Is bareback (and breeding) the new standard?

[soki]

For a time now it appears on the professional scene, bareback and breeding has become the standard, porn studios have embraced it in the majority (when some years ago they would heavily criticise BB studios like RFC, and even ban working with actors if they have been doing BB scenes elsewhere)

And in the OF scene, it appears almost everyone is on the bareback train.

Also, it appears people found hookups it’s slowly getting more comfortable with going bareback, or at most wanting it after knowing a bit the other person (fuck buddies), when time ago people would be condom-only even on relationships (boyfriends).

Recently I have started to see a little bit more of people on apps being OK with BB or at least BB after knowing/testing/whatever

Is this new “standard” really becoming the new normal? What do you think? Do you think it’s gonna become more a more usual with time?

IMO, I think if people don’t get scared with something becoming a huge problem (like a new fear of antibiotics resistants strains) it’s slowly going to be more a more usual - more so because as everyone already knows, once you go bareback, you don’t want to go back lol

(and yeah, I know, HIV can be “avoided” with Prep and so on, but other STDs are out there like resistant strains to antibiotics - maybe that will scare people soon?)

Edited August 1 by soki

[floodedslut]

Wouldn't it be better if something scary didn't come along, and the medical community caught up with ways to protect people fully? Bareback isn't some unnatural concept, afterall. To answer your question though, yes. In the last 5 years I don't remember a single hookup wanting to not go bare and breed.

[Tanbbottom]

In my experience it's a very low percentage of guys that want to use condoms. Most don't even raise the topic before pushing into my ass or making it clear they want me in theirs. And as for breeding. If his raw cock is in me I'll be disappointed if he doesn't breed me.  I'm not a great top, so even pushing in can trigger my orgasm. And I'm not going to cover up for you. I respect your choice.  Just know it's only gonna fuck you if you take it raw. Be prepared to get bred if you offer your ass to me.

Is barebacking the new normal? In my mind and the majority of guys this seems to be the case. And I love it!

[openjock74]

I think bareback is the new normal, and has been for a while.  You're quite right, there are risks of other STDs, and new antibiotic-resistant strains of them, and people should be more concerned about it, but PrEP did change everything.  I almost never have a hookup mention condoms anymore.

[slaveboi]

10 years ago when I did anon hotel hook ups I always brought condoms just to get more cocks. I would say 80% of guys used them. Now its rare for a guy to ask. I would say it is the new normal for sure. 

[descartes70817]

Even before U=U  barebacking was becoming more and more common, but since then guys who were condom nazis before happily let me bareback them now.

[tallslenderguy]

On 8/1/2024 at 3:41 PM, soki said:

(and yeah, I know, HIV can be “avoided” with Prep and so on, but other STDs are out there like resistant strains to antibiotics - maybe that will scare people soon?)

i appreciate you sharing your question and perspective, because a lot of gay guys were born in an era or setting where they were conditioned to feel/believe condoms were "the standard."  For many gay men, wearing condoms was never the "standard," and didn't really become a prevalent consideration until the advent of HIV and AIDS. All the other STD's were around and prevalent in the gay community prior to HIV, but condoms were mostly a straight thing for preventing pregnancy... not avoiding STD's.  

I.e, historically speaking, gay men using condoms for sex is the "new standard."

Here's an excerpt from and link to a study on the topic (it's old, done in 1993, but still has some relevant info?): One note i didn't think of was the 10% of gays who used condoms prior to HIV used them for "hygiene" not STD's.

"Even though the uptake of condoms by homosexual and bisexual males definitely ranks as one of the most dramatic health protective behavioral changes ever recorded, HIV prevention campaigns nonetheless continue to encourage these men to use condoms during anal intercourse. Maybe 10% of gay men used condoms prior to 1980, and then primarily for reasons of hygiene, but 78% of gay and bisexual men use them for anal intercourse by 1987 and were regularly used by 50% of all men engaging in anal sex."

