No abstract

Literature on market participation via location‐based mobile dating apps (LBMDAs) typically engages two different perspectives: global and local. While global perspectives anticipate similarities resulting from cultural homogenization (i.e., LBMDA profiles should exhibit uniformity in otherwise diverse locations), local perspectives anticipate differences resulting from cultural heterogenization (i.e., LBMDA profiles should exhibit variability by location). Although existing research recognizes how technology amplifies both homogenization and heterogenization, the direction of its effects remains unclear. Scholars also treat these processes as diametrically opposed, despite the theoretical and empirical limitations of doing so. This review addresses these limitations through an alternative conceptual framework that triangulates existing literature on globalization, technology, and sexualities. Specifically, I use this framework to explore the mix of global/local influences on exchanges on LBMDAs for gay men/men who have sex with men in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. In doing so, I demonstrate one way to more accurately map the extent to which globalization affects sexual culture across countries while accounting for the unique situational conditions of local sexual cultures.

Since the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic, scholars and popular media outlets have been speculating on the pandemic's effects on sexual relationships. While research differs as to whether COVID‐19 is associated with sexual behaviour changes, none has focused on how sexual risk‐taking during the pandemic is perceived and accomplished. Drawing on semi‐structured interview data collected from 30 sexual minority men in the US, this study explores how men make sense of and manage risk during sexual activity taking place outside the bounds of lockdown. Four themes arose from these interviews: (a) the commonality of sexual activity despite COVID‐19 risk; (b) sexual motivations rooted in emotions such as desire, longing for connection, and the wish to live fully in the face of the pandemic; (c) varied perceptions regarding the possibility of preventing COVID‐19 infection; and (d) risk assessment and management strategies that were similar to those used for HIV prevention. Assuming or calling for abstinence neglects questions of risk navigation and omits the experiences of large swaths of the population. Addressing these issues might minimize COVID‐19 transmission associated with sexual risk‐taking among sexual minority men.

Dear Fredy-a feature-length documentary directed by Rubi Gat-tells the remarkable story of Fredy Hirsch, a German Jew and openly gay man in Nazi Germany. Fredy was born in 1916, and he excelled in sports and gymnastics from a young age. His training as a gymnast, and later as a sports instructor, socialized him to German order and organization, thus making him into a true disciplinarian. Shortly after the Nuremberg Laws were passed in 1935, Fredy fled to the Czech Republic. There, he joined Maccabi, a Jewish international sports association, as a sports instructor and he operated a local youth club. From that point on, Fredy took on himself varies roles as volunteer organizer, thus becoming a key figure in the Jewish community.Fredy was troubled by his sexuality for a long period. Once he came to terms with being gay, however, he felt less compelled to hide it. Being openly gay was unheard of during that period; yet, Gat documents that Fredy was much loved, admired, and respected by the community. When the calls for deportations to Ghetto Terezin began in 1940, Fredy headed an aid committee that helped people vacating their homes and moving to the Ghetto. After arriving at the Ghetto, he was appointed head of the Youth Department and was responsible for the well-being of over 4,000 children and youth. Later, in 1943, Fredy was deported to Auschwitz where he was allowed to operate a "day care facility" for more than 500 children and babies. Freddy mysteriously died a few months later, on the eve of a revolt that never materialized.The documentary tells Fredy's story by piecing together a wide range of sources, media, and materials including interviews with his family, colleagues, and pupils; original black and white footage from the 1930s to the 1940s; original black and white photographs; short animations and motion comics; and documents (e.g., letters and articles his wrote). While telling Fredy's story, this documentary also sheds a unique light on European Jewish men's masculinities before and during the Holocaust.