Passivos, ativos and versáteis: men who have sex with men, sexual positions and vulnerability to HIV infection in the northeast of Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, men who practise receptive anal sex (passivos) and both insertive and receptive anal sex (versáteis) are at greater risk of HIV infection than men who practise only insertive anal sex (ativos). In this study, which combined participant observation, 25 biographical interviews and a behavioural survey of 380 self-identified men who had sex with men in the metropolitan region of Recife (Brazil), we investigated how the sex-gender system, through body stylisation (masculine and effeminate) engenders desire and sexual positioning in men’s sexual scenes. The analysis indicated that the sex-gender system tends to reinforce images that portray masculine men as ativos and effeminate men as passivos. However, regarding sexual positioning, sexual versatility is most common (83.3%), which can increase the likelihood of HIV infection and transmission. Stylisations also engender differences in violence related to sexual orientation (e.g. effeminate men were 1.9 times more likely to have experienced violence than masculine men) and desirability (e.g. effeminate men are 6.1 times more likely to be rejected erotically than masculine men). Sexual positioning and stylisation jointly enable community sexual scripts and pathways for HIV to circulate, producing individual and social vulnerability to the epidemic.