Bareback Porn Influences Safe Sex Intentions

[Steven_Draker]

Bareback porn influences safe sex intentions

16 May 2014

 

http://www.naughty.com/Gay_Porn_Movies/images/Cop-Stories-2-The-Cover-Up-GAY-DVD.jpg http://www.pornwikileaks.com/wiki/images/0/0d/Strokesthefag.jpg http://www.pornwikileaks.com/wiki/images/thumb/d/df/510151.jpg/140px-510151.jpg http://www.gaypornblog.com/Unspeakable-DVD-cover.jpg

 

New research shows a causal link between viewing bareback pornography (in which men have intercourse with each other without a condom) and a reduced intention to practise safe sex. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in collaboration with the Amsterdam Municipal Health Service (GGD) and has been published in the May issue of the academic journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

 

The acceptability of bareback pornography is a topic of frequent debate. In Los Angeles, for example, the use of condoms has been mandatory in the production of pornography since 2012. There are also ethical discussions about digitally editing out condoms after filming. Besides the obvious issue of the health of the actors, the possible risks to consumers are largely overlooked. While previous research into human imitation behaviour suggested that bareback pornography counteracts efforts to promote safe sex, there was no causal scientific evidence to back this up. But the results of two studies conducted by UvA psychologist Kai Jonas and other researchers now provide evidence. They investigated whether watching 'gay porn' showing unprotected sex has an effect on the intentions of men who have intercourse with other men to take sexual risks.

 

DVD covers and film scenes

In the first study, subjects were presented with four DVD covers for gay porn films: two explicitly showing sex (one with and one without a condom) and two showing ‘body shots’ (with no sexual act). They were asked to click on the parts of the photos that attracted their attention most. After this, they indicated whether or not they would use a condom if they were to have sex at that moment. Based on the responses, the researchers were able to ascertain that attention to unprotected sex acts negatively predicts safe sex intentions.

 

The second study looked at the immediate impact of pornographic films depicting protected or unprotected sex on the sexual behaviour of viewers. Here, the participants were shown different film sequences. In one of the sequences, the actors were clearly seen to be using a condom; the other showed barebacking. After watching the sequences, participants were again asked to indicate if they would use a condom were they to have sex at that moment. To promote ecological validity (the degree to which the results of a research study match everyday practice), the research was conducted at a gay club in Amsterdam. The results show that the men who viewed barebacking had a lower intention to practise safe sex than those in the group presented with scenes showing condom use.

 

Although these findings do not translate into a specific intervention strategy, the underlying mechanisms they expose could be used in designing prevention strategies and in helping to make consumers and sex club owners aware of the effects of the type of films they watch or show.

 

Publication details

Kai J. Jonas, Skyler T. Hawk, Danny Vastenburg & Peter de Groot: ‘Bareback' Pornography Consumption Negatively Influences Safe-Sex Intentions of Men Having Sex with Men, in: Archives of Sexual Behavior, Issue 4 (May 2014).

Published by UvA Persvoorlichting

 

source: http://www.uva.nl/en/news-events/news/uva-news/content/press-releases/2014/05/bareback-porn-influences-safe-sex-intentions.html

[cooldemo03]

Personally, I think gay men watch bareback porn BECAUSE they like bareback sex, not the other way around.

[Daverwr]

I think men watch bareback porn because for most porn is a fantasy, as is bareback sex (for many men).

[Steven_Draker]

The question the article answers is whether watching bareback porn (a fantasy) influences your behavior in real life.

[+ Gar1eth]

If a movie can make you feel happy, make you sad enough to bring tears to your eyes, or make you horny, then why is it so hard to think that continually watching bareback sex wouldn't affect you - obviously not all people and not all the time. But it doesn't seem that far fetched a conclusion.

 

Gman

[SteveEscort]

I usually have porn playing on the tv for general daytime appointments, it's all bareback porn, mainly because clients don't want to see condom porn and I am not that in awe of condom porn to be perfectly honest. I am not generally in awe of porn, full stop.

 

It's doesn't affect my life in the same way that I don't think about popping around to the neighbours house and slashing her throat because I see it on Major Crimes and enjoy watching that too. I watch transsexual porn with some clients but that's never made me think twice about wearing stockings.

 

I think the significant factor in the changing attitudes to bareback is because it's no longer a life sentence and men are less worried about it than they were 10 years ago, I don't think it's got anything to do with porn.

[+ Gar1eth]

I usually have porn playing on the tv for general daytime appointments, it's all bareback porn, mainly because clients don't want to see condom porn and I am not that in awe of condom porn to be perfectly honest. I am not generally in awe of porn, full stop.

