‘Poison ivy’: Queer masculinities, sexualities, homophobia and sexual violence

Abstract

This paper critically engages with notions of sexualities and male rape, using the concepts of heteronormativity and the social construction of sexualities to make sense of male sexual victimization. It offers primary data, which were collected via qualitative interviews and qualitative questionnaires involving police officers and practitioners working in voluntary agencies ( N = 70). The theoretical framework of heteronormativity is used to elucidate the data, drawing on issues and notions of sexualities that shape the ways in which state and voluntary agencies perceive, respond to and deal with male victims of rape. The aim of this paper, then, is to explore how notions of sexualities affect British state and voluntary agencies’ understanding of male rape and their views of men as victims of rape. I argue that state and voluntary agencies see male rape solely as a homosexual issue. As a result, heterosexual male rape victims, in particular, fear that societies will see them as homosexuals potentially drawing in homophobic reactions, responses or appraisals from others because rape challenges men’s heterosexual identity and sense of self as a ‘real’ man. Owing to the myth that male rape is a homosexual issue, and owing to heteronormativity, rape between men is seen as ‘consensual’ because anal penetration is considered to be an activity for gay men. Thus, sexist, homophobic and disbelieving attitudes emerge.