Bareback is a
slangSlang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language. It is often used as a way to say words that are not appropriate, and is not often found in the standard dictionary for the language...
term to describe acts of
unprotected sexSafe sex is defined as "Sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS." This is also referred to as safer sex, or protected sex, while unsafe sex or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in by people...
(i.e.
sexual penetrationSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract. The two entities may be of opposite sexes or not, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
without the use of a
condomA condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
). The origin of the term is by an analogy to riding a
horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
without a
saddleA saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...
.
Origin
Before the invention of hormonal contraceptives, this slang term was used to describe hetereosexual
sexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract. The two entities may be of opposite sexes or not, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
without a prophylactic (
condomA condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
). Such practice carried an increased chance of
pregnancyPregnancy is the carrying of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, inside the uterus of a female. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets. Human pregnancy is the most studied of all mammalian pregnancies. Obstetrics is the surgical field...
.
Since the mid 1980s, the term has become more commonly used to describe unprotected homosexual
anal sexAnal sex most often refers to the sex act involving insertion of the penis into the anus. The term anal sex can also sometimes include other sexual acts involving the anus, including Anal–oral sex and fingering...
.
Sexually transmitted diseaseA sexually transmitted disease , also known as sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans or animals by means of sexual contact, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
(STD) prevention campaigns encouraged condom use but as the transmission of
HIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid,...
and
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
became increasingly understood condom use was promoted with urgency. The gay male community, having been affected the most by the pandemic, mobilized quickly so that the practice of unprotected anal sex quickly became
tabooA taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan language, and appears in many Polynesian cultures...
within the community. As a result of the fear of HIV/AIDS transmission by unprotected sex rose, so did the need for a term to describe the difference between "protected" and "unprotected" sexual acts.
Claimed resurgence
The resurgence of barebacking in first-world gay communities during the 1990s has been a frequent topic for gay columnists and editorialists in
The AdvocateThe Advocate is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender monthly newsmagazine. Established in 1967, it is the oldest continuing LGBT publication in the United States....
,
Genre magazine, and
Out magazine. An article in the online resource The Body lists no fewer than 22 reasons as to why barebacking has become increasingly acceptable in the gay community. The following list includes some of the points made by
The Body, but goes beyond it in drawing on some more recent research:
- "Some men no longer fear AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
." In other words, the advent and relatively noticeable success of protease inhibitorProtease inhibitors are a class of medications used to treat or prevent infection by viruses, including HIV and Hepatitis C. PIs prevent viral replication by inhibiting the activity of HIV-1 protease, an enzyme used by the viruses to cleave nascent proteins for final assembly of new...
s and other drugs for treating HIV infections have changed the perception of HIV infection from an untreatable terminal illness to a treatable chronic malady similar to diabetes or epilepsyEpilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures...
.
- There is a decreasing effectiveness of health education messages in the gay community, a kind of condom fatigue
Condom fatigue is a term used by medical professionals and safer sex educators to refer to the phenomenon of decreased condom use. "Condom fatigue" can also be used to describe a general weariness of and decreased effectiveness of safer sex messages...
: "Some men are so sick of hearing about HIV/AIDS that they just ignore the whole issue."
- Individuals under the influence of drugs, such as alcohol or methamphetamine
Methamphetamine also known as metamfetamine , dextromethamphetamine, methylamphetamine, N-methylamphetamine, and desoxyephedrine) is a psychostimulant and sympathomimetic drug. Methamphetamine enters the brain and triggers a cascading release of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine...
, are less likely to be concerned over potential hazards of their behavior.
- "It has been suggested that barebacking is a form of rebellion." Along the lines of this suggestion, some recent academic work has argued that barebacking is a way to reach for transcendence, to overcome the boredom of everyday average life in our hyper-rationalized society.
- Online solicitation services for barebacking partners have led to an increase in the practice.
- Some gay men seem to feel that using condoms is "unnatural." For example, in a trailer of the Rockafellaz Entertainment video "Raw Rods 2," released in 2008, a scene of two men having unprotected anal intercourse is accompanied by the caption, "We do it like God intended us to."
- It is often said that the increased availability of bareback pornography contributes to the apathy, romanticizing, and eroticizing of the practice.
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 of STDs and HIV infections among young people and has given bad publicity to the gay community.
Other commentators say that the publicity which 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 pornographic films, 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.
Pornographic films
Bareback
gay pornographyGay pornography is the representation of sex between men with the primary goal of sexual arousal in its audience. There is also a tradition, and continuing considerable output, of lesbian pornography...
used to be available only in older, so-called "pre-condom" films from the 1970s and early 1980s. But since the 1990s, an increasing number of studios have been devoted to the production of new films featuring men engaging in unsafe sex. For example, San Francisco-based studio
Treasure Island MediaTreasure Island Media is a San Francisco-based gay pornography studio founded in 1998 by director Paul Morris and specializing in bareback and raunchy sex films. The studio is named after Morris' favorite childhood book, Treasure Island.-Overview:...
