男男按摩的身體工作：親密關係的劃界與跨界

The Bodywork of Erotic Gay Massage: “Crafted Intimacy” and “Unscripted Care” in Male-for-Male Sexual Commerce

本文探討男男情慾按摩中的兩個面向：男師如何透過身體工作，滿足客人的需求，在此過程中，親密關係如何被感知與「體現」。透過深度訪談34位男同志按摩師的勞動經驗，本文發現：在身體工作的面向，男師會透過按摩技藝，營造與邊緣身體的性親密關係，也劃出與消費者之間的界線；在跨進親密關係的面向，則因勞動過程中與客人身體親密「感觸」所產生的情感連結，讓男男按摩成為具體的關愛實作。透過分析身體工作與親密關係的勞動過程，讓我們看到男男按摩中所涉及的身體╱情感互動，體現男同志性消費文化中的親密「劃界」與「跨界」。 Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 34 male-for-male masseurs, this article explores two prominent service features of erotic gay massage: crafted intimacy and unscripted care. Whereas the former refers to the ‘boyfriend experience' built up through tactile encounters, the latter regards erotic services as caring practices for the socially vulnerable, adding a moral dimension to the cultural significance of gay massage. This article suggests that the bodywork of gay massage provides a clear window into the neglected interactions of body and affections in male-for-male sexual labor where corporeal and emotional boundaries can be both maintained and crossed. It reveals the bodily inflexibility of normative gay desire, indicating how its contours are redefined by commodified same-sex intimacies. This article concludes that corporeal and affective dimensions are inseparable in understanding gay massage. Further research can benefit from more attention to somatic affection in the interplay between bodywork and intimacy in gay sexual commerce.