How is the internet affecting us? Recently we held a public form (with LifeLube) on the topic on how online communites, podcasts, forums, blogs and videos are changing not only the way we see ourselves, but how the general public thinks about queer folks.
Let’s face it. There’s a whole lot of crazy on the internet, and what seemed far out a decade ago is kind of boring by today’s standards. Your sex life is probably not as weird as you thought it once was. That’s progress.
On today’s show we’re revising the topic of the impact of the internet with Dr. Brian Mustanski, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Brian developed one of the first online studies of gay lesbian and bisexual people and is now working on “Keep it Up” an online HIV infection prevention program for young men. The majority of his work focuses on the development of “sexual minority” people and how the Internet affects us.
Listen as we talk about internet addiction, the risks of online dating and hookups and what science has taught us about human sexuality in the past year.
Misconceptions surrounding what turns us on, the mind body disconnect, how pheromones turn us on, why gay couples are happier than their hetero counterparts and the fluidity of female sexual orientation.
People debate if bisexuality is a temporary stage of denial, a transition on the way to being gay or a third type of sexual orientation. A study followed non-heterosexual women over 10 years and found, 2/3 of women changed the identity labels they had claimed at the beginning of the study, and 1/3 changed labels 2 or more times. The study conducted by L.M. Diamond suggests a fluidity to female sexual orientation, but that bisexual identity does appear to be distinct from identifying as a lesbian.
According to a study by Savic and Lindstrom, some parts of the brain are organized more around sexual orientation to men or women than they are organized around sex itself. Interesting patterns of brain activation to same-sex pheromones in gay men (“i.e. the nose knows.”). Sexual orientation may be wired into the brain before birth.
A disturbing fact is that the US underestimated prevalence of HIV by as much as 40% and up to 53% among MSM. This means there have probably been about 10,000 more MSM infected with HIV each year than previously thought.
Same-sex couples in domestic partnerships are more likely to stay together. Compared with heterosexual married participants, male and female same-sex couples reported greater relationship quality, compatibility, and intimacy and lower levels of conflict. Gay couples are better!
And finally, internet sex seeking doesn’t lead to HIV risk behaviors. I’m missing the link here, but we’ll find it!
Don’t miss our Meet & Greet in San Francisco!Click here to donate to our travel fund.
• Meet & Greet in San Francisco
Meet Fausto Fernós, Marc Felion and Peaches Christ unmasked!
Thursday, August 21, 2008 • 7-10pm
Pilsner Inn
225 Church Street, San Francisco, CA
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Gay, Sexy, Healthy- Lifelube.org
Your “big tent” guide to gay men’s health,
from sex and drugs to Faeries and Bears
Your friendly concierge for all that’s gay, sexy and healthy.
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FOF #792 – Sex on the Superhighway – 07.02.08
4 Comments
Comments
Brian is such a cute sexy doctor. His smile makes me think of Peter Brady and of course Peter was the cutest of the Brady boys.
Hope the FOF gang is having a great time out in Vegas. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
I had a great time doing the show with Fausto and Marc!
Keep it up! is still in progress, andyou can help inform this online sexual health project for young gay/bi men. What do you think are the best things about being gay or bisexual? We want to know. Post your comments on this blog and we might include some of your ideas as content for the project.
The other study we mentioned in the show is called Project Q2 and if you are LGBT, live in the Chicago area, and are between the ages of 16-20 we would love for your to help! You can find out more at http://www.uic.edu/projectq2
This is such a fun and interesting show for us. We always love the intersection of sexuality and the internet.
input your comment here…
Comparative zoology and sociobiology contribute to understanding sexuality. It can be more interesting looking at human sexuality and other species in nature. Observing the powerful biological force of nature we see…
The 3 SEX RULES
SEX RULE number 1. Sex is more important than dying.
SEX RULE number 2. Sex is more important then killing somebody.
SEX RULE number 3. If people could change their sexual behavior we wouldn’t be here.
Health prevention techniques like so called safer sex and condoms haven’t worked to change the behavior nature gives us. After being promoted for so many years if prevention campaigns did work we’d have seen the news headlines “HIV AIDS Epidemic Infections Peak and are Now Going Down” We should do for this epidemic what we do for other epidemics. Before going to school we get tested for tuberculosis and vaccinated for smallpox. Blood is tested before transfusions.
I love the internet. It is crucial for my relationship to work. B/c for the next 8 months I will be going far far away for schooling while my partner stays in San Diego. But once the first half of the schooling is done I get to move super close to him and continue on with more schooling. So for the next year basically the internet is very important for my relationship. Plus we met online, me in Missouri and he in Southern California. And for now we have been jumping back and forth from one or the others place. But soon that will have to stop for an 8 month period. So the internet and the phone is all we will have of one another. I cant imagine ever have meeting Gonzalo without the help of the internet, and of course the Feast of Fools! Cause we met on this site! But thats another story for another time.
Great show boys!
Matty
Great show guys, alot of points I totally agreed with. For bisexuality, i’ve always believed that most people have a fluid sexuality, whether they act on it or not. I’d love to learn more about starting the study for bisexual men!!