CRITICAL CONCEPTS FOR REACHING POPULATIONS AT RISK

The Trouble With "MSM" and "WSW": Erasure of the Sexual-Minority
Person in Public Health Discourse

Rebecca M. Young, PhD and Ilan H. Meyer, PhD
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.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Ilan H.
Meyer, PhD, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health,
Department of Sociomedical Sciences, 722 W 168th St, 9th Floor, New
York, NY 10032 (e-mail: im15@... ).

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.
AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jun 16, 2005

July 2005, Vol 95, No. 7 | American Journal of Public Health 1144-
1149
© 2005 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.046714