Let’s Talk About Sex: The Theory of Bottom Energy in Relation to Pop Music

In same-sex relationships, it’s difficult to determine who is the bottom and who is the top. Want a hint? All bottoms listen to pop music.

In the series Let’s Talk About Sex, writers talk about sex. And music.

Written by Kaci Pelias

Illustrated by Jessica Wu

My girlfriend and I sit in her car, content in the silence that surrounds us as she struggles to plug the aux cord into her phone. The leaves outside have started to turn to their autumn hues (well, not in Texas, but let’s just imagine for a second) and, reminiscing over my past few months fueled by Troye Sivan and One Direction, I confess, “Over the summer, I ... really got into pop music.”

Without missing a beat, my girlfriend replies, “Yeah, I’m not a fan of it,” and Sufjan Stevens immediately begins streaming from her car speakers.

This moment comes back to me as I chat with a friend about defining sexual positions in a relationship between two girls. In a frenzy fueled by both the memory of my girlfriend’s blatant distaste for the pop genre and an analysis of my generally passive personality in our relationship, I shout, “Bottoms listen to pop music!!!!!”

A deeper investigation into this assertion proves it alarmingly accurate. To measure the degree of Bottom Identity, I created a scale from one to ten, where ten represents an individual who most strongly identifies as a bottom, and one represents, well, a top. From a pool of ten (gay-identifying) individuals representing each integer of the Scale of Bottom Identity, I recorded their placement on this scale in relation to quantity of Charli XCX retweets (a quantity recorded in increments of ten in a period of one year).

Referring to the data, there is a clear positive correlation between the two variables. The Line of Best Fit (titled the Theory of Bottom Energy in Relation to Pop Music) is a linear progression directly supporting my assertion.

Of course, when looking at same-sex couples, determining a top and a bottom can be tricky, especially since these relationships don’t fit neatly into the confines of heteronormativity. In my research, I’ve come across a few individuals who state that they perform as a Top or Versatile, but do listen to pop music. For example, the individual identifying as a three on the Scale of Bottom Identity has retweeted Charli XCX roughly seventy times in the past year.

It would be easy to write these cases off as “outliers,” but I choose to look at the data through a different lens. Perhaps these identities are not purely sexual. What makes a bottom a bottom after all?

I would argue that both bottoms and tops exist primarily as a sort of energy –– a mental state. You may perform as a bottom in bed, but carry yourself with the confidence of a top, or vice versa. Nailing down the specifics of these personalities is difficult with our limited vocabulary, but easily explained through musical taste. With this perspective, the individual identifying as a three would be mentally considered a bottom, even if the scale dictates that they perform as a top. But does this claim reach for an answer that doesn’t ring true?

Intent on proceeding with factual basis in my study, I conducted further research. I interviewed the individuals one-on-one, facilitating a discussion on music and how they behave in crowds, relationships, and with friends. Through this examination, the individual identifying as a three (the only outlier in my research) came to the sudden and earth-shattering realization that they possessed Bottom Energy, solidifying my theory.

So, bottoms — or rather, individuals with Bottom Energy — listen to pop. The claim I originally spread as a “bit” proves true after all. Maybe this is because of the attempt to assign heteronormative roles to queer relationships.  

As a culture, we try to fit the role of a "bottom" to that of a woman. Therefore, maybe pop music has come to represent Bottom Energy because both are generally assumed to be feminine (via misogynistic stereotyping). Perhaps we should look at the trend of queer attraction to pop music beginning in the 70s and 80s and internalize the idea that Bottom Energy is more outwardly queer. Therefore, individuals with this energy would lean towards stereotypically queer music taste. Or, maybe bottoms just love to dance alone in their rooms, free of inhibitions, fueled by peppy beats and catchy lyrics that hit hard just when you need them to.

Next, I hope to investigate the musical tastes of power tops. This may prove to be a mystery not even science can solve, but I plan to report back in two to three years with my findings.