Assemblages of Excess Pleasure and Connection: The sociosexual uses of virtual and chemical technologies among men who have sex with men

Citation

Numer, M., Hammond, C., Holmes, D. (2021). Assemblages of Excess Pleasure and Connection: The Sociosexual Uses of Virtual and Chemical Technologies Among GBMSM. Nursing Philosophy.

Abstract

Chemicals have penetrated everyday lives of men who have sex with men as never before, along with new online and mobile technologies used to seek pleasures and connections. Poststructuralist (including queer) explorations of these new intensities show how bodies exist in the form of (political) surfaces able to connect with other bodies and with other objects where they may find/create a function (e.g., reproduce or disrupt hegemonies). This federally funded netnographic study explored how a variety of chemicals such as recreational drugs, pharmaceuticals and steroids are contributing to the construction of gay, bisexual and other men having sex with men (GBMSM) communities and their interactions with idealized masculinities in the age of increasing technology. Five major thematic categories emerged from our analysis: (1) assembling bodies and technologies, (2) becoming orgiastic, (3) experiencing stigma, (4) becoming machinic and (5) negotiating practices. Our analysis explores how and why GBMSM pursue excesses of pleasure and connection through the assemblages they make with sexualized drug use, online platforms and other men.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nup.12370?casa_token=1djpweLw7KkAAAAA%3Ai3D3FAFaapkrG6IgyGFFUNsLPheNnvkUDbjkbZi4RioZ3yMVSFb1yYX6yqj-KGTH2H1vef-qZ_-77Q

Assembling Bodies and Technologies: A Nethnographic Account of Sexualized Drug Use Among Gay, Bisexual, and other Men Who Have Sex with Men

Citation

Holmes, D., Numer, M., Hammond, C., Joy, P., Sinno, J. (2021). Assembling Bodies and Technologies: A Nethnographic Account of Sexualized Drug Use Among Gay, Bisexual, and other Men Who Have Sex with Men. Gender, Technology and Development. DOI: 10.1080/09718524.2021.1940437 

Abstract

The identities and communities of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are undergoing reconfiguration through two technologies: the digital spaces of social networking and hookup apps, and the sexualized use of chemicals such as recreational and illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals, and steroids. These technologies are creating spaces for GBMSM to indulge in excesses and extremes of pleasure, generating what has been described as an online chemculture. We approached this topic from a poststructuralist queer perspective, attending to the ways in which the fluid assemblages between GBMSM bodies and technologies produce sexual relations that resist heteronormative and other oppressive social structures. Using discourse analysis, this mixed method study (questionnaires and semi-structured interviews) of 50 GBMSM explored how they talked about their sexualized uses of digital and chemical technologies. Data collection occurred in three Canadian cities (Halifax, Ottawa, and Vancouver). The results identify the technologies most frequently employed in the sexual encounters of GBMSM, as well as participants’ self-identified purposes for using these technologies and the effects they have on GBMSM identities and communities. This study suggests that there is some potential, though not without some tension, in GBMSM using digital and chemical technologies to realize queer desires.

https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2021.1940437

Sexualized Drug Use and Online Technologies: Examining the negotiations and practices of gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men

Citation

Joy, P., Hammond, C., Holmes, D., Sinno, J., Numer, M. (2021). Sexualized Drug Use and Online Technologies Examining the Negotiations and Practices of Gay, Bisexual, and Men Who Have Sex with Men. AWRY: Journal of Critical Psychology.

Abstract

Within the health literature for gay, bi, and trans men sexualized drug use is often positioned as only a sexual health risk. This research utilized netnography to examine the ways men use technologies to negotiate SDU and their sexual health. Participants were recruited from three Canadian cites to participate in semi-structured interviews. Fifty interviews were completed. Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to analyze data. Participants described negotiating practices, through the ethics and politics of sex, communicating pleasures, and reducing harm. Findings suggests that sexualized drug use is more than just a sexual health risk. Implications for service providers are explored.

Link: https://awryjcp.com/index.php/awry/article/view/38

Wired Sex Assemblages among Men who have Sex with Men: Sexualized Drug Use, Hook-Up Apps, and HIV Service Provision

Citation

Holmes, D., Numer, M., Hammond, C., Joy, P., Sinno, J., Patten, S., & LeBlanc, M. (2021) Wired Sex Assemblages among Men who have Sex with Men: Sexualized Drug Use, Hook-Up Apps, and HIV Service Provision. Journal of Homosexuality. 

Abstract

Sexualized drug use is a form of sexual practice that resists risk-based discourses (otherwise referred to as “radical sex practices”) and is reportedly common among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). With the growth of online technologies, the use of hookup apps has also increased. We refer to men’s use of drugs, apps, and sex form as “wired sex” that forms what post-structuralist theorists Deleuze and Guattari described as an assemblage. Perspectives of the health and social service providers who work directly with GBMSM has not been explored. This research project involved a critical discourse analysis of 13 semi-structured interviews with service providers in Canada to understand their perspectives and interactions with wired sex assemblages. We identified several themes reflecting the social and political effects of wired sex assemblages and discuss the implications of these effects on services provision with GBMSM.

Sexualized drug use in virtual space: A scoping review of how gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men interact online.

Citation

Patten, S., Doria, N., Joy, P., Sinno, J., Spencer, R., LeBlanc, MA., Holmes, D., & Numer, M. (2020). Sexualized drug use in virtual space: A scoping review of how gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men interact online. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. DOI: 10.3138/cjhs.2019-0052

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to review the scope of the current literature on sexualized drug use (SDU) among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), particularly in online spaces. Over the last decade, there has been a rapid emergence of online venues for GBMSM to interact for sexual purposes. These spaces have also been infused with various substances that influence or shape the sexual interactions among GBMSM. Employing a scoping review methodology, we explored the interplay between GBMSM, SDU, and online dating and hookup apps. This scoping review presents four themes emerging from the literature: the connection between social networking apps (SNAs) and SDU, the planning and coordination of sex parties, accessing drugs through SNAs, and the coded language that emerges on SNAs. These findings synthesize the important relationship between GBMSM and SDUs, and identify the implications for health promotion.

https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2019-0052