Bareback sex is physical sexual activity , especially sexual penetration , without the use of a condom. An LGBT slang term, bareback sex comes from the equestrian term bareback , which is the practice of riding a horse without a saddle.
It is not known when the term as sexual slang was first used, although its use did gain momentum in the s with the first appearance in print as analogous reference occurring in The term appeared occasionally in print until the s and then in context to the AIDS epidemic and the discussion of sexual practices.
It did not have widespread use in LGBT culture until , when there was an increase of discussion regarding condomless sex as reflected in print publications. The term bareback sex is now used less frequently among heterosexuals. Initially used for contraceptive purposes, condoms also came to be used to limit or prevent sexually transmitted infections STIs , even after other contraceptive methods were developed. As AIDS emerged and the sexual transmission of HIV became known in the s, the use of condoms to prevent infection became much more widespread, especially among men who have sex with men MSM who engage in anal sex.
At the beginning of the AIDS crisis, in the context of the invention and development of safe sex , the uptake of condoms among Western MSM was so widespread and effective that condom use became established as a norm for sex between men. From , several high-profile HIV positive men [ who? While these early articulations of barebacking expressed a concern for HIV prevention, in that they generally referred to dispensing with condoms in the context of sex between people of the same HIV status, the moral panic which ensued was so pronounced that barebacking came to be framed as a rebellious and transgressive erotic practice for HIV positive and HIV negative people alike, irrespective of the risks of HIV transmission.
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A resurgence of barebacking in first-world gay communities during the s has been a frequent topic for gay columnists and editorialists in The Advocate , Genre magazine , and Out magazine. Academic works suggest that barebacking is a way to reach for transcendence, to overcome the boredom of everyday average life in a hyper-rationalized society. Early articulations of barebacking generally refer to sex between two HIV-positive men, whereby barebacking could be considered an early harm reduction strategy, similar to serosorting , which was later endorsed by some public health authorities in the USA.
