Narrare le maschilità: la costruzione dell'orientamento sessuale in uomini Bi+ ed eterosessuali

The research project inquired the intersections between masculinity and sexual orientation in the narratives of bisexual and heterosexual men living in central and northern Italy. By challenging the assumption that male sexuality its more simple and biologically driven, the research focuses on the socially constructed meanings within the participant's stories regarding their identities and practices as “sexually oriented men”. Bisexuality and heterosexuality were chosen as relevant groups to compare since they share one target of desire (other-gender attraction to women) but represent different paths of attractions: an exclusive and normative pattern of attractions for straight men (that “should be attracted only to women) non-exclusive (attraction to more than one gender) and deviant, whereas the latter consist of the normative group and “should” be exclusively attracted only to women. Exploring how men of different sexual orientation construct and adhere to diverse models of masculinity and how they frame it within hegemonic discourses (Connel, 2005; Kimmel, 2005). Lastly, since bisexuality has been recognized as an invisible and erased sexuality (in scientific literature, media, policies and LGT associations) comparing these two groups provides useful insights for sexual research because the pervasive heteronormativity of being male and straight is often “invisible” to the normative group.