The Trouble With “MSM” and “WSW”
Erasure of the Sexual-Minority Person in Public Health Discourse
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11021071 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rebecca M Young (Rebecca Young is with the Department of Women’s Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY. Ilan H. Meyer is with the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.), Ilan H Meyer (0000-0003-2667-4583, Rebecca Young is with the Department of Women’s Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, NY. Ilan H. Meyer is with the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 1144-1149 |
| Publication date | 2005-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048 |
| Publisher | American Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2105/ajph.2004.046714 |
| PMID | 15961753 |
| PMCID | PMC1449332 |
| OpenAlex | W2171821123 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 259 |
| References cited | 26 |
Men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW) are purportedly neutral terms commonly used in public health discourse. However, they are problematic because they obscure social dimensions of sexuality; undermine the self-labeling of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people; and do not sufficiently describe variations in sexual behavior. MSM and WSW often imply a lack of lesbian or gay identity and an absence of community, networks, and relationships in which same-gender pairings mean more than merely sexual behavior. Overuse of the terms MSM and WSW adds to a history of scientific labeling of sexual minorities that reflects, and inadvertently advances, heterosexist notions. Public health professionals should adopt more nuanced and culturally relevant language in discussing members of sexual-minority groups
Heterosexism · Homosexuality · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) · Human sexuality · Lesbian · Men who have sex with men · Minority stress · Political science · Politics · Public health · Public opinion · Sexual identity · Sexual minority · Sexual orientation · Sociology · Transgender · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology
Minorités de genre et de sexualité
Pass sa halata (no to obvious gays)
Bisexual Men’s Constructions of Sexuality and Gender
Políticas públicas de saúde e reconhecimento
MSM-ing' as a networking concept
MSM' as a 'doing thing
Making up MSM
When sexual identity and sexual behaviors do not align
Negative Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Behavior Inventory
Gender role strain and the precarious manhood of sexual minority Kenyan men
Research/Advocacy/Community
Promoting LGBT health and wellbeing through inclusive policy development
Let's talk about sex
Categorical dilemmas
We are ordinary men’
Chatting Back an Epidemic
Utilização de serviços de saúde relacionados com a infecção VIH por parte de homens gays
Categorizing Gender in Queer Yangon
"HIV Testing Among "MSM
Multi-level manifestations of sexual stigma among men with same-gender sexual experience in Ghana
“We don't exist”
When Truths Collide
Role of Personality Characteristics and Sexual Orientation in the Risk for Sexual Addiction Among Israeli Men
Making the invisible, visible
Drug Use Prevalence and Age of First Use in Sexual Minority Men Compared to General Population Men in Spain
Epidemiology of Cancers in Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM)
Pathways to HIV risk and vulnerability among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered methamphetamine users
Discovering Multiple Identities among Italian Non-Heterosexual Men in a Cruising Context
Associations between the legal context of HIV, perceived social capital, and HIV antiretroviral adherence in North America
Improved access yet inequitable experience
Risk factors for HIV infection in Males who have Sex with Males (MSM) in Bangladesh
Pleasure and Vulnerability
Uncovering Unique Lived Healthcare Experiences of Homeless Gay and Bisexual Young Men in New York City
Are All Gay Men at Risk of Developing HIV/Aids? Why China’s Mass HIV Testing Has Majorly Targeted Gay Men in the Era of Biomedicalization
HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Prevention Awareness, Willingness, and Perceived Barriers among People Who Inject Drugs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA, 2016–2018
Sexual Identity-Related Shame as a Barrier to Mpox Prevention Among Gay and Bisexual Men
Exploring Factors Affecting Patient–Provider Interactions and Healthcare Engagement Among a Diverse Sample of Women Who Have Sex with Women in New York City
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV Infection in Cisgender and Transgender Women in the U.S
Discourses of “religion” in public health research
Conexión a la Comunidad
