Gay Men’s Sexual Position Identity Development: The Role of Reflected Appraisals

• In Event: 2212 - Section on Body and Embodiment Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Sex and the Presentation of Bodies

Abstract

Despite growing attention to gay men’s sexuality across academic disciplines, there remains a dearth of research examining how gay men develop their sexual position identities. We draw on the perspective of reflected appraisal to examine how 70 gay men from diverse backgrounds develop their sexual position identities, based on how they believe other gay men perceive them. We additionally utilize the concept of “reflexive embodiment” to examine how gay men work upon their bodies to influence the way they perceive themselves, which in turn influences how they perceive other gay men perceive their sexual position identities. Findings show that gay men draw on cultural narratives within gay culture and prior sexual experiences to make inferences on how they perceive other gay men perceive their sexual position identities. We also find that gay men reflectively work on their bodies to embody the schema associated with a particular sexual position identity. The findings extend the theory of reflected appraisal to the domain of gay men’s sexuality and advance our understanding of the unique role that gay male peers play in gay men’s sexual position identity development.

Authors

• Philip J. Pettis, Vanderbilt University

• Yvonne Chen, Vanderbilt University

• Andrea Becker, City University of New York