College Football Student-Athletes, Peggers, and Specialty Gyms: Qualitative Analyses of Sexual Subcultures

Abstract

In my qualitative dissertation, I integrate sociological scholarship, ideas, and theories to interpret my understanding of three distinct sexual subcultures. Using the three paper model, I analyze in-depth interviews with college football student-athletes, peggers, and specialty gym members. I will discuss the intersections of gender, sexuality, and race and examine various gender theories, queer theory. While gender and sexuality research in recent decades has made strides in sociology, ideas and interpretations are ever-evolving. By contextualizing special topics such as hookup culture, and kink, I strive to elucidate how my participants perceive gender and sexuality. As a sexuality and gender scholar influenced by sociological, queer, and feminist theories and scholarship, I engage in the literature to help identify gaps, discourses, and areas for future research in the field. I make an effort to tease out how different theoretical frameworks interpret sexuality and gender. I unpack the narratives and findings of my empirical studies and provide critical analyses. In addition, I afford a comprehensive overview of qualitative methodologies that I have utilized throughout my dissertation data collection. Also, my dissertation argues for the sociological need for continued qualitative research on sexuality, gender, and race. By focusing my dissertation on distinct sexual subcultures, I generated a broader understanding of qualitative research methodology and enhanced my theoretical perspectives. My findings illuminate how gender impacts individual’s sexual subjecthood and how they make meaning of their sexuality, identities, and social worlds. Participant’s narratives highlight the ways individuals navigate their masculinity and femininity in their sexual subcultures. My findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the areas of hookup culture and kink.