The Impact of Community Involvement, Religion, and Spirituality on Happiness and Health among a National Sample of Black Lesbians
The Thirunangai Promise
Jack’d dating application motivations, experiences, and sexual risk behaviors
Gender and sexual minorities
Compare and contrast two different ontological perspectives that might apply to qualitative research in psychology evaluating the impact on epistemology and choice of data collection method in studying straight men who sleep with men (MSM)
Unfinished Business
Sex Laws and Sexuality Rights in Comparative and Global Perspectives
Invisible and at Risk
Sexual Orientation Disparities in Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancy Among Adult Women
STD and HIV Risk Factors Among U.S. Young Adults
The Problem With ‘Behavioral Bisexuality
Variability in Sex Attitudes and Sexual Histories Across Age Groups of Bisexual Women and Men in the United States
Bidentity
Longitudinal Analysis of HIV Risk and Substance Use Patterns for Men Who Have Sex With Men and Women and Men Who Have Sex With Men Only
Multivariate Relations Between Lifetime Adversity and Substance Use Involvement
Characteristics of Bi-attracted Men Who Have Sex with Men
Comprehensive Literature Review Pertaining to Married Men Who Have Sex With Men (MMSM)
Murderous Men
The debut, travels and future of intersectionality in HIV prevention and treatment interventions
Navigating Queer Street
There is not a safe space where they can find themselves to be free”
Sex in the city
Blood, sex and trust
Application of Syndemic Theory to Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in the Multicenter Aids Cohort Study
Men Who Purchase Sex, Who Are They? An Interurban Comparison
Attitudes of Future Doctors Towards LGBT Patients in Conservative Malaysian Society
A Comparison of Sexual Relationships Among Hispanic Men by Sexual Orientation
Representing and Regulating
HIV/Aids Among Gay Men
Perceptions of treatment according to sexual orientation in urban substance use disorder (SUD) programs with mostly nonwhite client populations
Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Personal Mastery Among Sexual Minority African-American Female Sex Workers
Fetishizing the health sciences
The relation between cultural values and condom use among Latino gay men
Factors influencing social and emotional well‐being among women who sleep with women
Mind the gap
Grinding against HIV discourse
Geographical interventions into debates regarding ‘men who have sex with men’ (MSM)
Struggle for Recognition
Understandings of Cervical Screening in Sexual Minority Women
The Partner Context of Sexual Minority Women’s and Men’s Cybersex Experiences
Geographies of sexualities in sub-Saharan Africa
Negotiating Exclusion
Orientation sexuelle et identité de genre
Rethinking the dichotomy of sexual identity and relational intimacies
Cocked, locked and ready to fuck?’
A mixed-methods measurement study of female adolescent sexuality stress and support
The Uncounted
Making MSM
Narrative, psychology and the politics of sexual identity in the United States
Mental health correlates of HIV-related resilience among older gay men living with HIV/Aids in New York City
HIV vulnerability and the erasure of sexual and gender diversity in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
The limitations of ‘Black MSM’ as a category
I am not a man’
The conflation of gender and sex
Mobile men with money’
What is in a label? Multiple meanings of ‘MSM’ among same-gender-loving Black men in Mississippi
From marginal to marginalised
In the name of brevity
From MSM to heteroflexibilities
The trouble with ‘Categories’
Top/Bottom Self-Label, Anal Sex Practices, HIV Risk and Gender Role Identity in Gay Men in New York City
Gender in Psychology
Sexually transmitted infections and risk behaviours in women who have sex with women
The global emergence of gay and lesbian politics
How to Have Theory in an Epidemic
Pathologies of Power
Dismantling Assumptions
Beyond ‘MSM’
Undoing the "Package Picture" of Cultures
It's raining stones’
Exploring an HIV Paradox
Reaching Men who have Sex with Men in Australia. An Overview of Aids Education
HIV Prevalence, Risk Behaviors, and High-Risk Sexual and Injection Networks Among Young Women Injectors Who Have Sex With Women
High-Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in 6 US Cities
Women at a sexually transmitted disease clinic who reported same-sex contact
Beyond Assumptions of Negligible Risk
An Individually Tailored Intervention for HIV Prevention
Psychological science in a postmodern context
An epidemic of stigma
Mapping the Margins
"The Case of "Riding Bareback
Freeing South Africa
| Unique citing works | 259 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,54 |
| Citation span | 1969 - 2026 (58) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 240 |