Bareback is a term that originated in gay slang to describe acts of unprotected sex, especially anal sex. The term's usage, however, has crossed-over to more mainstream slang to describe any type of penetrative sexual act without the use of a condom. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... Gay slang or LGBT slang in linguistics refers to a form of English slang used predominantly among LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people. ... Unprotected sex refers to any act of sexual intercourse in which the participants use no forms of protection from sexually transmitted diseases. ... Roman men having anal sex. ... This article is about the male contraceptive device. ...

Background

Before the mainstream awareness of HIV/AIDS in the early 1980s, anal sex with and without condoms was not as prevalent in communications among men who had sex with men (MSMs). Sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention campaigns encouraged condom use but an urgency arose once transmission of HIV/AIDS was somewhat understood (see HIV for more information). Researchers encouraged condom usage as an effective way to reduce HIV transmission. Condoms are now known to be an effective barrier against HIV, as well as to herpes simplex, CMV, hepatitis B, chlamydia and gonorrhea. ^[1] The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... Men who have sex with men (MSM) is a term used to classify men who have sex with men, regardless of whether they self-identify as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. ... A sexually transmitted disease (STD), a. ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ...

The gay male community, having been affected the most by the pandemic, mobilized quickly and the practice of unprotected anal sex quickly became taboo within the community. This was the time when the need for a term to describe the difference between "protected" and "unprotected" sexual acts arose. This article is about cultural prohibitions in general, for other uses, see Taboo (disambiguation). ...

Barebacking as a practice is claimed to have become increasingly common again among MSMs in the mid-1990s. Reasons for this are varied, and include correlations based on: an "upswing" in the level of new HIV infections amongst gay men in younger age groups cited by the CDC and WHO, a more public presence of "bareback" literature, personal ads, and publicity of rebellious attitudes towards the practice; the increased effectiveness of HIV/AIDS treatments and the decline of people with AIDS being highly visible and physically compromised as a result of the disease. The later two rationales held in comparison to the 1980s in the gay community when those infected were often visibly sick and their health rapidly declining coupled with mainstream attention to the "new" disease. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, is recognized as the leading United States agency for protecting the public health and safety of people. ... Look up who in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The People With AIDS (PWA) Self-Empowerment Movement was a movement of those diagnosed with AIDS and grew out of San Francisco. ...

Gay columnists and editorializers in The Advocate, Genre magazine and Out magazine during the late 1990s and into the new millennium have made several claims as to why barebacking in first-world nation gay communities as a practice, re-surged in the 1990s. The Advocate (ISSN 0001-8996) is a US-based LGBT-related biweekly news magazine. ... December 2005 cover of Genre magazine Genre magazine (ISSN 1074-5246)is New York city-based monthly periodical written for gay men. ... Out is a popular gay magazine. ...

1. The advent and relatively noticeable success of protease inhibitors and other drugs for treating HIV infections has changed the perception of HIV infection from an untreatable terminal illness to a treatable chronic malady.
2. Decreasing effectiveness of health education messages in the gay community fails to promote condom use (see condom fatigue).
3. Methamphetamines have become akin to a "drug of choice" within gay male (and other) populations; individuals under the influence of meth are less likely to be concerned over potential hazards of their behaviour.
4. Gay men with opposing beliefs about the practice of barebacking get "more publicity" about their feelings than in the past.
5. Bareback pornography is available and contributes to the apathy, romanticising and eroticising of the practice.
6. Online solicitation services for bare-backing partners has led to an increase in the practice. ^[2]

Protease inhibitor can refer to: Protease inhibitor (pharmacology): a class of medication that inhibits viral protease Protease inhibitor (biology): a group of proteins that inhibit proteases. ... Condom fatigue is a term used by medical professionals and safer sex educators to refer to the phenomenon of decreased condom use. ... Methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant drug which induces a strong feeling of euphoria and is highly addictive. ...

Controversy

Bareback sex by gay men is controversial both inside and outside the gay community. Some condemn barebacking and barebackers because they believe that the practice has caused upsurges in of STDs and HIV infections among young people and has given bad publicity to the gay community. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... Sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), also known as sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs), are diseases that are commonly transmitted between partners through some form of sexual activity, most commonly vaginal intercourse, oral sex, or anal sex. ... Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ...

