"Men who enjoy"

ethnographic reflections on research with men with bisexual practices on the outskirts of the city

Abstract

The text discusses the methodological challenges of involving men who have sex with men and women (MSM) in research, pointed out in studies on sexual behavior and the HIV/aids epidemic as elusive to researchers. Based on research in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, we argue that the difficulty is related to the operationalization of the very concepts that guide the look at the territories where men with homosexual practices transit – sociability, moral region, ghetto, and community – and the ease that some of the territories offer to researchers to accomplish their task. Similarly, homosexual naming, present in terms of informed consent and interview scripts and questionnaires, may turn MSM away from research, who, as our ethnography shows, are described as sympathizers, and perceive themselves as understanding, which enables them to engage in take pleasure.