Recognition and Construction of Top, Bottom, and Versatile Orientations in Gay/Bisexual Men

Moskowitz, David; Roloff, Michael E.

doi:10.1007/s10508-016-0810-7

Cited by 32 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Top and bottom self-labels may reflect position preferences, but they do not necessarily determine the position adopted in every occasion of anal intercourse (Carballo-Diéguez et al, 2004;Wei & Raymond, 2011). Self-labels are liable to change with time: gay men 'learn' their ideal self-label over several years (Moskowitz & Roloff, 2017) and may orient further towards top as they age (Pachankis, Buttenwieser, Bernstein & Bayles, 2013). Furthermore, there may be diversity in psychological and behavioral practices within the categories: for example, Moskowitz & Roloff (2017) distinguished between different types of bottoms, who have an array of reasons for identifying as and being a bottom.…”

Section: Gay Sexual Self-labels and Position Preferencementioning

confidence: 99%

“It Takes a Man to Put Me on the Bottom”: Gay Men’s Experiences of Masculinity and Anal Intercourse

Ravenhill

Visser

2017

The Journal of Sex Research

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In anal intercourse between gay men, men who are typically insertive ("tops") are often perceived as, and may identify as, more masculine than those who are typically receptive ("bottoms"). "Versatile" men, who may adopt either position, may be perceived as more gender balanced and may transcend the gender-role stereotypes associated with self-labeling as top or bottom. The aim of this study was to explore how gay men's beliefs about masculinity were associated with their beliefs about the gendered nature of sexual self-labels and their behavior in anal intercourse. Individual semistructured interviews were undertaken with 17 UK-based gay men. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) identified that perceptions of tops and bottoms as gendered social identities varied depending on the extent to which gay men subscribed to the mandates of hegemonic masculinity, the dominant masculinity in Western society. The findings also suggested that some gay men differentiated between top and bottom as social identities and topping and bottoming as gendered behaviors. This had implications for gay men's behaviors in anal intercourse. It is suggested that future efforts to engage with gay men about their sexual behavior should account for their beliefs regarding the gender-role stereotypes associated with gay sexual self-labels.

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Section: Gay Sexual Self-labels and Position Preferencementioning

confidence: 99%

“It Takes a Man to Put Me on the Bottom”: Gay Men’s Experiences of Masculinity and Anal Intercourse

Ravenhill

Visser

2017

The Journal of Sex Research

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“…Further, for clarity, "top" and "bottom" were treated as discrete and unitary categories, when research has shown that self-labels are in reality fluid and internally diverse (Moskowitz & Roloff, 2016;Pachankis et al, 2013;Wei & Raymond, 2011). Future research may be directed towards identifying perceptions of a broader range of sexual self-labels, and examining which other masculine behaviours afford gay men masculine capital where it is lost owing to being anally-receptive, or owing to any other aspect of being gay.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, bottoms are more likely than tops to have been gender nonconforming (i.e., more feminine) in childhood (Weinrich et al, 1992). Further, Moskowitz and Roloff (2016) found that identification as a bottom was related to the desire for a gender typical (i.e., masculine) partner, when the men were concerned about the physical strength and psychological dominance of the partner. Tellingly, partner gender typicality was negatively related to identification as a top.…”

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confidence: 97%

“…Tellingly, partner gender typicality was negatively related to identification as a top. Having a large penis may be related to adoption of the top self-label: Tops report having larger penises than bottoms (Grov, Parsons, & Bimbi, 2010;Moskowitz & Hart, 2011), which may reflect beliefs conflating penis size with masculinity (Drummond & Filiault, 2007), although there may be alternative explanations for this difference (e.g., Moskowitz & Roloff, 2016).Research has revealed intersections between sexual self-label, masculinity and other aspects of identity. For example, Lick and Johnson (2015) found that black men, who were perceived as more masculine than Asian and white men, were more likely to show a preference for the top position.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Perceptions of gay men’s masculinity are associated with their sexual self-label, voice quality and physique