, one of the pioneers in this area, has produced bareback films since 1999. However, in the late 1990s, it was often Eastern European studios that supplied the demand from homosexual men in North America and Western Europe for bareback pornography. These studios included SEVP,
EurocremeEurocreme is a European company based in London, United Kingdom specializing in the production and distribution of gay pornographic films generally featuring twinks, though they have also released a number of series devoted to studs and men of more diverse appearance.-History:Eurocreme was founded...
, and Czech producers who provided footage to Hot Desert Knights for their "international line."
More recently, even "mainstream" pornographic studios such as
Kristen BjornKristen Bjorn is a British director and producer of gay pornographic movies and a former gay pornographic actor....
Productions have featured the occasional bareback scene. Other studios like
Falcon EntertainmentFalcon Entertainment , based in San Francisco, California, is one of the world's largest producers of gay pornography. Founded in 1971 by Chuck Holmes, Falcon is one of the most recognizable brand names in gay porn...
have reissued older pre-condom films in order to stay competitive, given the new popularity of barebacking. Finally, new American studios have entered the market without the traditional reluctance of the mainstream to produce barebacking films and thereby possibly promote unsafe sex in the gay community. Rockafellaz Entertainment is an example of a company that produces both "safe" and "unsafe" pornographic movies featuring young African-American and Latin men.
Some bareback pornography studios say that they do not inquire whether their models are HIV positive, but assume that they are infected. For example, Hot Desert Knights (HDK) was one of the studios that initially operated on the assumption that all of their bareback models were HIV positive. However, on February 7, 2008, HDK announced that it would begin testing its models for HIV and engage in a process of "sero-sorting," a controversial scheme in which studios match HIV-positive performers with other HIV-positive performers, and negative with negative. Critics suggest that sero-sorting may not prevent the development of a multi-strain "supervirus."
By contrast,
Bel AmiBel Ami is a Bratislava-based pornographic film company established by Georges Duroy, who is Slovak. "Bel Ami" means "beautiful friend" in French....
is one of the studios that claimed from the beginning to test their bareback models for HIV before allowing them to participate in condom-free scenes. A notice on the Bel Ami website states: "all our performers are regularly tested for the presence of HIV or other communicable diseases."
The
Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation was formed to promote and facilitate STD testing among pornographic film actors. AIM Healthcare Foundation was not formed to promote bareback sex, but to promote safety precautions in a community where bareback sex was a fact of life.
Heterosexual bareback
Heterosexual bareback has not created the
moral panicA moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue which appears to be a threat to the social order. Stanley Cohen, author of the seminal Folk Devils and Moral Panics , says a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to...
that gay barebacking has. Furthermore, barebacking is gaining popularity in the
swingingSwinging, sometimes referred to as the swinging lifestyle, is "non-monogamous sexual activity, treated much like any other social activity, that can be experienced as a couple." The phenomenon of swinging may be seen as part of the sexual revolution of recent decades, which occurred after the...
arena, where organizers frequently offer a vetting service for members to reduce the risk of STDs.
American sex advice columnist
Dan SavageDaniel Keenan Savage is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage is known for penning the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social...
, notable for his propensity for creating sexual neologisms, held a contest in January 2009 which created the word
Saddlebacking, to describe the act between Christian youths who engage in anal sex in order to preserve the appearance of virginity by not engaging in vaginal intercourse. The term was named sarcastically after
Rick WarrenRichard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
's
Saddleback ChurchSaddleback Church is an evangelical Christian megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, situated in southern Orange County, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The church was founded in 1980 by pastor Rick Warren...
.
Fluid bonding
Fluid bonding refers to unprotected sex in longterm relationships. The relationships can be either
monogamousMonogamy is the state of having only one sexual partner at any one time. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos "μονός", which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos "γάμος", which means marriage or union...
or
polyfaithfulPolyfidelity is a form of polyamorous group marriage wherein all members consider each other to be primary partners and agree to be sexual only with other members of this group. This term originated within the Kerista Village commune in San Francisco which practiced polyfidelity from 1971–1991...
.
Prostitution
In the sex trade, the willingness to bareback is a selling point for sex workers to their clients, despite the increased risks. The term "
girlfriend experienceThe girlfriend experience is a type of service a female prostitute offers which includes acting like a girlfriend to the client.-Adult service:...
" (GFE) was coined to denote an encounter between a prostitute and a client that could be considered "a real relationship for the moment with a sincere woman who apparently enjoys the experience, not just mechanical sex. It should not, however, be implied that the GFE automatically includes barebacking; to do so may result in denial of commercial sex services. "
Further reading
- Nicolas Sheon and Aaron Plant, "Protease Dis-Inhibitors? The Gay Bareback Phenomenon," managingdesire.org. With a long list of further references.
- Riding Bareback: A Qualitative Examination of the Subjective Meanings Attached to Condomless Sex by MSM, Bruce W. Whitehead, Journal of Sex Research (Feb 2006)