Other commentators say that the publicity that barebacking has received is disproportionate to its pervasiveness, and that any focus by news media or epidemiologists on barebacking has more to do with stereotypes of gay men as promiscuous and irresponsible, along with the larger culture's aversion to gay male sexuality, instead of any real change in what gay men are doing. The latter group of commentators may also argue that adult men should be able to engage in the consensual acts of their choosing without permission or apology.

Bareback has become a fetish among some in the gay community. In addition to bareback pornography (see below), there are websites and discussion boards on the Internet devoted exclusively to barebacking that feature pictures of men engaged in bareback sex, personal advertisements of men seeking bareback sex with other men and erotic short stories involving barebacking. This subculture has developed its own slang terms, such as "breeding" (ejaculation inside the rectum of the receptive participant), "charging up" (the same as breeding, but the male doing the ejaculating is HIV+), "Russian Roulette party" or "conversion party" (a group sex party attended by HIV positive persons and HIV negative persons, the latter taking the chance that they may become infected with HIV). Bugchasing (or Bug chasing) is a term, invented in the 1990s, for the fetish of a small minority of gay men for becoming infected with HIV. Whilst doubts have been raised about the existence of the phenomenon, various gay websites (such as Gaydar) have chat rooms devoted to bugchasers (sometimes...

Popular culture

Bareback gay pornography exists, with some bareback films portraying and glamorizing ejaculation in the rectum or on the anus of the models in the films. There are a number of gay pornography studios that produce bareback films. A number of Eastern European studios supply the increasing demand from homosexual men in North America and Western Europe for bareback pornography, including SEVP and Eurocreme and Czech producers who supply footage to Hot Desert Knights for their "international line". These studios and the stars of their films have often come under heavy criticism for showing, and perhaps romanticizing, bareback sex, particularly to young gay men. However, proponents claim the films actually keep barebacking to a minimum in the gay community by providing men with a visual substitute for the actual act. Porn redirects here. ... Eurocreme is a European company specialising in the production of gay pornographic films featuring twinks, though recently they have branched out towards including men of more diverse appearances. ...

Some bareback pornography studios say that they do not inquire whether their models are HIV positive, but assume that they are infected.^[3] Other studios claim that they test their models for HIV antibodies and only hire models who are HIV negative.^[3]

Bareback heterosexual pornography in the U.S. has long been the norm and only recently has slightly changed to reflect new restrictions by OSHA that state that requiring models to have unsafe sex in films creates a hazardous working environment. OSHA logo The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. ...

An increasing number of website forums have been geared towards those who enjoy barebacking.

Heterosexual bareback

Condom use amongst heterosexual people has dramatically increased during the last 20 years as groups respond to health messages about HIV/AIDS prevention.^{[citation needed]} In some groups, the use of a condom has become the norm, and the use of the word "bareback" has gained utility as a way to describe sex without a condom, especially between anonymous or casual partners.

Regardless, anonymous or casual heterosexual sex without a condom has not created the moral panic that gay barebacking has. This can be attributed to the fact that gay men have become more organized in STD prevention.^{[citation needed]}. Furthermore barebacking is gaining popularity amongst the swinging arena whereby organizers are offering a vetting service for members to reduce the risk of STIs. Moral panic is a sociological term, coined by Stanley Cohen, meaning a reaction by a group of people based on the false or exaggerated perception that some cultural behavior or group, frequently a minority group or a subculture, is dangerously deviant and poses a menace to society. ...

Prostitution

In the sex trade, the willingness to bareback is a selling point for sex workers to their clients despite the increased risks implied to the client. A "girlfriend experience" may imply a lack of barriers. Many prostitutes are willing to perform a bareback blowjob (BBBJ) because it is less risky than other forms of unprotected contact with body fluids. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Oral sex consists of all the sexual activities that involve the use of the mouth, tongue, etc. ...

See also

• Fluid bonding

Fluid bonding is the practice of sexual partners who explicitly choose to expose themselves to each others bodily fluids. ...

References

Bel Ami, published in 1885, was French author Guy de Maupassants second novel. ...

External links

• Research article about bareback, published 1 April 2005