1. More than just sex, more than just friendship: understandings of sex life of nonheterosexual couples in Poland.
- Author
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Stasińska, Agata and Mizielińska, Joanna
- Subjects
- *
HUMAN sexuality , *FRIENDSHIP , *NEGOTIATION , *COUPLES , *PREJUDICES - Abstract
The article demonstrates how the problematic socio-political situation of nonheterosexual communities in Poland and Polish traditionalism significantly impacts how nonheterosexual people develop their sexual stories and perceive their sexual practices. It aims to shift the discussion on sex life, primarily conducted in the Anglo-American context that often focuses on the frequency of sexual contact and heteronormative understanding of sexual practices, into a more critical one, attentive to the socio-political context. The article maps queer narratives on sex life and reconstructs the role of heteronormative and homophobic patterns, prejudices, and stereotypes. It demonstrates how public norms and discourses are mirrored, negotiated, and challenged in queer sexual stories. Finally, it shows how these negotiations deeply influence the positionality of nonheterosexual people in Poland and their sexual choices and practices. The article concludes by sharing future paths for research on queer sexual life inspired by geographies of gender and sexualities. The presented analysis draws on 53 individual in-depth narrative interviews and a monthly ethnographic study conducted with 21 nonheterosexual families done within the Families of Choice in Poland research project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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