The Discursive Work of “Bottom-Shaming”: Sexual Positioning Discourse in the Construction of Black Masculinity

Abstract

This article uses ethnographic data and interviews with young Black gay cisgender men to illustrate how masculinity is interactionally created and policed within gay communities. Here, I specifically highlight the ways Black masculinity is constructed against Latino and white men’s masculinity, discursively situating this masculinity within a racial hierarchy celebrating hypermasculinity among Black men. Black masculinity is further policed within Black gay communities through what I term sexual positioning discourse. Through the use of sexual positions within gay relationships (e.g., “top,” “bottom,” “versatile”), peers shame the act of bottoming to interactionally shore up their own masculinity through a ritualistic emasculation of other men, which simultaneously denigrates the social position of women and femininity. Building on prior empirical and theoretical work examining the use of homophobic discourse among straight men as playing a critical role in their constructions of masculinity, I show similarities and differences through an examination of gender and sexual discourse mobilized within gay communities and by Black gay cis men. Sexual positioning discourse is integral to masculinity boundary work among gay men, yet when employed by heterosexual men, this discourse calls their sexuality into question. Specifically, when Black gay men mobilize sexual positioning discourse, it serves to assert their claims to Black masculinity relative to one another; whereas when straight men use the same discourse it serves to cast doubt on their claims to “straight” sexual identities.

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“…These accounts further provide contexts of how prejudice in sex roles is executed in queer dating applications. These accounts assert the discussion of sexual positioning by Winder (2023), where he posits that having a receptive role in queer men's sexual intercourse is subdued to the collective perception that intends to attach shame in bottoming since it is associated with the social position of femininity. It has become a norm that to be at the bottom is to be emasculated in a community where conformity to hypermasculinity is rewarded.…”

“…Since sexual roles play an essential role in queer men's interaction and formation of sexual identities (Winder, 2023), notably, these sexual roles are grounded on the cultural perspectives and societal norms a particular queer individual belongs to. Gagnon and Simon (2017) explain this through the sexual script theory, as it includes sexual roles and preferences, the aspect of putting less value on sexual roles that are conceived under the "top=masculine" concept becomes an area of concern.…”