An inherently reflexive habitus: Navigating lesbian, gay and bisexual lives in Cyprus

Abstract

This article advances literature on reflexive habitus in relation to LGB people by demonstrating empirically that habitus and reflexivity can coexist, albeit in very complex ways. The analysis offered relies on interview data with self-identified lesbian women, gay men and bisexual people in Cyprus – a context that is undergoing social change while however preserving its core heteronormative and conservative values. Drawing on LGB people’s experiences, perceptions and practices in this context, the article demonstrates how socio-cultural ideologies and discourses that stigmatise and Other LGB people constrain what they may do while at the same time making them increasingly reflexive. Their reflexive habitus generates constant reflection, self-awareness and reflexive practices, but these practices tend to mainly reproduce existing social structures. And yet, when LGB people find themselves in empowering interactions and relations, they may engage in acts of resistance that challenge and stretch structural boundaries and are often liberating in their ways, portraying thus the complexity of navigating LGB lives in this context. As such, the analysis shows how habitus and reflexivity may coexist and generate post-reflexive practices that are contextually bound and vary in their capacity towards social change.