Publications & Research Papers

Book Chapter

By Dr Matthew Hall, in V. Meneau and S. Hutchinson (eds.) 'Queering Partner Dance', London: Bloomsbury, Chapter 5.

The past decade has seen significant increases in heterosexual-identifying men participating in same-sex swing dancing. Accordingly, this chapter explores how straight male swing dancers conform to, negotiate, and reconcile gendered norms and expectations of heteromasculinity while partner dancing with other men. It draws upon insights and preliminary analyses from two projects: a twelve-week ethnographic study of weekly west coast swing (WCS) classes in Southeast England, and a study of heterosexual-identifying men who dance with men (MDM) across WCS and modern jive scenes in the UK, comprising 30 semi-structured interviews and video elicitation. It explores how MDM navigate same-sex dancing and reimagine the ‘lead’ and ‘follow’ roles in ways that often assimilate rather than subvert their masculine ideals. Whilst MDM practises demonstrate a marked shift from hegemonic masculinity, including ‘touch taboo’ and regulation of physical intimacy between men, the chapter also proposes that masculinities are far from deregulated in such spaces.