Visual Heteromasculinities Online: Beyond Binaries and Sexual Normativities in Camera Chat Forums. (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cover, Rob
• Other Names: Beasley Chris guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Men and masculinities. Volume 18:Number 2(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 159
• Page End: 175
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: heterosexuality -- masculinity -- queer theory -- digital interactivity -- sexual coherence; Men's studies -- Periodicals; Étude de genre; Étude sur les hommes; Homme; Identité masculine; Masculinité; Perception sociale; Recherche; Rôle selon le sexe; Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); 305.3105
• DOI: 10.1177/1097184X15584909
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1097-184X

Abstract

This article presents a critical account of heterosexual men's online sex webcam performances in terms of the capacity for challenging or disrupting heteronormativity and opening the field for the representation of a greater range of heterosexualities. Using a narrative analysis of selected examples of heterosexual performances on visual sex sites, it is argued that a deeply felt attachment to heterosexual identity coexists in complex, critical, and potentially disruptive ways with a contemporary, online approach to diverse, individualized sexual practices. Investigating examples of male performers who articulate an avowed heterosexual identity but perform acts for a gay male spectatorship and engage in practices such as self-penetration that are discursively marked by nonheterosexuality, this article explores the potential for the productive disruption of normative views of masculine heterosexuality without the need to resort to a free-floating argument for sexual fluidity. It is argued that, while heteronormativity is disrupted in such sites, masculinity has the capacity to reincorporate nonheterosexual behaviors and acts.