 

It's doesn't affect my life in the same way that I don't think about popping around to the neighbours house and slashing her throat because I see it on Major Crimes and enjoy watching that too. I watch transsexual porn with some clients but that's never made me think twice about wearing stockings.

 

I think the significant factor in the changing attitudes to bareback is because it's no longer a life sentence and men are less worried about it than they were 10 years ago, I don't think it's got anything to do with porn.

 

Watch the movie The Champ with Jon Voight. If you don't get a lump in your throat at the final scene, you have a stone in place of a heart. If The Champ doesnt get you, try Old Yeller. And I'm pretty sure there are studies showing that at least in some cases all these violent videos the kids are watching are desensitizing some of them to violence. Hollywood starlets in the 1920's started wearing make-up. Hollywood made cigarettes glamorous. The basic theory of advertising is to convince you that you want something you may not actually want. Supermarkets hire psychologists to figure out the best placements for various foodstuffs. People selling houses bake bread or apple pies. All to influence behavior. And guess what- while not foolproof, it works. The more people are exposed to something like bareback porn the more it's going to seep inside. It's something most want to do anyway which makes it even easier.

 

Gman

[LookingAround]

The question the article answers is whether watching bareback porn (a fantasy) influences your behavior in real life.

 

Steven, the article does not answer whether it influences behavior in real life. Though the article uses the word "causal" in the text, this is erroneous, and the title of the article "influences intentions" is more accurate. Any hypothetical' question about "what would you do in the moment?" cannot establish causality or what the person would actually do. It reflects their fantasy. As an analogy--watching a violent movie can influence intention, but there has, to date, been no causal link between watching a violent movie, and going out and committing violence.

 

Its interesting, but there is a reason this article was not published in a more rigorous scientific journal and instead, was published in the "archives of sexual behavior" (a legitimate journal for sure, but not rigorous in the same way New England Journal of Medicine is rigorous). Good conversation starter, but from this article alone, you cannot say that watching BB porn influences real life behavior. To really establish this, one would need a longitudinal, prospective study. This is both cross sectional and self-report, which does not allow any kind of causal connection conclusion.

[Steven_Draker]

... why is it so hard to think that continually watching bareback sex wouldn't affect you - obviously not all people and not all the time. But it doesn't seem that far fetched a conclusion.

 

Previously we thought that watching bareback porn, doesn't impact safe sex intentions much. Now with this Dutch study we know that it does.

 

Here's the previous study:

 

"GMFA have release the findings of their porn study with the following results:

 

87% of gay men report watching porn at least once a week (1 in 4 watching porn every day)

the most popular act watched was anal sex (91%)

69% reported actively choosing bareback porn with 96% having ever watched bareback porn.

 

Of course this brings forward the question if gay men are being exposed to regular bareback sex, in particular anal sex that is considered the highest risk sexual act for transmission of HIV, is there likely to be a wash over effect to actual behaviour? Does watching bareback porn promote actual bareback sex?

 

Interestingly 7% of survey takers said that yes, watching bareback porn lead to them having unsafe anal sex, with almost all (96.8%) saying that this would not stop them watching bareback porn.

 

By far the most interesting question I found was “do you think watching bareback porn can lead others to having unprotected sex?”. More then 50% of the people taking the survey said yes, watching bareback porn was likely to make other people have unsafe sex. Is this a case of “well clearly I can tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but I can’t speak for others…”?

 

source: http://thehealthybear.com/bareback-porn/

[Steven_Draker]

“It’s impossible to say precisely how much impact watching porn has on people’s behaviour but it seems that many people, gay or straight, learn about sex from porn, and perhaps this is even more true for gay men, as we are less likely to get a gay sex education at school.”

 

Porn actor Dean Monroe told FS magazine: “Porn is sometimes the first taste of sex a young person gets, so naturally what they see on screen, they might emulate in life.

“Every scene should show the model putting the condom on.”

 

Liam Cole, a producer of bareback porn counters said: “My porn is not a fantasy, it’s a record of how some gay men fuck. Bareback sex doesn’t take much encouragement.”

 

more: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/08/08/survey-7-percent-led-to-unprotected-sex-by-bareback-porn/

[justaguy]

"Bareback sex doesn't take much encuragement." That about sums it up.

 

The study, IMO, isn't enough to supply a causal link. What it does do, though, is give us yet another indication of how quickly attitudes toward unsafe behavior are changing. What worries me most is that the HIV virus mutates so quickly. I can see the day when it overcomes what few drugs we have to combat it and we end up with another deadly epidemic. In my mind, the increasing number of men who bareback is only bringing that day closer.

[SteveEscort]

What worries me most is that the HIV virus mutates so quickly. I can see the day when it overcomes what few drugs we have to combat it and we end up with another deadly epidemic. In my mind, the increasing number of men who bareback is only bringing that day closer.

 

Perfectly put