An intimacy field framework: Class, habitus and capital in gay relationships

Abstract

Using Bourdieu’s field theory and extending the sexual field framework, we conceptualise intimacy as fields, that is, configurations of social relations underlying the doing of romantic and sexual relationships. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the intimate relationships of middle- and working-class gay men in Hong Kong, we show that intimacy fields were organised by class-based habitus and inequalities in capital. These factors resulted in class-based homophilous relationship ideals, constructed intimacy fields separated by class boundaries, and shaped the different relationship formation strategies, and differential capabilities in maintaining long-term relationships of working- and middle-class gay men. Participants in cross-class relationships faced challenges related to habitus and capital mismatches, developing strategies to reimagine what was normative and desirable. Added together, the present study shows how social class and intimacy are mutually constituted. On the one hand, class inequalities shape the ideals, formation and maintenance of intimate relationships, and on the other, the doing of intimacy often reproduces class hierarchies and polices class boundaries.