University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Revisiting old haunts through new technologies: public (homo)sexual cultures in cyberspace

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 22:30 authored by Sharif Mowlabocus
While gay male culture becomes increasingly visible and accepted by mainstream Britain, other forms of homosexual desire remain firmly outside the boundaries of what is deemed acceptable by British society. This article considers how small groups of men are using the decentralized nature of the internet to engage in one such form of homosexuality, namely cottaging (British gay slang for sexual acts in public lavatories). Via an analysis of these 'subaltern' spaces the article demonstrates that, far from being the domain of closeted homosexuals (and in contrast to the cultural stereotype), `cybercottages' are being constructed and populated by men who otherwise hold confident gay or bisexual identities both on- and off-line. As such, the cybercottage becomes a site of 'nostalgized' performance and play, where gay men explore 'older' articulations of male¿male desire, outside of the confines of a sanitized commercial gay scene.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

International Journal of Cultural Studies

ISSN

1367-8779

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Issue

4

Volume

11

Page range

419-439

Pages

22.0

Department affiliated with

  • Media and Film Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC