Diversity in Partner Number Sexuality via Sexual Configurations Theory

Abstract

“Partner number sexuality” (P#S) refers to how many partners individuals have/are interested in having. Those with P#S outside of monogamous desires and/or practices commonly face stigma in North America and elsewhere. Yet theories of sexuality do not always make room for diverse P#S. One theory that does is sexual configurations theory (SCT), which visually models gender/sex and sexuality (van Anders, 2015). In this study, we investigated what insights SCT could provide into P#S, whether SCT was useful to those with minoritized P#S, and how those with minoritized P#S made use of SCT. To do so, we conducted online interviews, asking participants (N = 26) to complete two SCT diagrams and report on their experience. We used template analysis to analyze transcripts and compiled “SCT heatmaps,” aggregates of SCT diagrams. We constructed 11 major themes, including diverse understandings of eroticism and romantic/platonic relationships, the impacts of hermeneutical injustice (the injustice of knowledge systems) on participants’ abilities to conceptualize and discuss their P#S, and how SCT facilitated conversations about P#S. The heatmaps showed that participants made use of most of both SCT diagrams, showing branchedness in P#S between “eroticism” and “nurturance,” and between status, identity, and orientation. Our study highlights that the lived experience of partnering, especially of those with minoritized P#S, extends far beyond commonly understood categories, and that SCT is a useful tool that can accurately reflect diversity in P#S.