A British filmmaker has coined a pithy new term for what some people have called “dude sex” and what others have deemed “bromosexuality.”
Louis Theroux — the documentarian behind such films as My Scientology Movie and Mothers on the Edge and a cousin of Justin Theroux — discussed “situational homosexuality” in reference to his time at Westminster School in central London in a Radio 4 interview on Sunday, May 12.
Related: This straight actor just opened up about fooling around ‘with dudes’
“There’s something about a lot of males in a confined space,” he said. “Something about the improvised physical fabric, which is all higgledy-piggledy. And then — I hesitate to say this — a certain level of situational homosexuality, which I think — I hope I’m not scandalizing anyone — is relatively common in prison and to all-male boarding schools.”
I have a dog-pelgänger! pic.twitter.com/DXw6XGarju
— Louis Theroux (@louistheroux) December 13, 2018
Related: Straight dudes confess the gayest things they’ve done in private
In a 2015 Queerty interview, researcher Jane Ward — author of Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men — weighed in on the “bro job” phenomenon. She said:
“A lot of people have conducted research on sex between straight-identified men, but often they are looking at one particular context. Like prisons, for instance. Often what those researchers conclude is: These are straight-identified men who are engaging in temporary homosexual sex acts under very unique circumstances. In prison, no women are sexually available and so straight men are doing this out of deprivation.
“What I argue in the book is that straight men actually manufacture opportunities to have sexual contact with one another all the time in pretty much any environment, whether it’s constrained or not, whether women are available or not.”
jockworship
He didn’t coin the term. You can google it.
derek mcgillicuddy
I know: Queerty gets it wrong again! Why don’t they hire copy editors and fact checkers? “Situational sexual behaviour” was first described in the 19th century, but certainly practiced as long as 50,000 years ago. Queerty’s is late to the party as always — just looking for an attention-grabber and be damned logic or the facts of any issue.
Archie
Interestingly, the British Navy was based on ‘rum, sodomy, and the lash’ and they were evidently straight. I think there were some gay pirates though.
Herman75
Pirate buggery.
Too bad the Brits were so harsh on their men folk merely wanting some dude sex.
jjose712
Sorry but there’s no situational homosexuality, there’s bisexuality with clear leaning toward girls. Dating a guy is less socially accepted than dating a girl, and that makes most of those guys only date women when they are not in a closet all male envirmoment.
But they are not totally straight because straight guys don’t have sex with other guys no matter if they are in an all male situation
PinkoOfTheGange
If you look as homosexuality as just an act and not an orientation, then situational homosexuality would be a possibility. Sure they would lose their Kinsey 0 but if they never sexulized another same sex relationship out of the situation, why challenge their personal sexual identity?
Rocinante
There absolutely is situational sexual contact between straight men. However it isn’t purely the result of the situation but from the fact a sexual desire is not black and white, gay, bi-sexual or straight. It varies by individual and the average position isn’t 100% straight. It’s closer to bi-sexual with a favor towards heterosexual., if looking at it under a bell curve. The labels above should go away some day. There will just be humans that have sex with whom they have an attraction at that moment, male or female, once the societal pressure for one type over the other is removed.
If we were raised 100% believing that mutual sex with another person is acceptable and healthy regardless of their gender, we would have a lot less hang ups and no shame attached to any type of sex, same sex or otherwise.
Gregg
* and that would make them … butt pirates?
michel_banen
But(t) who cares !? 🙂 Let’s analize this for a moment.
PinkoOfTheGange
For many, the term “situational homosexuality” is outdated, as it originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used during the late 1940s and early 1950s to distinguish between homosexual behavior performed by heterosexuals in social settings and institutions that were predominately same-sex (such as prisons, barracks, naval vessels and boarding school) and those who were actually considered to be homosexual.1 “Situational homosexuality” in the 1940s and 1950s was assumed to be temporary and primarily due to physical isolation. Situational homosexuality is prevalent among both males and females, but unlike other forms of sexual preference, situational homosexuality does not represent a fluidity in a person’s sexuality.
From:
soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/situational-homosexuality-0
davegun2
In the navy we called it “asshole buddies”. I kinda liked that term. But then again, I(‘m gay.
Donston
I don’t understand why “gay media” acts as if it’s some big revelation that straight identifying guys admit to indulging homosexual activities. They’ve been admitting this for many decades. On the other hand, at least one-third of gay identifying men will admit to engaging in some sexual activities with females or may say that they have some type of attractions to women, but it’s met with a collective ‘meh’. Hell, gay-identifying dudes can’t even be “bi-curious”. That’s only for hetero-leaning guys. This stuff just highlights how hetero-centric and hetero-worshiping so many of these identities are and so much of “gay media” is.
Yes, situational sexual activities happen. And they happen for people across the spectrum. But also, some men who consider themselves “straight” are turned on by dick to whatever degree or turned on by masculinity or can get turned on by femininity no matter what gender it’s coming from. They just don’t feel enough towards guys to let go of their straight identities. Some guys are sometimes turned on by vagina or by titties but don’t really have strong feelings towards the entirety of females. Some guys just like being sexually worshiped or like being sexually dominated even if it involves genders they have little to no attractions towards. While fluidity does have some legitimacy for some people. And the romantic, sexual, affection, relationship spectrum is incredibly broad. None of this stuff should be treated as a “big deal” any longer, because it’s all very old news.
radiooutmike
Because straight guys want to keep themselves “straight”. If there was no situational homosexuality, those straight guys would have to admit that it was the person that turned them on versus them just slinking down to be asshole friends because a hole is a hole.
Same things happened when some of us talk about “gold star gays”.
Donston
It’s a more nuanced topic because everyone’s sexuality (and general psychology) is so individual, fluidity has some legitimacy for many people, and everyone has different motivations and ambitions. However, there’s still very little pressure for guys to come out unless they know that they absolutely want to be with someone that’s not the opposite cis gender as them. You can maintain hetero privileges, don’t have to deal with homophobia, don’t have to deal with feeling ostracized and because there’s so much hetero worship among “queers”, you don’t feel much pressure from most out guys.
Ultimately, I’ve stopped obsessing over everyone’s individual identities (if they choose to embrace an identity) and their sense of self. If a guy says he’s “straight” but he likes sucking dick sometimes then more power to him. If a guy says he’s “gay” but he likes hooking up with women sometimes then whatever. If a dude says he’s “bi” but he doesn’t have any attractions, sexual passions, desires beyond one gender that’s no sweat off my back. The romantic, sexual, emotional, affection, relationship contentment spectrum is just too wide to be overly concerned with that stuff. But we still haven’t gotten to a place where identity, sexual behaviors and relationships are separate from sociology, politics and personal pride. And as a society we still give these words too much weight. That’s the real issue. I just try to promote self-truth, self-understanding, not being driven by fear or peer pressure, and being with/loving who you genuinely want to be with and love.