Straight men with gay sex
Home / porn sex / Straight men with gay sex
Recall from the first post that researchers increasingly call for studies to include a comprehensive description of sexuality, one encompassing self-identification, arousal patterns, and behavior. Gender & Society, 31, 51-73.
Ward, J. (2015). Bud-sex: Constructing normative masculinity among rural straight men that have sex with men.
But what if the men in question identify as heterosexual? Their narratives show how similar sexual practices carry different meanings across contexts and populations.”
I couldn’t agree more. However, the etiology of this behavior remains contentious, and the final post in this blog series will examine proposed etiological explanations for this demographic.
When mostly straight men entertained or had sexual relations with a man, provided it was the right man (attractive, hot, his type) or the right circumstances (after a party, sleeping in the same bed, intense sexual moment), it was not to solidify their masculinity or heterosexuality but as an expression of their sexual or romantic orientation.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Mostly straight: Sexually fluidity among men. Still Straight: Sexual Flexibility Among White Men in Rural America. Bud-sex cemented their rural masculinity and heterosexuality, and distinguished them from other men who have sex with men.
Source: Frank Vincentz (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons
We’ve long assumed that a straight man might engage in same-sex sexual interactions under unusual circumstances, such as a display of power dynamics while in prison, a gang, or a fraternity.
He is not necessarily secretly hiding his sexuality, nor is he necessarily in denial about the meaning of such attractions. Mostly straight is less about dude-sex or bud-sex and more about who they are as sexual and romantic individuals.
The take-home message: Men are considerably more fluid and complex in their sexuality than we might believe.
References
Savin-Williams, R.
C. (2017). They participate in a wide range of sex acts, including anally penetrating a man and being penetrated by a man. These men determined same-sex sexual activity did not challenge their heterosexual identity because:[v]
- There was little to no emotional attachment between partners
- There was no pretense of commitment between partners
- The activity was infrequent in comparison to sexual activity with females
In tally, the men interviewed reported that if sexual activity between men was anonymous, experimental, occasional, or if substance use was involved, the act was not “gay.”
Finally, while there is conflicting data, it appears that non-gay identified MSM engage in high levels of drug and alcohol use.[vi] Many in fact engage in sexual activity with other men as a means of obtaining financial resources to procure such substances.
The disconnect between the two might be motivated by several considerations:
- Having sex with other men bonds them with other men in an acceptably masculine way.
- Their nonromantic same-sex behavior protects them from emotional entanglements with women.
- Rather than having sex with a female prostitute or mistress, sex with men is viewed as a more acceptable form of extramarital sex.
- Their sexual urges are relieved in a manner that reinforces their masculinity and heterosexuality.
Sexual encounters with men might be brief hookups or occur with regular male friends.
Due in large part to the popularization of the topic in the bestselling 2005 book On the Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of 'Straight' Black Men Who Sleep with Men,[i] Latino and African-American men are the primary subjects in research with non-gay identified MSM. The existence of white men engaging in the same behavior is unquestioned but has generally been elided (even though our existing knowledge base on bisexual men, in general, is built upon the white male experience).[ii]
One of the earliest studies, "The Bisexual and Non-Gay Attached Research Project" from the early 1990s, found that participants engaging in same-sex sexual behavior but not identifying as gay or bisexual described themselves as “kinky,” “normal,” or “just a guy.”[iii] A much more recent 2010 study consisted of interviews with heterosexually identified men who had engaged in sexual activity with another male in the previous year; participants did not consider this activity as discrepant with their identity.
.
To them ‘straight’ refers more to their identification with mainstream heterosexual institutions, such as conventional marriage, and straight culture more broadly. Although some identify as mostly straight, they are frequently blended with the totally straight group in research studies.These guys are different from men who identify as bisexual, gay, mostly gay, and mostly straight.