The anatomy of a forbidden desire: men, penetration and semen exchange

Holmes, Dave; Warner, D. E.

doi:10.1111/j.1440-1800.2005.00252.x

Cited by 64 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The barebacking phenomenon has been examined from the perspective of sociology (Adam, 2005;Shernoff, 2006), anthropology (Junge, 2002), psychology (Cole, 2007;Mansergh et al, 2002;Suarez & Miller, 2001), queer theory (Yep, Lovaas, & Pagonis, 2002), psychoanalysis (Holmes & Warner, 2005), Foucauldian analysis (Holmes, O'Byrne, & Gastaldo, 2006), gender theory (Haig, 2006), the law , and public health (Berg, 2008;Elford et al, 2007;Halkitis, 2007;Wilton, Halkitis, English, & Roberson, 2005). Despite the disparate perspectives, the majority of these reports attend to issues of definition and factors that may explain the popularity of barebacking.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barebacking: A Review of the Literature

Berg

2009

Arch Sex Behav

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This article synthesizes the peer-reviewed literature about barebacking, an HIV risk behavior that is generally understood as intentional unprotected anal intercourse between men where HIV transmission is a possibility. Of the 42 academic reports identified in the Anglophone literature, the greatest attention is given to U.S. publications and empirical projects. The variable nomenclature about barebacking is recognized and it is concluded that although epidemiological data suggest prevalence of barebacking varies across regions, time, and serostatus, the majority of men who have sex with men (MSM) do not intentionally seek out condomless anal sex. Findings show that macro-, meso-, interpersonal-, and intrapersonal level factors, such as homonegativity, community norms, partner intimacy, and drug use, converge to influence the likelihood that an individual will bareback. A conceptual framework to examine the reciprocal and dynamic relationships sustaining barebacking is proposed. In examining the theoretical and methodological limitations of the research about barebacking, the atheoretical nature of the studies, failure to report analyses conducted, and suboptimal measures are included among the study constraints. Furthermore, in research to date, the majority of participants have been white, urban, and gay-identified; thus, more research is needed to capture the viewpoints of diverse MSM communities. There has also been an overly individualistic focus on barebacking which needs to be tempered by greater consideration of the impact of macro- and meso-level factors upon MSM's behavior. With respect to programmatic responses, more culturally bound strategies are called for.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barebacking: A Review of the Literature

Berg

2009

Arch Sex Behav

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“…Quantitative surveys, interviews and ethnography CarballoDieguez, 2001;Carballo-Dieguez & Bauermeister, 2004;Davis, 2002;Gauthier & Forsyth, 1999;Grov, 2004;Halkitis et al, , 2005Holmes & Warner, 2005;Mansergh et al, 2002;Morin et al, 2003;Ridge, 2004) have been employed to understand this phenomenon. Examination of the discourses in Internet venues (e.g., websites, chatrooms, electronic bulletin boards, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intentional Unprotected Anal Intercourse among Sex Who have Sex with Men: Barebacking—from Behavior to Identity

Parsons

Bimbi

2006

AIDS Behav

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Unprotected sex among gay/bisexual men throughout the AIDS epidemic has usually been described as unintentional due to a relapse from safer sex behavior. The term "barebacking" emerged among HIV-positive men explicitly seeking unprotected sex with seroconcordant partners, but has come into use in the larger gay community to simply mean condomless sex. Some men have also taken on the identity as a "barebacker." The present study assessed prevalence and predictors of bareback identity in a sample 687 gay/bisexual men attending community events. Barebackers reported significantly more use of crystal methamphetamine and higher peer norms for unprotected sex; HIV-negative barebackers were higher in sexual compulsivity while HIV-positive barebackers were higher in romantic obsession as well as drug/alcohol influenced sexual expectancies. HIV prevention efforts targeting barebackers and barebacking must be carefully developed if programs and campaigns are to be effective given the open debates about this phenomenon in the gay community.

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“…The act of bareback sex is imbued with much symbolic meaning (Holmes & Warner, 2005) and while some of these meanings were shared across top and bottom narratives, there also appeared to be two different sexual scripts, each specific to the sexual position a participant adopted. When engaging in anal sex individuals bring into play in intrapsychic scripting a set of beliefs about how to 'execute' the role and about their partner's expectations (Whittier & Melendez, 2004).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barebacking and sexual position

2015

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractBareback sex continues to fuel the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men but despite the fact that much academic attention has been focused on the sexual behaviour of this population few authors have considered the significance of sexual position. In order to explore this relatively under-examined factor, interviews were conducted with 13 HIV-negative and unknown status gay men who had recently engaged in bareback sex. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and through the lens of sexual position, the findings were organised across three super-ordinal themes. There were some areas in which there was little difference between the men's experiences of engaging in bareback as tops or bottoms (for instance, how participants connected with barebacking partners). In other areas, however, there were clear differences in men's experiences according to sexual position, particularly in the interpersonal dynamic between tops and bottoms during bareback sex encounters, which it is argued were acted out in accordance with a barebacking 'sexual script'. There were further differences by position in how individuals overcame 'cognitive dissonance' by invoking strategies to make their engagement in bareback sex safer and in the meanings men ascribed to bareback sex and semen exchange. These findings provide valuable insights for those working with MSM around HIV prevention.

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The anatomy of a forbidden desire: men, penetration and semen exchange

Cited by 64 publications

References 20 publications

Barebacking: A Review of the Literature

Barebacking: A Review of the Literature

Intentional Unprotected Anal Intercourse among Sex Who have Sex with Men: Barebacking—from Behavior to Identity

Barebacking and sexual position

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