“I provide the pleasure, I control it”: sexual pleasure and “bottom” identity constructs amongst gay youth in a Stepping Stones workshop

This paper explores the meanings attached to gay sexuality through the self-labelling practices of a group of young gay-identified students in focus group and individual interviews in Johannesburg, South Africa. These meanings include constructs of the dynamics surrounding safe sex negotiation and risk related to “top-bottom” subject positioning as well as the erotics of power and desire that are imbued in these practices and positioning. Using performativity theory as a theoretical tool of analysis, I argue that constructs of “top-bottom” subjectivities can be seen to meet certain erotic needs for LGBTI youth, including reasons related to physical safety for LGBTI people living in dangerous spaces.
Source: Reproductive Health Matters - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Feature Source Type: research