Mapping Partnered Sexualities and Individual Gender/sex with Sexual Configurations Theory


Sexual configurations theory (SCT; van Anders, 2015) provides theoretical and methodological tools for describing, understanding, and studying diverse aspects of partnered sexualities, separate from solitary sexuality, for potential use by sexuality researchers, clinicians, and activists, among others. SCT is modeled via diagrams, and our project examined the utility of these for qualitative sexuality research. To do so, we conducted interviews with 25 gender and sexual minority participants. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts yielded two categories of themes: (1) insights about partnered sexuality and gender/sex, and (2) practical utility of SCT. Themes in the first category (insights) suggested that SCT provides useful conceptual distinctions (i.e., gender, sex, and gender/sex; eroticism and nurturance; status and orientation) that allowed participants to articulate nuance in their interests, experiences, and identities relevant to partnered sexuality, gender/sex, and intersectional factors. Themes in the second category (utility) delineated how participants marked the diagrams in unique, creative ways to index diverse conceptualizations of and experiences with their partnered sexualities and gender/sexes. Participants also regularly described the interview process as useful for articulating partnered sexuality and gender/sex above and beyond common survey measures or identity labels, and as difficult albeit highly generative for self-knowledge.