Issues.” Journal of Homosexuality57:748–59.
SchwartzPepperRutterVirginia. 1998. The Gender of Sexuality. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
86.
ScoatsRyanJosephLauren J.AndersonEric. 2018. “‘I Don’t Mind Watching Him Cum’: Heterosexual Men, Threesomes, and the Erosion of the One-time Rule of Homosexuality.” Sexualities21:30–48.
87.
SilvaTony. 2017. “Bud-sex: Constructing Normative Masculinity among Rural Straight Men That Have Sex with Men.” Gender and Society31(1):51–73.
88.
SilvaTony. 2018a. “‘Helpin’ a Buddy Out’: Perceptions of Identity and Behavior among Rural Straight Men that Have Sex with Each Other.” Sexualities21:68–89.
89.
SilvaTony J.2018b. “Straight Identity and Same-sex Desire: Conservatism, Homophobia, and Straight Culture.” Social Forces97(3):1067–94. doi:10.1093/sf/soy064.
90.
SolebelloNicholasElliottSinikka. 2011. “We Want Them to Be as Heterosexual as Possible: Fathers Talk about Their Teen Children’s Sexuality.” Gender & Society25(3):293–315.
Stephens-DavidowitzSeth. 2014b. “The Cost of Racial Animus on a Black Candidate: Evidence Using Google Search Data.” Journal of Public Economics118:26–40.
94.
Stephens-DavidowitzSeth. 2017. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us about Who We Really Are. New York: HarperCollins.
SwimJanetBorgidaEugeneMaruyamaGeoffreyMyersDavid G.1989. “Joan McKay versus John McKay: Do Gender Stereotypes Bias Evaluations.” Psychological Bulletin105:409–29.
97.
TolmanDeborah L.SpencerRenéeRosen-ReynosoMyraPorcheMichelle V.2003. “Sowing the Seeds of Violence in Heterosexual Relationships: Early Adolescents Narrate Compulsory Heterosexuality.” Journal of Social Issues59(1):159–78.
98.
WaltersSuzanna. 2014. The Tolerance Trap. New York: New York University Press.
99.
WardJane. 2006. “Straight Dude Seeks Same: Mapping the Relationship between Sexual Identities, Practices, and Cultures.” Pp. 31-37 in Sex Matters: The Sexuality and Society Reader, 2nd ed., edited by StomblerMindy. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
100.
WardJane. 2008. “Dude-sex: White Masculinities and ‘Authentic’ Heterosexuality among Dudes Who Have Sex with Dudes.” Sexualities11:414–34.
101.
WardJane. 2015. Not Gay: Sex between Straight White Men. New York: New York University Press.
102.
WattsAlexander W.2015. “Sexuality, Gender, and Morality: Testing an Integrated Theory of Anti-gay Prejudice.” PhD dissertation, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
103.
WeaverKevin S.VescioTheresa K.2015. “The Justification of Social Inequality in Response to Masculinity Threats.” Sex Roles72:521–35.
104.
WestbrookLaurelSchiltKristen. 2014. “Doing Gender, Determining Gender: Transgender People, Gender Panics, and the Maintenance of the Sex/Gender/Sexuality System.” Gender & Society28(1):32–57.
105.
WilkinsAmy C.2009. “Masculinity Dilemmas: Sexuality and Intimacy Talk among Christians and Goths.” Signs34:343–68.
106.
WillerRobbRogalinChristabel L.ConlonBridgetWojnowiczMichael T.2013. “Overdoing Gender: A Test of the Masculine Overcompensation Thesis.” American Journal of Sociology118:980–1022.
107.
WorthenMeredith G. F.2020. “The Young and the Prejudiced? Millennial Men, ‘Dude Bro’ Disposition, and LGBTQ Negativity in a US National Sample.” Sexuality Research and Social Policy. Published electronically May. doi:10.1007/s13178-020-00458-6.
