Bottoms and tops gay
What Does “Top” Mean?
In the context of gay relationships and sexual dynamics, terms such as “top”, “bottom”, “verse” and “side” are often used to describe a person’s sexual preferences and roles. It is important to knowing these terms not only for members of the LGBTQ+ community, but also for increasing kind and acceptance of queer relationships in society.
What Does “Top” Mean?Physical AspectsEmotional and Psychological AspectsCommunication and ConsentWhat Does “Bottom” Mean?Physical AspectsEmotional and Psychological AspectsThe Stigma Around Being a BottomWhat Does “Verse” Mean?Accepting DiversityCommunication and CompatibilityWhat Does “Side” Mean?Non-Penetrative IntimacyOpposing NormsAccepting One’s IdentityRoles and MythsHealth and Guard During Gay Sex
As a dictate, in gay sexual relationships, the “top” is the partner who has a penetrative role during anal sex. However, the concept of top includes much more than just physical actions: it includes a whole set of attitudes, preferences, and sometimes passionate roles.
Physical Aspects
In physical terms, the t
Troye Sivan said he's a 'verse' during sex, not a 'top' or 'bottom.' Here's what the terms mean.
Troye Sivan, a singer known for his track "Bloom," recently set straight rumors that he only enjoys receiving penetration during sex.
"I think in the sort of consciousness of gay people I'm some crazy control bottom or something, which is just not the case, and I just wanted to place that out there," Sivan, a gay man, said on Emily Ratajkowski's podcast "High Low."
Sivan said that he's a "verse," meaning he enjoys both penetrating a partner and being penetrated during sex.
"Verse," as well as the terms "top" and "bottom" are popular ways to describe sexual preferences in the queer community.
While the terms were originally used to describe the sexual preferences of queer men in the s, more LGBTQ+ people own adopted the terms to chat about what they like in sex.
Lately, top/bottom/verse discourse has grown more visible on TikTok, where queer people have been making videos describing the unique struggles of each preference.
It's impo
Straight people tend to get a little hung up on titles and roles in queer relationships. When it comes to gay sex, many people tend to think rigidly and a petite too heteronormatively for their retain good: one person is the top (aka the giver or the more dominant partner during sex), and one is the bottom (the receiver or the submissive partner).
It’s sort of a more prying version of the other severely reductive and incredibly problematic question queer people listen all the time: “Who’s the man in the relationship? Who’s the woman?”
Of course, as with anything related to sex, the binary relationship between tops and bottoms is a lot more complicated than that. Sure, there are plenty of queer folks who almost exclusively bottom or top during sex, but there’s just as many who reflect on themselves versatile or switch (And hey, sometimes, just like with straight sex, there’s no penetration at all. Sex is fluid!)
To dig a little deeper, we asked queer men about topping and bottoming, the stereotypes associated with both and how they choose to use (or not!) the terms in their
Top/Bottom
The terms top and bottom emerged as descriptors of a sexual binary in the gay leather culture of the s and the bondage and sadomasochism (BDSM) culture of the s. Originally, the top-bottom binary signified both sexual positions and control relationships in which a top was a sexual aggressor and penetrator who often acted as the more forceful and dominant partner; the bottom represented the more submissive, typically penetrated, and often "punished" partner.
DEFINITION AND Employ OF THE TERMS
In the BDSM community the term top indicates the dominant partner who inflicts pain on, enacts control over, or otherwise subjects his or her partner to acts associated with bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism. The term bottom indicates the receiver of such treatment. In these cases the terms are not gender-specific: A male or a female may act as a top or a bottom. Although the top is the dominant partner, the bottom often still has control. For example, a top who takes direction from the bottom's explicitly expressed wishes often is called a service top.
These terms evol