It has become increasingly more common for men to be physical tactile with other men in recent years, due to the changing nature of masculinities (Anderson, 2009). The elite male athletes in my ethnography emulate this trend in masculinity; in public places you can often find them cuddling on a small couch or rubbing each other’s shoulders. Of my 35 interviewed participants, all but one said that they actively engage in physical contact with their male friends, and would never avoid friendly amounts of male physical tactility, while the one outlier simply claimed that he avoids physical contact with everyone and “likes his personal space to just be my own personal space”, regardless of gender.
Performative Homoeroticism in public can serve many purposes. Many physical encounters between these male athletes were performed as a type of banter. These athletes would often hold hands as a joke, or touch each other sexually in public to get a laugh of out their friends who were nearby. McCormack (2012) describes this phenomenon as ironic
heterosexual recuperation, defining it as when heterosexual boys verbally or physically
Ironic heterosexual recuperation was very evident in the locker room for the men’s volleyball team at Northern University. Julian, a volleyball player from America, describes some homoerotic activities that occur in the locker room:
Our team did a thing called ‘Gorillas in the Mist". Gorilla Misting is a shower time activity that's guaranteed to get a smile out of everyone. It's this thing when a player takes a mouthful of water from the shower sneaking up behind another player, as a gorilla would, and spraying that water into the other player's butt hole in a misting fashion. The other players then proceed to bang on their chest, again, as we believe a gorilla would. Some guys also did naked handstands so that their hanging penis and balls would resemble coconuts, and their legs would relax downwards like the giant leaves of a palm tree. This act of comedy was known as ‘palm tree Wednesday' though it often took place any day of the week.'
These locker room activities fall in line with heterosexual consolidation, as well as with a way of team bonding, since these acts took place in a team only place. Although, it was a joke that also occurred with the women's volleyball team because they thought these behaviours bonded the men's team in a unique way.
While ironic heterosexual recuperation is evident on all five teams that I studied, in various degrees, Volleyball, Water polo, and Lacrosse engaged in these types of performative homoerotic behaviours much more frequently than that of the Basketball and American Football teams, from my observations; however, when all teams were present at parties or bars, the athletes from Basketball and American Football were much more likely to be physical tactile in this bantering manner.
While holding hands with each other at bars, and cuddling each other on couches in coffee shops can be seen as a way of consolidating their heterosexuality, my presence within these acts of physical tactility questions the function of their behaviours. Often times, if I had
fallen asleep on the couch in the café of the sporting complex, I would wake up to a teammate cuddling me or rubbing my back, whispering in my ear that it is almost time for practice so it would be wise for me to wake up. Cuddling with an openly bisexual man is not an effective way of consolidating one’s heterosexuality.
When asking athletes about these types of public homoerotic behaviours, my
teammate Johnny said "I like that our team is kind of touchy-feely, we are like brothers, we all really love each other, why wouldn't we hug on each other all the time". Johnny then discussed the ways he is tactile with me, "I touch you the same way I touch everyone, I'm not worried about other people thinking I'm gay, it's not a bad thing to be assumed gay. What would upset me, though, is if someone on the team was treating you different by not touching you in the same ways as they touch the straight guys, that wouldn't be right". In this sense, performative homoeroticism in public doesn't serve as a way to prove their heterosexuality; rather, it is a way of demonstrating close bonds, and also as a way of publicly showing pro- gay attitudes.
This group of athletes also greet each other in ways that demonstrate their close emotional bonds, by hugging, rather than by shaking a hand or a simple verbal greeting. 33 of the 35 athletes said that they prefer to greet their male friends with a hug rather than a
handshake. When discussing hugging, Logan, an American volleyball player said, "I would rather hug all of my friends. A handshake doesn't really show how much I care for somebody, it's more intimate than that, it's an emotional thing". Here, Logan discussed how handshakes are more of a way to greet strangers or acquaintances, but he would prefer to hug all of his friends, especially his close friends, to physically demonstrate his emotional bond with them.
Joss, a basketball player from the UK, echoes Logan's opinion, he said "I don't think there's anything cool about people doing handshakes and half hugs just for image. If I'm close with someone then I hug them, and thankfully I can’t think of a single person I’m close with
who would be uncomfortable hugging”. Joss said that greeting his friends isn't about the image, or public perception, it's about his close bond with his friends. Aaron, a water polo player from the UK said that his greeting also depends on the person, and elaborated when he said “Almost always a full hug, maybe a kiss on the cheek if it’s a guy I’m really close with”. These boys, as well as their peers, all state that the main reason for this physical tactility is for emotional bonding, they even fully dismiss any worry of public perception during these moments.
Furthermore, this group of elite male athletes are not afraid to kiss their teammates, whether that be during the excitement of a victory during a game or during a night out with their friends. Of the 35 interviewed participants, 23 said that they had kissed another man on the lips in a public setting, while 10 of those said that they have made out with another man in public. Many of whom stated that it is completely acceptable for a friend to simply grab their face and give them a small kiss on the lips at the bar. They said that this is just a quick way of showing that they care about a friend, and that it isn't weird, though it isn't common. It is important to state that none of my participants said that they have only kissed a man on the lips at the request of women. Many said that they had kissed a man as a request from a woman, but that was never their only encounter with same-sex kissing.
When I asked Mason, a water polo player from the UK, why he has made out with a man before, he said “Mostly just because I wanted to, we were dancing at the bar and he’s a really close friend of mine and I love him, so I made out with him”. Mason, who said he has never had a sexual encounter with a man more than kissing, said “It wasn’t sexual, it was emotional”, he then elaborated that they have only made out twice, once for emotional reasons and then one other time because it was brought up in conversation at a party and the girls wanted them to prove it.
According to my ethnographic research, performative homoeroticism in public can serve three main functions: Ironic heterosexual recuperation to prove that they are
comfortable with their heterosexuality, a way of physically expressing deep emotional bonds with other men, and as a way of demonstrating pro-gay attitudes.