ABSTRACT
Queer-straight males are men who disrupt both heterosexuality and hegemonic masculinity—who make a contribution to the expansion of the conceptualization of straightness and of masculinity. But straight men are more complex than the hegemonic heteromasculine construction suggests. To step out of the paradigm does not mean stepping into the only alternatives—becoming "non" traditional in their masculinity and non-straight in their sexuality. Despite the absence of history, legitimacy, and often, agency, many straight men experience and demonstrate "queer masculinity", though for some, qualities associated with the queer masculine may be kept from view. A recent art exhibit, a visual sociology project entitled "Shifting Gears: Finding Intimacy in Men's Friendships", attempts to address the need for a broader representation of men's sexuality and masculinity. For many men the categories of straight and masculine have become problematic and self-limiting. Creating images for queer straight men in itself is a queering of hegemonic heteromasculinity.
