Chemsex cultures: Subcultural reproduction and queer survival

Abstract

“Chemsex” emerged in the 21st century as the gay and bisexual male practice of taking drugs during sexual encounters in order to modulate pleasures, promote endurance, and expand the temporalities of sex. Yet, while the term has come to prominence at a historical juncture when the introduction of antiretroviral drugs, locative dating apps, online pornography, and gentrification all contributed to the popularisation and mediation of the practice, the history of sex on drugs among gay men is longer than that. In this article, I draw from that history, as well as from wider critical histories and anthropologies of drug use in order to explore the subcultural significance of sexualised drug use amongst queer folk. If, as Bourdieu argued, the hegemony of the ruling classes is sustained by forms of economic, social, and cultural capital accumulation and reproduction, I build on scholarship on subcultural and post-subcultural studies to frame chemsex as a practice of subcultural reproduction that connects contemporary gay and bisexual men across generations, ensuring the survival of their cultures and subjectivities. In so doing, I focus on chemsex’s potential as a life-affirming cultural practice, one that can ensure the symbolic and even material survival not only of the men who engage in it, but also of the subcultures and subcultural histories within which they locate themselves every time they decide to “party and play.”

The Limits of Labelling: Incidental Sex Work Among Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Young Men on Social Media

“…An argument which this paper will develop, building on the precious section, is the notion that "queer" and other (de) constructivist perspectives on sexual identity have been complimented by the material, technological changes of recent decades. One example of this can be seen in the expansion of amateur pornography and webcamming, as digital spaces in which non-normative desires can be explored (Florêncio, 2021;Jones, 2020). Indeed, as Weeks (2017) has noted: mediated anonymously through millions of network connections, bodily intimacy is in danger of being displaced altogether, and the distinctions between men and women, heterosexual and homosexual, adults and children, the beautiful, the ugly and the damned, may dissolve easily in the millions of possible interactions in cyberspace.…”

Chemsex in Lisbon? Self-Reflexivity to Uncover the Scene and Discuss the Creation of Community-Led Harm Reduction Responses Targeting Chemsex Practitioners

“…Among these: the impact of generational traumas (e.g., the impact of HIV epidemic, external and internalized heterosexism); technological advances and the emergence of dating mobile applications (app) and its impact in the gay hook-up culture; the appearance of new drugs with effects that were considered interesting for sexual performances ( chems a vernacular term to define GHB, methamphetamine and mephedrone) and idealized homonormativity (Bourne et al, 2014, 2015; Florêncio, 2021; Hakim, 2019; Stuart, 2019). “Like all subcultures, chemsex cultures are social worlds brought together not only through shared consumer choices, language and rituals but also through shared spaces (whether virtual or physical) and narrations about themselves” (Florêncio, 2021, p. 9). It acts also like a pedagogy that allow the reproduction of MSM subcultures and communities of practices that express social meanings, pleasure seeking and risk taking behaviors, unsafety and ethics of care.…”

Crime or culture? Representations of chemsex in the British press and magazines aimed at GBTQ+ men

“…Chemsex is markedly different to such representations, because it is an action which is deemed 'risky' and a factor in the transmission of HIV, rather than the virus itself. Barrett (2017) draws attention to the fact that drug taking among GBTQ+ men has previously been discussed in different ways: as ubiquitous and problematic from a public-health perspective (similar to the discussion offered by Florêncio, 2021). However, Barrett (2017, pp.…”

“…Typically, these studies use qualitative interviews with men who engage in chemsex (Ahmed et al, 2016;Hakim, 2019Hakim, , 2020Weatherburn et al, 2017). They have identified a sense of stigma associated with the practice (Pollard et al, 2018) as well as the perception that chemsex is a ubiquitous activity that is overly prevalent in queer communities (see Ahmed et al, 2016;Florêncio, 2021). Some studies have identified narratives associated with chemsexfor example, Milhet et al (2019) interviewed 33 men who engage in chemsex, finding that while their narratives focused on pleasure, relationship building, and sexual discovery, they simultaneously involved suffering and distress.…”

“…Others have argued that discussions of chemsex are reminiscent of how both drugs and sexuality are represented across different forms of media. For example, Florêncio (2021) notes that queer identities and drug use have been pathologised for years, but also that queer identities have previously been linked to drug use in different ways, such as in news reports and films (see also, Barrett, 2017). Florêncio draws attention to the duality of chemsex: it is a consumer-subculture which can be life-hindering, but it can also be life-affirming.…”