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rfmcdonaldIf Xtra hadn't so rudely decided to remove the years worth of articles available in its online archives, I would have been able to quote some more from Michelle Mangan's article. Robin reported that many of the people who were interested in him were HIV positive and wanted to engage in unprotected sex with him since, after all, he was thin enough to look like an AIDS sufferer, and what could be the harm? Fortunately, Robin reported that he was still HIV negative, even though his efforts to conform to one image still exposed him to some risk of harm.
Unprotected sex, it should be noted, isn't limited to gay/bi circles; if anything, it may be more prevalent among heterosexuals. Lack of interest and lack of expected doom are important factors. Perhaps the most important psychological factor motivating unprotected sex is the desire to demonstrate one's trust in one's partner, to make the encounter all the more attractive and, perhaps in so doing, snag him (or possibly, her). If one's not attractive enough, then it's time to make the offer more attractive. But then, as Goffin and King wrote back in 1960,
Holleran's observations about the trust/life binary, as explained by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sandor_baci, make a lot of sense. People want to live happily, people want to trust others, and unfortunately these two goals frequently conflict. It doesn't seem like single heterosexuals have it any easier; a pity, that.
The gay/bi male community's noted for constructed its own images. One set of images, with its own associated cultural networks and associations, that has arisen in reaction to the tyranny of the perfect body, is that associated with the bears. As if an unknowing anticipation of the call to build "sustainable sexual cultures" issued by Gabriel Rotello's 1997 Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Man, the bear community seems--at least from my outsider's perspective--to be relaxed enough about image for it not to worry them extensively. Might not heterosexual males engage in a similar reaction against the metrosexual ideal?
Even so, this project of reaction has problems. For instance, it isn't a rejection of the idea of cultural norms altogether, but is rather the construction of an alternative set of said. Partly as a natural consequence of this group-building, there is apparently some unfair criticism of out-groups, particularly twinks. It's all a maze of images, it seems, however one identifies, and I'm not sure if it's at all possible to step outside this.
Unprotected sex, it should be noted, isn't limited to gay/bi circles; if anything, it may be more prevalent among heterosexuals. Lack of interest and lack of expected doom are important factors. Perhaps the most important psychological factor motivating unprotected sex is the desire to demonstrate one's trust in one's partner, to make the encounter all the more attractive and, perhaps in so doing, snag him (or possibly, her). If one's not attractive enough, then it's time to make the offer more attractive. But then, as Goffin and King wrote back in 1960,
Is this a lasting treasure
Or just a moment's pleasure
Can I believe the magic of your sighs
Will you still love me tomorrow
Holleran's observations about the trust/life binary, as explained by
sandor_baci, make a lot of sense. People want to live happily, people want to trust others, and unfortunately these two goals frequently conflict. It doesn't seem like single heterosexuals have it any easier; a pity, that.The gay/bi male community's noted for constructed its own images. One set of images, with its own associated cultural networks and associations, that has arisen in reaction to the tyranny of the perfect body, is that associated with the bears. As if an unknowing anticipation of the call to build "sustainable sexual cultures" issued by Gabriel Rotello's 1997 Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Man, the bear community seems--at least from my outsider's perspective--to be relaxed enough about image for it not to worry them extensively. Might not heterosexual males engage in a similar reaction against the metrosexual ideal?
Even so, this project of reaction has problems. For instance, it isn't a rejection of the idea of cultural norms altogether, but is rather the construction of an alternative set of said. Partly as a natural consequence of this group-building, there is apparently some unfair criticism of out-groups, particularly twinks. It's all a maze of images, it seems, however one identifies, and I'm not sure if it's at all possible to step outside this.
