MASCHILITÀ OMOSESSUALI TRA SESSO E AMICIZIA. COME LE ‘DATING APPS’ RISCRIVONO I COPIONI SESSUALI NEL XXI SECOLO

Abstract

This paper analysis sexual scripts theory in relation to gay men courtship, love relationships, and casual sex. The aim is to understand how gay masculinity is evolving in the 21st Century. Previous research has reinforced the concept that gay men follow heterosexual masculinity and scripts in their relationships with other men. Here, analysing data from the most used gay dating app ‘Grindr’, we try to understand the balance among the different needs gay men in Italy express in their daily lives: from friendship to love, from casual sex to long-term relationships. Indeed, applying the heterosexual cultural script to gay men is problematic because hegemonic masculinity is also reinforced in gay interactions instead of being contested. Gay sexuality means the construction of hybrid relations: intimacy, trust, friendship, reciprocity, and sex merge together in unprecedented ways.