Erotic Capital: Gay Asian American Men in the Gay Bear Community

• In Event: 4367 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 1. Culture and Identity

Abstract

Literature on erotic capital has documented how Whites discriminate against Black men in LGBTQ spaces. However, this literature does not document specific processes by which other men of color, namely Asian men, leverage their bodies in order to gain access to sexual partners within White-dominated subfields. As an exploratory study to address this gap, I conducted interviews that examined how Asian men perceive their bodies within the gay Bear subculture. I find that Asian men internalize racism within these White-dominated spaces by leveraging their bodies as a means of erotic capital and downplaying their ethnic backgrounds.

Author

• Ali Mushtaq, Chapman University