Queering Orgasm Research: Gendered Sexual Roles and Orgasm for Queer Men and Women

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15: Sex and Sex Work

Abstract

During sex, orgasm and pleasure are not distributed evenly among partners, but reflect gendered power dynamics. Research on orgasm has interrogated roles during heteronormative sex: straight women orgasm less than straight men because men, unlike women, feel entitled to pleasure. On the contrary, scholars have not examined how gendered roles affect orgasm during sex between people of the same gender. Queer men and women have differentiated roles, too; those who perform acts on their partner are seen as masculine, and those who receive acts are often perceived as feminine. Given differences associated with sexual roles, all queer men and all queer women, respectively, may not experience orgasm at the same rates, as research has assumed. In this investigation, I ask, How do differentiated roles impact the achievement of orgasm and sexual satisfaction for cisgender queer men and women? Using a large convenience sample of university students, I answer this question based on 277 sexual events for queer men and 533 sexual events for queer women. I draw on concepts from the sociology of gender and social psychology—mainly social exchange theory—to make sense of my findings. Since power dynamics underly sexual pleasure between partners, uncovering inequalities during queer sex contributes to current understandings of queer relationships. Lastly, my project’s emphasis on sexual pleasure considers queer sex beyond the paradigm of sexual risk which has been the focus of most literature.

Author

• Cameron James Keating, Indiana University-Bloomington