TY - JOUR
T1 - Bridging benedictions, enlightening embodiment
T2 - interpretations of spirit through desire among gay and bisexual malaysian men
AU - Goh, Joseph N.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Malaysian gay and bisexual men are often disparaged as ‘sinful’ and devoid of their institutional faith values in a country that criminalizes same-sex behaviour. Nonetheless, some men negotiate, rearrange and interpret their spirit – or sense of the sacred – through desire – or sexuality – in life-giving ways. By adopting a Constructivist Grounded Theory Methodology, and assisted by an analytical framework of queer transgression, this article draws on, analyses and theorizes selected narratives of four gay and bisexual Malaysian men with various religious affiliations and/or spiritual inclinations. Drawing on a larger research project involving meanings of sexual identity, sexual practice and faith of Malaysian gay and bisexual men, this article shows how these men interpret, re-imagine and perform spirit and desire as two major processes. Firstly, in bridging benedictions, gay men of faith who see both spirit and desire as blessings attempt to bridge these two elements in constructive and uplifting ways in their everyday lives. Secondly, the particularities in which the sexual bodies of a bisexual man and a gay man are experienced, trusted in, and realized as conduits of spirit shed light on processes of enlightening embodiment.
AB - Malaysian gay and bisexual men are often disparaged as ‘sinful’ and devoid of their institutional faith values in a country that criminalizes same-sex behaviour. Nonetheless, some men negotiate, rearrange and interpret their spirit – or sense of the sacred – through desire – or sexuality – in life-giving ways. By adopting a Constructivist Grounded Theory Methodology, and assisted by an analytical framework of queer transgression, this article draws on, analyses and theorizes selected narratives of four gay and bisexual Malaysian men with various religious affiliations and/or spiritual inclinations. Drawing on a larger research project involving meanings of sexual identity, sexual practice and faith of Malaysian gay and bisexual men, this article shows how these men interpret, re-imagine and perform spirit and desire as two major processes. Firstly, in bridging benedictions, gay men of faith who see both spirit and desire as blessings attempt to bridge these two elements in constructive and uplifting ways in their everyday lives. Secondly, the particularities in which the sexual bodies of a bisexual man and a gay man are experienced, trusted in, and realized as conduits of spirit shed light on processes of enlightening embodiment.
KW - Bisexual
KW - Gay
KW - Malaysia
KW - Queer
KW - Sexuality
KW - Spirituality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85038091581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/20440243.2017.1370907
DO - 10.1080/20440243.2017.1370907
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85038091581
VL - 7
SP - 128
EP - 141
JO - Journal for the Study of Spirituality
JF - Journal for the Study of Spirituality
SN - 2044-0243
IS - 2
ER -