Ravenhill

Visser

2017

Psychology & Sexuality

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Like straight men, gay men may utilise stereotypically masculine attributes and behaviours in an attempt to accrue "masculine capital", a term referring to the social power afforded by the display of traits and behaviours associated with orthodox, "hegemonic" masculinity. Previous research findings suggest that gay sexual self-labels -conveying position preferences in anal intercourse between men -muscularity and voice quality may contribute to gay men's masculine capital. This study examined the relative contribution to gay men's masculine capital made by sexual self-labels, voice quality (deep/high-pitched) and physique (muscularity/thinness). It also assessed the beliefs gay men and straight people hold regarding the gendered nature of gay sexual self-labels in anal intercourse. Results from a survey of 538 participants showed that gay and straight people perceived the anally-insertive sexual selflabel as the most masculine and the anally-receptive self-label the least masculine. The findings also revealed that voice quality and physique are more strongly associated with perceptions of gay men's masculinity than their sexual self-label, although gay men who have masculine attributes and are anally-receptive are perceived as less masculine than those who have the same attributes and are anally-insertive.PERCEPTIONS OF GAY MEN'S MASCULINITY **Personal use only. Please do not reproduce. Manuscript subject to amendments** 2 Perceptions of gay men's masculinity may be influenced by the position they typically adopt in anal intercourse with other men. Anally-insertive men ("tops") are often defined as stereotypically masculine (powerful, dominant, and physically strong), whereas receptive men ("bottoms") are typically ascribed the feminine characteristics of passivity and submission (Carballo-Dieguez et al., 2004; Johns, Pingel, Eisenberg, Santana & Bauermeister, 2012; Kippax & Smith, 2001;Wilson et al., 2010). However, what is currently unknown is the extent to which sexual self-labels are associated with perceptions of gay men's masculinity compared with other gendered attributes.The expectation that gay men have feminine vocal characteristics is a strong component of the culturally-dominant stereotype of gay femininity (Madon, 1997), and muscularity has been identified as strongly associated with perceptions of men's masculinity (de Visser, Smith & McDonnell, 2009; Drummond, 2005;Ravenhill & de Visser, 2016).Therefore, this study examined the relative contribution to perceptions of gay men's masculinity made by sexual self-labels compared with voice quality and physique. Cultural ideals of masculinityPerceptions and subjective experiences of masculinity may be associated with the extent to which men enact and endorse socially-constructed expectations of what makes a "real man" (Thompson, Pleck & Ferrera, 1992). According to Connell (1995), manhood is most successfully enacted by men who embody "hegemonic masculinity", a dominant form of masculinity that subordinates its alternatives. Hegemonic masculin...

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“…seropostioning [6,7]. Some MSM prefer to engage in receptive anal intercourse (top), others prefer insertive anal intercourse (bottom) and some enjoy all types of intercourse (versatile) [8,9]. A preference for receptive anal intercourse is associated with increased likelihood of a gonorrhea and chlamydia infection [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lack of sexual behavior disclosure may distort STI testing outcomes

et al. 2020

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Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) globally have a high burden of curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs). MSM do not frequently receive rectal STI testing because of several barriers, such as not being out (disclosure of sexual behavior). We evaluate whether Chinese MSM select an STI test (rectal vs urethral) appropriate for their sexual behavior (insertive and/or receptive), and the interactions with being out. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data from a cross sectional MSM survey conducted at a multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) (December 2018 to January 2019) around uptake of gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among Chinese MSM (N = 431). We collected socio demographics, relevant medical and sexual history, and disclosure of sexual behavior (outness). We estimated the decision to test and test choice, and the extent to which disclosure plays a role in decision making. Results: Among 431 MSM, mean age was 28 years (SD = 7.10) and 65% were out to someone. MSM who indicated versatile sexual behavior and were out to someone had a 26.8% (95%CI = 6.1, 47.5) increased likelihood for selecting the rectal test vs the ure thral test, compared to those versatile and not out. Versatile MSM out to their health provider outside of the study context had a 29.4% (95%CI = 6.3, 52.6) greater likelihood for selecting the rectal STI test vs the urethral test, compared to versatile MSM not out to their health provider. Conclusions: Sexual behavior and outness may affect gonorrhea and chlamydia testing provision. Apart from clinicians, community based efforts may reduce stigma based barriers to testing.

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Recognition and Construction of Top, Bottom, and Versatile Orientations in Gay/Bisexual Men

Cited by 32 publications

References 29 publications

“It Takes a Man to Put Me on the Bottom”: Gay Men’s Experiences of Masculinity and Anal Intercourse

“It Takes a Man to Put Me on the Bottom”: Gay Men’s Experiences of Masculinity and Anal Intercourse

Perceptions of gay men’s masculinity are associated with their sexual self-label, voice quality and physique

Lack of sexual behavior disclosure may distort STI testing outcomes

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