BateWorld, now nine years old and 87,000 members strong, has been called “Facebook for masturbators” Slate magazine reports. The aim of the site, is to promote and encourage male masturbation.
While the majority of users on BateWorld are gay, it's also attracting a rise in users who identify as straight.
Slate did a survey and saw that out of the 86,840 members on BateWorld, 50 percent identified as gay. 10 percent (8,355 members) considered themselves to be straight. 30 percent said they were bisexual, 4 percent solosexual and 5 percent did not indicate their sexual orientation.
“But that 10 percent claiming to be Str8 is significant,” says Slate, “Based on higher rates of public closetedness among bi men, we can even extrapolate that a healthy portion of those who list themselves as bi are not publicly open about their bisexual identities. Then there's the 5 percent of members who have chosen not to identify. So I'm going to estimate that anywhere between 15 and 30 percent of BateWorld members are straight in the world outside of the bate. That's a lot of not-gay dudes with profiles on a website for men who like to masturbate with other men.”
One voter was quoted as saying: “No. Being homosexual is an attraction. You can bond and bate with a bro and not want a homosexual relationship.”
Another user, when asked by Slate whether the sexual orientation of the man turns the experience from homosocial to homosexual, said: “I usually find more common ground with straight and bi guys since there's usually firm ground rules and we can usually share more about what we enjoy together.
“We all have and want to share our cocks so don't overthink it. I think it's important all parties establish and respect boundaries, whether sexual or otherwise, and that you act as authentically as you can for a mutually good time.”
Photos by Savas Abadsidis