IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v27y2022i1p8-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

LGBT ‘Communities’ and the (Self-)regulation and Shaping of Intimacy

Author

Listed:
  • Eleanor Formby

Abstract

This article draws on UK research with over 600 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT+) people, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant AH/J011894/1), which explored understandings and experiences of LGBT ‘community’. I examine the ways in which intimacy is regulated and shaped by and within social interaction, which was apparent in three main ways. First, the research identified how for some people the very concept of ‘LGBT community’ was linked to intimacy. Second, there was strong evidence to suggest that some LGBT+ people self-regulate their practices of intimacy (such as holding hands or kissing in public) so as not to be recognised as enacting a same-gender relationship. This was understood as a form of self-protection or hate crime prevention, though degrees of habit and professed concern for other people’s feelings were also contributing factors. Third, experiences of intimate relations were shaped by intersectional dynamics, particularly relating to various forms of discrimination, including ageism, biphobia, classism, (dis)ableism, racism, and transphobia from and among LGBT+ people. Whilst LGBT ‘communities’ were thought to enable opportunities to seek sexual and/or intimate encounters, this is not without its complexities. Although there have been improvements in relation to legislation and wider social attitudes, there is, for some, persistent apprehension and self-regulation which, whether necessary or not, are significant. LGBT+ people’s experiences thus suggest that intimacy can be shaped by multiple inequalities both within and without LGBT ‘communities’.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleanor Formby, 2022. "LGBT ‘Communities’ and the (Self-)regulation and Shaping of Intimacy," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(1), pages 8-26, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:27:y:2022:i:1:p:8-26
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780420974031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1360780420974031
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1360780420974031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lynn Jamieson, 2011. "Intimacy as a Concept: Explaining Social Change in the Context of Globalisation or Another Form of Ethnocentricism?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 16(4), pages 151-163, December.
    2. Paul Simpson, 2012. "Perils, Precariousness and Pleasures: Middle-Aged Gay Men Negotiating Urban ‘Heterospaces’," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 17(3), pages 124-133, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ranjana Raghunathan, 2022. "Everyday Intimacies and Inter-Ethnic Relationships: Tracing Entanglements of Gender and Race in Multicultural Singapore," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(1), pages 77-94, March.
    2. Rosanna Hertz, 2022. "Sociological Accounts of Donor Siblings’ Experiences: Their Importance for Self-Identity and New Kinship Relations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Puxiang Ren & Jakob Emiliussen & Regina Christiansen & Søren Engelsen & Søren Harnow Klausen, 2022. "Filial Piety, Generativity and Older Adults’ Wellbeing and Loneliness in Denmark and China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 3069-3090, October.
    4. Kristen E Cheney, 2022. "Discordant Expectations of Global Intimacy: Desire and Inequality in Commercial Surrogacy," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(1), pages 43-59, March.
    5. Nora KOTTMANN & Laura DALES, 2023. "Doing Intimacy in Pandemic Times: Findings of a Large-Scale Survey Among Singles in Japan," Social Science Japan Journal, University of Tokyo and Oxford University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 3-26.
    6. Maree Martinussen, 2019. "Reason, Season, or Life? Heterorelationality and the Limits of Intimacy between Women Friends," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 24(3), pages 297-313, September.
    7. Mohammed Abdel Karim Al Hourani, 2024. "Gendered Interaction and Practices of Intimacy Among Emirati Young Spouses: Exploring the Experiences of Wives," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 29(1), pages 41-61, March.
    8. Shuang Qiu, 2020. "Chinese ‘Study Mothers’ in Living Apart Together (LAT) Relationships: Educational Migration, Family Practices, and Gender Roles," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(3), pages 405-420, September.
    9. Punita Chowbey, 2017. "What is Food Without Love? The Micro-politics of Food Practices Among South Asians in Britain, India, and Pakistan," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 22(3), pages 165-185, September.
    10. Komal Niazi & Muhammad Shoaib & Song Qiulian, 2020. "Micro Impacts of a Macro‐Level Trading Partnership: Effects of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(1), pages 301-322, January.
    11. Kalliopi Kydonaki & Susanne Kean & Jennifer Tocher, 2020. "Family INvolvement in inTensive care: A qualitative exploration of critically ill patients, their families and critical care nurses (INpuT study)," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(7-8), pages 1115-1128, April.
    12. Kong, Shaojun & Guo, Jia & Huang, Dan, 2022. "The girlfriend getaway as an intimacy," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. Shruti Chaudhry, 2022. "Mid- and Later Life Cross-Sex Friendships in Minority Ethnic Contexts: Insights From Scotland," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(4), pages 947-963, December.
    14. Petra Lemberger & Tony Waters, 2022. "Thailand’s Sex Entertainment: Alienated Labor and the Construction of Intimacy," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, November.
    15. Georgia Philip, 2013. "‘Extending the Analytical Lens’[1]: A Consideration of the Concepts of ‘Care’ and ‘Intimacy’ in Relation to Fathering after Separation or Divorce," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 18(1), pages 97-107, February.
    16. Sui-Ting Kong & Petula Sik-Ying Ho & Stevi Jackson, 2021. "Doing being observed: Experimenting with collaborative focus group analysis in post-Umbrella Movement Hong Kong," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 26(3), pages 485-504, September.
    17. Verónica Policarpo, 2015. "What Is a Friend? An Exploratory Typology of the Meanings of Friendship," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, February.
    18. Linda L. Layne, 2015. "A Changing Landscape of Intimacy: The Case of a Single Mother by Choice," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(4), pages 156-171, November.
    19. Violeta Alarcão & Ana Virgolino & Luis Roxo & Fernando L. Machado & Alain Giami, 2015. "Exploring Gender in Portuguese Bedrooms: Men's and Women's Narratives of Their Sexuality through a Mixed Methods Approach," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(2), pages 103-121, May.
    20. Heikki Heikkilä, 2020. "Beyond Moral Coupling: Analysing Politics of Privacy in the Era of Surveillance," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 248-257.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:27:y:2022:i:1:p:8-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.