CONFESSIONAL TALES: INTERVIEWING GAY MEN: A HETEROSEXUAL EXPERIENCE

This commentary is a confessional tale of my experiences as a heterosexual male interviewing gay men on issues of masculinity and body image. As a researcher on masculinity and body image over the past 12 years interviewing a range of males across ages, demographics and various sub-cultures, gay men appeared to me as being an important group of men to study given they have been under-researched where body image is concerned. Indeed, their voices have not been heard in many qualitative research projects to date. Therefore my aim was to listen to the voices of gay men, both younger and older, and allow them to share their life historical experiences around masculinity and the body. Some of the men I interviewed found it intriguing that I was a heterosexual male attempting to find out about gay men’s experiences. I did not consider this to be an issue at the time, nor do I consider it be an issue now. The following is an account of my experiences as a heterosexual male interviewing gay men.