Abstract
This chapter provides an insight into the sexual world of ‘dogging’; that of anonymous sex between men, men and women usually carried out in car parks. Drawing upon interviews with 12 men who engage in dogging practices, this chapter provides insights into the micro-negotiations of the dogging encounter and men’s masculine subjectivities. The chapter begins by exploring the reasons for dogging and then details how dogging takes place. By understanding the sexual etiquette of dogging, we are able to capture the different kinds of masculinities that may be involved in negotiating the sex. However, as men in dogging encounters reject both gender and sexual identity categories, the chapter explores the notion of de-subjectification. Furthermore, with men explaining their sexual experiences through bodies and pleasure, the chapter ends by examining how men position women as being in control of the sexual encounter.
It’s a warm evening as the sun begins to fall behind the hills. In front, the sand dunes take on a crimson hue and you can taste the salt in the air from the sea nearby. I had parked up, the texts on my phone had been going crazy and with the other cars parked along the way, this was a good time to pull in and text back. I was busy texting back when out of the corner of my eye I could see windows half closed and two men standing round one car. I carried on looking at the texts trying to work out how to explain why I was late. I looked up again. One man was standing. Another leaning through the window, I lowered my phone and become more focused. The silver car had people in the front and back. I looked away, and then immediately looked back. By now the men had swapped over: the other one leaned in the car whilst the other one stood watching. There was movement on the back seat. What was happening? I raised myself off my seat to get a better view of what was happening. The man looking over turned and looked at me, I dropped back down and he turned back.
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Haywood, C. (2018). ‘Dogging Men’: Car Parks, Masculinity and Anonymous Sex. In: Men, Masculinity and Contemporary Dating. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50683-2_7
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