Chemsex and Barebacking: An Autoethnography of Sexual Panic on an Off-Road Motorbike

Autors/ores

Resum

I examine autoethnographically the intersections of chemsex, barebacking, and sexual panic, critically challenging the dominant discourses surrounding these areas of study. Drawing from my personal experiences, the study employs the metaphor of off-road motorbiking to interrogate the complexities of risk, pleasure, and the body. My analysis highlights the paradoxical ways in which society valorises risk in extreme sports while pathologising risk-taking in sexual encounters, particularly among men who have sex with other men in chemsex. I critique the moral panic that marks certain bodies as deviant and subject to social regulation. I argue that barebacking in chemsex, often reduced to public health concerns, should instead be understood within a broader socio-cultural context where pleasure, the body, and risk are negotiated. I complexify binary notions of safety and danger linked to sexual panic, urging a nuanced understanding of chemsex and barebacking that recognises their relational aspects.

Paraules clau

Chemsex, Barebacking, Sexuality, Ethnography, Risk management

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Biografia de l'autor/a

Jorge Humberto Lucero Díaz, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Jorge Humberto Lucero Díaz, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, doctorando en el programa Persona y Sociedad en el Mundo Contemporáneo. Psicólogo y Químico Farmacéutico, Universidad de Chile. MA Postcolonial Culture and Global Policy, Goldsmiths, University of London.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.3752

Publicades

17-02-2025

Com citar

Lucero Díaz, J. H. (2025). Chemsex and Barebacking: An Autoethnography of Sexual Panic on an Off-Road Motorbike. Athenea Digital. Revista De Pensamiento E investigación Social, 25(1), e3752. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.3752

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Funding data

Drets d'autor (c) 2025 Jorge Humberto Lucero Díaz

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Aquesta obra està sota una llicència internacional Creative Commons Reconeixement 4.0.