Dr. Jane Ward, an associate professor of women's studies at the University of California, has released via NYU Press last month a new book called "Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men," which talks about society's flawed perception about heterosexual men hooking up.
According to Queerty, the book aims to shed light on why two straight men are being seen as gay (and accused for denying it) for smooching while two women doing the same thing are simply understood to be experimenting or messing around.
In an interview with Science of Us via NY Mag, Ward dropped points as to how this "sexual fluidity," as the author referred called it, should be the same for straight men as it is for straight women and how it is still possible for two men to call themselves straight even after having sex.
1. Ward claims that sex between heterosexual guys are more prevalent than what one could imagine.
In "Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men," she incorporated accounts that prove this happens within biker gangs, in the military and even in random bathrooms or bars.
"The authors of those various accounts always seem to come to the conclusion that it was the very unique and particular circumstances of that context that account for why heterosexual men would act homosexually," Ward explained to Science of Us.
2. A straight man having sex with another straight could, ironically, be a way for one to prove that they aren't gay
Ward said that doings such gives "an opportunity for straight men to show, 'I am so straight that I can do this without it actually having any consequence whatsoever for my daily sexual orientation,' which is straight."
3. Straight men often don't know how to put in words their say on committing homosexual sex practices
A straight woman hooking up with another can get away with simply explaining that they just think women are hot or beautiful and that's that. But it's different for men, who Ward said only "have very few resources for understanding that part of their sexuality."
"The first and foremost thing they do is to just understand it as not sexual at all and just to not think about it, and to the extent they think about it as sexual, yeah, then all of these narratives about deprivation or constraint kick in."
4. Repulsion within heterosexuality
Ward recognized the common notion that sexual contact that happens in hazing or within fraternities is sexual assault and not sex for the sole reason that the men partaking in it are disgusted or repulsed. "And so I want to push back on that argument a bit by saying, 'Well, there's a lot of repulsion that happens within heterosexuality'," Ward contended.
5. "Homosexual desire is just part of the human condition"
The "Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men" explores acknowledging and being more aware that "kind of" everybody engage in homosexual sex. The author said that "sociobiological arguments about sexual orientation" will be obsolete with this as a given.
In turn, Ward said that the bigger question to be asked is not why it happens but "Given that so many humans have homosexual encounters, what is it that makes some people understand their homosexual encounters as culturally significant, and other people understand it as meaningless or circumstantial?"
