“I want my Barbie Witch”. Childhood gender non-conformity in young Spanish gay and bisexual men
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/rdh.54.2025.43863Keywords:
Gender nonconformity, Homosexual men, Bisexuality, Spain, Youth, Biographical methods, Life course theory, LGB cisgenderAbstract
This paper examines two processes often reported in the early childhood of homosexual men, often before they were aware of any erotic or romantic attraction to boys or men. Firstly, the salient manifestations of elements of gender nonconformity, such as a preference for the play and companionship of girls, for toys, games and forms of self-expression seen as feminine, and a rejection of contact games valued by boys, particularly football. Secondly, the negative and humiliating reactions that these non-conforming gender expressions provoked from their peers, including rejection, insult and even abuse. Bisexuals appeared to be less affected by both processes (94% vs 25% for the most common items explored). The paper is based on the analysis of 20 in-depth biographical interviews (averaging 3 hours) with 16 homosexual and 4 bisexual young Spanish cisgender men (mean age 25.0, st. d.: 4.6), recruited through social media ads (voluntary response sample).
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