[think before following links] [think before following links] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8110858/

Edited August 3 by tallslenderguy

[billy88666]

I think most guys will admit that when they're watching porn, they will get more exited if the action does not include a condom. The porn industry have stared to listen to their consumers  and have hired guys who will submit to regular testing to minimize the risk to their co-workers. With the availability of Prep a lot of guys are now happy to bareback. They tended to be more fixated about HIV when it was a potential death sentence and some younger guys have said to me that that they're not afraid of testing poz. With current meds. it's highly likely that they would live a normal life span. It's also been mentioned in the media that there is a new drug being tested that may only need to be injected twice a year to prevent infection.

There are still guys out there that see a poz status as a badge of honour and are actively chasing before it becomes almost impossible for them to convert.

 

[hntnhole]

16 minutes ago, tallslenderguy said:

For many gay men, wearing condoms was never the "standard," and didn't really become a prevalent consideration until the advent of HIV and AIDS.

Agreed.  

I think that in certain parts of the country (meaning, an appreciable distance from major metro areas), guys always fucked each other raw.  Before hiv came along, here were some guys that "fetishized" condoms, but they were few and far between.  Every (gay) guy that had sex, had it raw.  Tons of guys stopped having sex altogether at first - and only gradually started fucking again, but always with a barrier.  And, when treatments/preventative measures became available, condom-use plummeted. 

For the great majority, using a condom was merely an effort to preserve their health, as well as their very lives, and still maintain some shred of their former sexual-lives.  I don't believe that for the vast majority, condom-use was ever the preferred way to fuck. 

Using condoms was only a way to keep on living, and once there were other options, barriers disappeared altogether.  That said, I've always lived in big cities (Chgo) or magnet-cities for raw sex (Ft. L.).  I haven't so much as seen one on another guy for literally decades.  

[hntnhole]

22 minutes ago, billy88666 said:

It's also been mentioned in the media that there is a new drug being tested that may only need to be injected twice a year to prevent infection.

I've noticed that too.  Science has a way of studying/coming up with treatments for illnesses that affect more folks than fewer.  This time, capitalism is the hero.  

[bjbottom]

Some of my fuck buddies worked for studios that were safe sex only.  They supposedly were never going to return to bareback.   They are now bareback only.  I think AIDS treatments and PreP as well as consumers' tastes and preferences are the main reasons for the changes.  For me, bareback is not new.  I have always taken raw cocks since my first one in 1979.  Being a bathhouse bareback cumdump bottom in the early 80s, the thought of using condoms was never an option, even when there was social and community pressure to practice safe sex.  As a large group of friends and acquaintances began to get sick and die, and few people wanted to be around them, I remained intimate with them.   Somehow I have remained negative over the years, and only recently thought about going on PreP, but I am conflicted because I made it 40-some years without it and without having my tops use condoms. 

[VersAlwaysLooking]

It varies a little by city but generally Bareback is standard.   For apps, the table has flipped.    When I was younger it was on me to specify we were fucking raw before the meet and that would scare away some guys.    Now, it’s on guys who want a condom to bring it up and I suspect they’re getting turned away.   I never ask anymore and the other guy always plays raw, regardless of what the profile says.   
 

I do find that there’s still a bit of condom usage in conservative places where PrEP is probably not easily accessible or has stigma. Even there though, it very easy to find a willing partner.  
 

i play constantly so i feel I have a pretty large sample to make these statements.   In fact, i think I’ve only been asked to use a condom once in the past year.  It was at a bathhouse and I remember thing king,  this guy is gonna have a slow night.  

[TightBott7]

Yes, while just anecdotal, my own experience in the last five years has been that tops chose to fuck raw with very little discussion or none at all and in spite of app profiles that say they use condoms.

[Luxbrit]

Definitely seems more widely practiced now I would assume due to PREP and better available sexual heath testing etc 

[jXsluT]

ive noticed more guys wanting to fuck me raw. maybe cause they know they cant have this hole if they dont