PRIDE, Progress and the Preoccupation with Cum
Picture it: the year was 1992. So much stuff happened that year. Amy Fisher (the “Long Island Lolita”) shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco , George H.W. Bush threw up in the lap of Japan's Prime Minister, and the Rodney King verdict kicked off the L.A. riots. I was 15 going on 16, newly out of the closet and I couldn't get enough of the village and everything gay. I was so geeked out on Pride that I signed up to be a parade marshal walking alongside the Hetrick-Martin Institute and I broke night from Saturday into Sunday morning. I rushed home to get my turquoise Marshall t-shirt (I was so proud) making it back to the 5th Ave/57th St. area just in time to begin the parade. (image source)
It was overcast that day, but nothing could dampen my spirit. It was so amazing to find myself among other GLBT folks. I had no idea there were that many of us….people from all over the world, in every shape, size, and color. It was amazing. I wanted to see everything, meet everyone and do everything. I felt so safe. Stonewall 25 (2 years later) would easily trump my first Pride in just about every way (attendance, expense, etc.), but as you know…nothing can trump your first time.
The morning of what would be my 17th Pride parade found me browsing the net for news and reporting about Stonewall 40 and its significance. Understandably, the net was jammed with news about the untimely deaths of music legend Michael Jackson and 70’s siren Farrah Fawcett. A friend sent me an article that confirmed what I already thought was true. Nothing has changed. Despite an ease in attitudes toward gay people in much of mainstream society, we have the same rights we did in 1969. Sure, we can marry in certain states, but comprehensive equal rights for GLBT folk extend far beyond being able to say “I do”. Progress my ass.
GLBT second class citizenship has had a profound impact which is reflected in nearly every aspect of our lives. For the purposes of Changing Positions, I’ll focus on sex. The ways in which gay men met and socialized before the internet was determined by the times and the city in which they lived. Men didn’t start cruising parks because it was a sexy thing to do. They did it because circumstances at the time forced them to adapt. We developed non verbal cues, rules and norms around cruising. We did what we had to do to get off. Flash forward to 2009, and guys are still cruising...only this time we also cruise the internet. The technology has changed, but the circumstances haven’t.
Ever since I read about the invisible condom, I’ve been thinking about the time and money Chris Steel and his company must devote to develop a condom that disappears on film. I ain’t mad at him; companies must follow trends and give the audience what they are looking for. Apparently porn customers want to watch men fucking without condoms. What started as an underground movement of amateur pornographers making low-grade bareback porn has morphed into a formidable niche in the gay porn industry. Countless studios have sprung up offering muscle boys, twinks, groups, gay-4-pay “straight boys”, and mature men all engaging in bareback sex in varying degrees of intensity from the pre-condom classics (hey it’s 1965, no one wears condoms – peace man), modern amateur clips (people like it, so we’ll make it) to the “breeding” movies which feature internal cumshots. Most studios include an obligatory disclaimer about bareback sex. To paraphrase: it’s a personal choice between informed partners, our models are tested, blah, blah, blah. Translation: Our guys are fucking without condoms because you lap this shit up, but don’t blame us if you do it and get infected.
Which brings me to the cum. When did we become so obsessed with seeing guys cum inside of each other? Is this like…a known thing, and I’m late to the party? I mean, I guess I understand the concept of cumming uninterrupted into something warm, wet ….and tight, but the breeding films seem to have a fuck the system, living on the edge, Russian roulette quality to them.
So I have questions…
- Is it the chicken or the egg? Early news about pre-condom era films being repackaged raised concerns that folks would say fuck it..and stop wearing condoms. What do you think?
- Do you watch bareback porn? Why or why not?
- Is having bareback sex a way to exert power in a society that keeps us powerless?
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I read your blog post and it was thought-provoking to say the least. As someone who remembers the original pre-condom porn when it was the only kind of porn available, it is interesting how this current incarnation has taken on new heights of interest.
As to your questions:
Is it the chicken or the egg? Early news about pre-condom era films being repackaged raised concerns that folks would say fuck it..and stop wearing condoms. What do you think?
I think that is indeed what has happened. I think safer sex advocates are challenged to compete against the slickly produced, highly erotic porn images that are out there. Brochures and safer sex messages that because of funder-mandated restrictions prohibit any discussion of sex and especially gay dick-in-ass sex, are always going to lose out to hot boys, big dicks and cumshots. Until we get independent funding for real effective safer sex messages (somebody needs to produce hot, safe porn) people will be influenced by what they see and want to imitate it.
Do you watch bareback porn? Why or why not?
Yes I do. I resisted for the longest time because consciously I did not like the images, especially of young Black gay men and the impact that would have on impressionable minds. But resistence is futile. Raw sex is a hot fantasy.
Is having bareback sex a way to exert power in a society that keeps us powerless?
I suppose so. But I think ultimately it's about sex without worrying about the consequence. Ever since the virus appeared, we've been forced to think about risk, infection, death. That takes all the fun out of it. Straight folks get to sleep around without thinking of the consequences (there are consequences, they just don't think about them). I think we all just want to be able to meet somebody, get turned on, fuck our brains out, and not worry about anything. A condom is just a constant reminder that risk, infection, death are part of the equation.
Anonymous says
In answer to your questions:
Is it the chicken or the egg? Yes. I think there are some people who watch bareback porn and it impacts their behaviors...but I think the public's desire for bareback porn is what drove the repackaging of the old stuff.
I do watch bareback porn, but not exclusively, and not for the bareback aspect per se. Some of the sex in bareback movies is so animal, realistic and hot.
I don't know. I never thought about it that way. I guess if our relationships were looked at differently, we might not be having this conversation. It's hard to say.