Trajectories of male coupling in Mexico City: An exploration based on sexual biographies / Gabriel Gallego Montes

G.Gallego Montes

A biographical survey was conducted in Mexico City in 2006 among 250 gay/homosexual men between the ages of 16 and 55. Based on full biographical data collected on their experiences of being in couples, three types of trajectories or modes of sexual interaction were identified: 1) trajectories of coupling: exclusively with men, with women, rhizomatic, transitive, and without a history of being in a couple; 2) styles of coupling: mono and polyamorous; and 3) trajectories of sexual relationships: closed or exclusive, open, and fluid or mixed. These constructions constitute typologies or ways of understanding a socio-sexual reality in relational terms. The results indicate that the gay/homosexual men interviewed are highly monoamorous, 84% (monogamous), a finding that is relatively constant across cohorts. With age and as the number of sexual partners and relationships increases, however, the preponderance of monoamory as the culturally accepted way to construct affective ties decreases slightly, giving way to polyamory. The preponderance of monoamory is an indicator of the norms and discourses about the nature of affective ties in Mexican society, which extends to the field of homoeroticism. Regarding sexual exclusivity, the number of men in closed relationships is significantly lower (42%) than those who identified as monogamous (84%). This difference confirms that the cultural construction of monogamy, generally speaking, is not synonymous with sexual exclusivity.