Ett sexuellt sökfält : En kvalitativ studie om socialt och sexuellt kontaktskapande på Grindr.

Sammanfattning: This study aims to understand how social and sexual relations are initiated, negotiated and constructed among homo- and bisexual men within a specific sexual field; the geo-social application Grindr. It’s based on qualitative and semi-structured interviews with six self-identified homosexual men in Sweden from various age groups and with various social backgrounds who are using, or has used, Grindr in order to initiate and establish contacts with other homo- and bisexual men. Of certain interest are their experiences of using the application and being a part of its social and sexual setting.   In order to analyse the interviews, a combination of sexual script theory and sexual field theory has been used, together with Norbert Elias theories on the relationship between the established and the outsiders. The results indicate that Grindr is a refuge and safe space for homo- and bisexual men and queer persons from the social and sexual norms that prevails in a heteronormative society. As such, Grindr could be understood as a social and sexual field of its own, in which interpersonal scripts and negotiations are crucial for establishing contacts of various kinds. There is also a remarkable sexual stratification based on various sexual capitals that the users of Grindr use to position themselves in relation to each other in order to be regarded as desirable. One consequence of these “structures of desire” is that some personal and bodily qualities often are regarded in a less favourable way, sometimes with stigmatization and marginalization of groups of people as dire consequences of these structures of sexuality. There’s also a remarkable distinction, resistance and ambivalence against the heteronormative society and its cultural scenarios, but at the same time it was a necessary part in the collective self-image of being an outsider group.