Department of Public Health, Environments and Society, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Jan 25;23(1):173. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15085-0.
Despite global data around increased health risks among sexual and gender diverse populations, lived experiences of young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and others (LGBTQ+) people are often ignored in mainstream health research. This is particularly evident in countries such as Bangladesh where the rights of sexual minorities are not recognised. This article looks at queer lived experiences of sexuality and sexual health within such a context. We use the phenomenological framework of heteronormative 'straightening devices' - mechanisms working to direct people towards heterosexuality, gender conformity, and procreative marriage - to identify 'invisible' structures upholding normative sexual behaviours and see how young people in Bangladesh navigate these in their everyday lives.
This article is based on qualitative data collected in Dhaka, Bangladesh over nine months in 2019 as part of the first author's doctoral research. Using thematic analysis, we draw on experiences of normative sexual expectations from biographical in-depth interviews with 14 purposively sampled LGBTQ + individuals aged 18 to 24.
Respondents identified heteronormative expectations around gender norms of traditional behaviour and presentation for men and women as well as parental expectations of compulsory heterosexuality through marriage. These straightening devices existed at multiple levels, including individual, interpersonal, community, and societal. The four main themes around straightening devices include marriage norms for women; harassment of feminine-presenting bodies in public spaces; heteronormative healthcare; and consequences of not embodying heteronormativity.
Our study highlighted young people's everyday experiences of having to 'bend' to - and against - heteronormative straightening devices at home, in public spaces, and within institutions such as healthcare in Bangladesh. The exploration of queer experiences provides new insights into context-specific ways in which sexual and gender diverse people understand themselves. Further research using the framework of straightening devices can help public health professionals to identify more 'barriers' confronted by sexual and gender diverse young people.
尽管全球数据显示性和性别多样化人群的健康风险增加，但主流健康研究往往忽略了年轻的女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、跨性别、酷儿或疑问者以及其他（LGBTQ+）人群的生活经历。在孟加拉国等不承认性少数群体权利的国家，这种情况尤其明显。本文探讨了在这种背景下酷儿的性经历和性健康。我们使用异性恋“正常化装置”的现象学框架——旨在引导人们走向异性恋、性别规范和生育婚姻的机制——来识别维持规范性行为的“隐形”结构，并了解孟加拉国的年轻人如何在日常生活中应对这些结构。
本文基于 2019 年在孟加拉国达卡进行的为期九个月的定性数据，作为第一作者博士研究的一部分。我们使用主题分析，从 14 名有针对性抽样的 18 至 24 岁 LGBTQ+个人的传记深入访谈中提取关于规范的性期望的经验。
受访者确定了异性恋规范的期望，包括男性和女性的传统行为和表现的性别规范以及通过婚姻对父母的强制性异性恋期望。这些正常化装置存在于多个层面，包括个人、人际关系、社区和社会。围绕正常化装置的四个主要主题包括女性的婚姻规范；公共空间中女性化身体的骚扰；异性恋规范的医疗保健；以及不符合异性恋规范的后果。
我们的研究强调了年轻人在孟加拉国的日常生活中不得不“弯曲”以适应和反对异性恋正常化装置的经历，无论是在家里、公共空间还是医疗机构等机构。对酷儿经历的探索为理解性和性别多样化人群如何理解自己提供了新的视角。使用正常化装置框架进行进一步研究可以帮助公共卫生专业人员识别性和性别多样化的年轻人面临的更多“障碍”。
