In an exploratory study of men who used Internet sites to meet partners and who reported recent episodes of barebacking, respondents outlined numerous strategies they deployed to avoid HIV infection instead of universal condom use. However, in interviews many participants acknowledged uneasiness with the flaws in their chosen strategies and the contradiction between their urgent desire to remain HIV-free and their sexual practices. For some, the dissonance between the conflicting cognitions could be resolved through self-justification, mental compartmentalization, or invincibility beliefs so that barebacking can continue. For this sub-population continued reiteration of cognitive-based prevention messages have the potential to reinforce rather than undermine their attachment to inadequate strategies for disease avoidance. The adoption of the term barebacking and its incorporation into Web sites and dating profiles suggested a paradigm shift in sexual risk-taking Berg, ; Van de Ven et al.

This article summarizes current research findings on sexual risk taking among gay men, discusses psychosocial issues that contribute to barebacking, and suggests a harm-reduction approach to clinical work with gay men who bareback as an effective method of addressing the behavior. Most users should sign in with their email address. If you originally registered with a username please use that to sign in. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Sign In or Create an Account.

Urvaksh has never had it easy. There was the fitness expert who forced him to sign up for Krav Maga classes. The graphic designer who dragged him to rave parties. Every man was an oversight, every decision was a compromise.

Bareback sex is physical sexual activity , especially sexual penetration , without the use of a condom. A slang term, bareback sex comes from the equestrian term bareback , which refers to 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