This thread has grown out of some comments I made on these boards a while ago about the amount of unsolicited sexual 'come-ons' that I have received both via PMs and in chat rooms (not only at LPSG) from self-declared "straight" guys.
While many of us on these boards have become über-familiar with the terms heteroflexible and homoflexible, a recently published study from Sweden's Malmö University College also puts forward a case for positing the distinct phenomenon of virtual heteroflexibility in straight men, finding many willing to explore elements of their sexuality online that would go untested in real life.
I think the study is excessively monofocal, considering only the case of straight men exploring gay fantasies, when I have no doubt that self-declared "gay" men may also exhibit virtual homoflexibility. I, for one, am certainly far more comfortable to play with my 10% online than in real life (cease any smutty thoughts that the wording of this sentence may have induced right now).
While I think that labeling of human sexualities is ultimately a counterproductive means of tying oneself to a set, "easily-explained" sexuality for life, I do think that as long as people are using such labels, it's worth considering how much more fluid these can become online.
So really I'm looking for others to maybe give examples of experiences they've had in the virtual arena that might relate to the question: why do straight guys hit on gay guys online so much? Because clearly it's far more complex an issue than simply being able to be explained away by simple notions of 'repression' or 'closet cases', which is the usual set explanation I've known people give for this phenomenon in the past.
I think that the question "why do gays guys hit on straight guys online so much?" is equally relevant, although I suspect that a whole different series of impulses come into play in these instances (desire to 'turn'; wishing-for-the-forbidden-fruit; previous experience of virtual heteroflexibility leading to the conclusion that all "straight"-identifying men online may be willing to explore same-sex relations; etc. etc.).
Here's a report from 9th March 2006 on the Malmö findings:
Straight Men Use Internet To Indulge Homosexual Fantasies
A new report from Malmö University College in Sweden has found that a surprising number of ostensibly heterosexual men are having cyber-sex with other men. Michael W. Ross, author of the dissertation Typing, Doing and Being - A Study of Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexuality on the Internet, believes it is because the Internet has created an anonymous environment where people can experiment with their sexuality.
The report, according to Ross, shows that the Internet is changing human sexuality and it could provide new - and anonymous - methods for health workers to reach people. "The findings show that we reach people via the Internet that we would never, or only with difficulty, have reached in traditional ways," said Ross. He cited as an example the fact that among men who have sex with other men, those reached via Internet questionnaires - compared with contacts made by more traditional ways - were younger, less well-educated, more often residents of smaller towns and rural areas, and more bisexually oriented.
Ross also examines social scientific theories and sexuality in relation to the Internet, including the possibility of going halfway between fantasy and action, the Internet as an arena for sexual experimentation, and the impact of the Internet regarding the creation of sexual cultures and sexuality. "When I examined the data regarding the Internet and sexuality in Sweden, I understood that it was in fact a new space for sexual interaction, an 'erotic oasis,' that does not resemble other spaces for sexual encounters. I was fascinated by what was going on via the Internet," explained Ross.
He also examines the phenomenon of "misrepresentation," where people provide a different image of themselves on the Internet. "Data from the Swedish study show that 10 percent of those interviewed were heterosexual men who had had cyber-sex with another man," said Ross. "This is something new. Previously these fantasies only played out in the mind of the individual, but now she or he can practice them interactively via the Internet with the protection of anonymity. The borders between the concepts of who you are, [what's] true and false can shift."
Source:
http://www.altpenis.com/penis_news/20060208215655data_trunc_sys.shtml
While many of us on these boards have become über-familiar with the terms heteroflexible and homoflexible, a recently published study from Sweden's Malmö University College also puts forward a case for positing the distinct phenomenon of virtual heteroflexibility in straight men, finding many willing to explore elements of their sexuality online that would go untested in real life.
I think the study is excessively monofocal, considering only the case of straight men exploring gay fantasies, when I have no doubt that self-declared "gay" men may also exhibit virtual homoflexibility. I, for one, am certainly far more comfortable to play with my 10% online than in real life (cease any smutty thoughts that the wording of this sentence may have induced right now).
While I think that labeling of human sexualities is ultimately a counterproductive means of tying oneself to a set, "easily-explained" sexuality for life, I do think that as long as people are using such labels, it's worth considering how much more fluid these can become online.
So really I'm looking for others to maybe give examples of experiences they've had in the virtual arena that might relate to the question: why do straight guys hit on gay guys online so much? Because clearly it's far more complex an issue than simply being able to be explained away by simple notions of 'repression' or 'closet cases', which is the usual set explanation I've known people give for this phenomenon in the past.
I think that the question "why do gays guys hit on straight guys online so much?" is equally relevant, although I suspect that a whole different series of impulses come into play in these instances (desire to 'turn'; wishing-for-the-forbidden-fruit; previous experience of virtual heteroflexibility leading to the conclusion that all "straight"-identifying men online may be willing to explore same-sex relations; etc. etc.).
Here's a report from 9th March 2006 on the Malmö findings:
Straight Men Use Internet To Indulge Homosexual Fantasies
A new report from Malmö University College in Sweden has found that a surprising number of ostensibly heterosexual men are having cyber-sex with other men. Michael W. Ross, author of the dissertation Typing, Doing and Being - A Study of Men Who Have Sex with Men and Sexuality on the Internet, believes it is because the Internet has created an anonymous environment where people can experiment with their sexuality.
The report, according to Ross, shows that the Internet is changing human sexuality and it could provide new - and anonymous - methods for health workers to reach people. "The findings show that we reach people via the Internet that we would never, or only with difficulty, have reached in traditional ways," said Ross. He cited as an example the fact that among men who have sex with other men, those reached via Internet questionnaires - compared with contacts made by more traditional ways - were younger, less well-educated, more often residents of smaller towns and rural areas, and more bisexually oriented.
Ross also examines social scientific theories and sexuality in relation to the Internet, including the possibility of going halfway between fantasy and action, the Internet as an arena for sexual experimentation, and the impact of the Internet regarding the creation of sexual cultures and sexuality. "When I examined the data regarding the Internet and sexuality in Sweden, I understood that it was in fact a new space for sexual interaction, an 'erotic oasis,' that does not resemble other spaces for sexual encounters. I was fascinated by what was going on via the Internet," explained Ross.
He also examines the phenomenon of "misrepresentation," where people provide a different image of themselves on the Internet. "Data from the Swedish study show that 10 percent of those interviewed were heterosexual men who had had cyber-sex with another man," said Ross. "This is something new. Previously these fantasies only played out in the mind of the individual, but now she or he can practice them interactively via the Internet with the protection of anonymity. The borders between the concepts of who you are, [what's] true and false can shift."
Source:
http://www.altpenis.com/penis_news/20060208215655data_trunc_sys.shtml