ABSTRACT
This chapter revolves around men's experiences of sexual invulnerability and vulnerability. Considering widely embraced notions of men as less sexually vulnerable than women, it examines how such notions are played out in the way some of the interviewed men talk about their experiences of sexual assaults and unwanted sex. The chapter discusses the thorny conceptual issue of to what extent discursive constructions of men as relatively sexually inviolable, especially by women, accord with men's actual experiences. A part of the chapter is dedicated to an analysis of the relationship between (in)vulnerability, masculinity and consent in the male gay setting, described as characterized by hypersexual and hypermasculine ideals. A vulnerability paradox is identified, whereby taboos on male vulnerability may increase (some) men's actual vulnerability to victimization.
