‘Who can handle a true BBC?’: masculinities, race and dick pic sharing on Reddit

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper critically examines the intersections of masculinity and race in relation to pornographic self-representation (PSR) on Reddit with a primary focus on r/MassiveCock. We argue that Massive is a site of dick pic curation that is structured by unmarked Whiteness, although its norms are disturbed by the presence of a minority of non-White racialized posters. Drawing on Cruz's (2016) notion of a politics of perversion and Miller-Young's (2008; 2010) concept of counter-fetishization, we discuss the porn performances of White, Black and MOC (men of colour) posters who mark out a racialized identity through textual cues such as usernames and post titles. We argue that while the White posters appropriate the BBC, incorporating it into hegemonic masculinity, Black posters directly mobilize it and MOC posters poach the trope to position themselves as active desiring subjects rather than passive objects/abjections of the White pornographic imaginary. Finally, we present data on visits of the two latter groups to a cluster of subreddits dedicated to non-White dick pic curation. We illustrate how some of these Redditors range through these porn geographies, potentiating perverse pleasures in the process.