(no subject)

"But does it make sense to continue to speak in terms of the unconscious when men consciously experiment with deliberate HIV-transmission? Although the problem of “slipping up” doubtless still exists, increasingly gay sex without condoms is figured as a “lifestyle choice,” an option on the sexual menu that can be actively pursued in contexts that validate the choice […] Barebacker has become a new sexual identity because the practice of unprotected sex contravenes gay community norms that were established and held sway throughout the first decade of the epidemic. Somewhat akin to the category of queer, barebacking is defined by its resistance not merely to heterosexual norms but to gay norms as well.

"During the second decade of the epidemic, as homosexuality inched its way from the margins into the social mainstream, becoming what Andrew Sullivan called “virtually normal,” the discourse of barebacking was invented by some gay men to keep their sex outside the pale of respectability. These are men who don’t want to be considered “normal,” and who thus are making clear that something other than normal can be not merely defensible but positively desirable. If part of the appeal of gay sex consists in its transgressiveness (whether perceived or actual), then barebacking could be considered a strategy for reinscribing eroticism within the sphere of transgression"

—Breeding Culture:Barebacking, Bugchasing, Giftgiving

Tim Dean actually goes into a lot more detail in Unlimited Intimacy, which I think was based on that article.

And if I remember right, he finds that it is actually very hard to find documented cases of bug-chasing and gift-giving, and that a lot of people involved in these scenes were already HIV+ (though a lot of people apparently don’t get tested, because it comes with a lot of legal consequences). In terms of forming a bond of personal responsibility, it doesn’t really seem to work that way, particularly since it is very difficult to attribute seroconversion to one specific partner if you are having a ton of risky anonymous sex.

I would also say, though, that I think some of the fetishization of barebacking comes out of the reality that there is already a lot of risky M/M sex going on, and at least the barebackers are claiming it. A pretty depressing recent study found that condoms don’t protect as well against HIV in the context of anal sex (even if used perfectly) and that using condoms some of the time was no more effective than never using condoms and that only a small minority of gay men were using condoms perfectly.