Abstract

CARABALLO, Pablo. The Utopian Body of Gays. Masculinity, Whiteness, and Desire in Tijuana. Estud. sociol [online]. 2021, vol.39, n.116, pp.533-559.  Epub Sep 06, 2021. ISSN 2448-6442.  https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2021v39n116.1925.

The paper analyzes the interactions of gay hookups in Tijuana. It begins with the assumption that masculinity is not a characteristic that determines gay desire but rather that the value of this masculinity depends on distinction and hierarchy principles, which connect these interactions with broader social structures and power relations. The article takes up the results of an ethnographic research project, in which itinerant and in-depth interviews were used as well as “free observation” in physical and online spaces, with an emphasis on the Grindr platform. The categories subjects use to make their desire intelligible are used to observe the intermediation between the logic and meaning of their actions, on the one hand, and the symbolic and material structures that limit and enable them, on the other.

Keywords : gay desire; whiteness; masculinity; gay identity; Grindr; Tijuana.

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