Porn that fetishizes HIV

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/16/14 at 11:53am

TIM....unbelievable--SFW

[Kad]

Posted: 4/16/14 at 12:09pm

Rule 34.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/16/14 at 12:12pm

It's basic Eros & Thanatos, isn't it? I remember some outraged friends of mine who worked in the HIV prevention field when the mostly mythical fantasy of "bug chasing" surfaced. At the time it struck me as just another dark, deep expression of fantasy. Then some web sites surfaced with "bug chasing porn" stories on them. Every outraged one of us checked them out. Friends were worried about the stories inspiring people to seek out "seroconversion parties' in real life. But I asked them if any of them could get through the stories without relieving themselves, because I sure couldn't. Everybody agreed that of course they could not, because the stories were so hot.

I think it's fantasizing about transgression. About the endorphin rush of extreme risk.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/16/14 at 12:36pm

"I’m HIV-positive and a jar of cum wasn’t going to change that or affect my health in any way"

It's good to have a positive (no pun intended) outlook on your job!

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/16/14 at 2:17pm

I have no words...

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/16/14 at 4:43pm

I think Namo is on the ball here. It's a (dangerous) fantasy, and as much as I would be extremely worried about anyone I knew involved in this film, or seeking out something similar, obviously TIM knew it would sell, and this doesn't seem all that different from their usual output.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 4/17/14 at 12:27pm

Oh, Blue Bailey!

Treasure Island has always been on the fringe of porn. There's nothing off limits.

It's 2014. If you have sex without protection, you're an idiot.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 4/17/14 at 5:12pm

How very scary.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/17/14 at 9:05pm

It's not true that everybody who has unprotected sex in 2014 is an idiot.

But I do know that shaming people for being honest about their sexual behavior does nothing to stop the spread of HIV.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 7:40am

Well said, Namo!

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 10:51am

Let me rephrase. People who put their safety in the hands of other people are idiots. I'm not saying everyone who has unprotected sex is an idiot. You can't blame the positive guy for giving you HIV if you didn't take the necessary steps to prevent the spread.

I know HIV+ men who only have sex with other HIV+ positive men, thinking that they don't need condoms. I know that that is wrong.

I know a couple who works for TIM. They're legally married. They only do bb porn, sometimes with each other and sometimes with others, and sometimes all at once.

There's no shame in being positive. I do think that there is shame in choosing to not use protection outside of a monogamous relationship.

If both parties are tested, and both are negative, and both don't screw around, I think that's fine.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 11:59am

Your first paragraph just swings from idea to idea. "You can't blame the positive guy for giving you HIV if you didn't take the necessary steps to prevent the spread." What "you" are you talking about? What does it have to do with the video this thread was talking about? Where anywhere on earth does anybody say they choose to have unprotected sex with people of unknown status but reserve the right to blame the partner if they seroconvert?

"I know HIV+ men who only have sex with other HIV+ positive men, thinking that they don't need condoms. I know that that is wrong."

As the SF AIDS Foundation put it about 15 years ago, "How do you know what you know?"

I just think there are a lot of made up scenarios that are fantasy, sexual or otherwise, on the part of Treasure Island Media and guys like you that have little to do with, as they put it in RENT, actual reality.

"If both parties are tested, and both are negative, and both don't screw around, I think that's fine."

Again, your unsolicited approval or disapproval does absolutely nothing to curtail the spread of HIV. If you make it impossible for people in your life to be honest with your about their behaviors, you lose the chance to ask them what they know about PrEP.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 7:39pm

Namo, is it no longer considered dangerous for HIV+ people to have unprotected sex with each other? That's what I have always heard, but I realize medical knowledge is constantly changing.

(I'm just curious and, no, I don't feel a need to "HIV-shame" anybody. Sex is a rather basic human activity and I've never felt the need to judge.)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 8:12pm

There are people who swear that is a demonstrated phenomenon. There are those who feel the numbers are not compelling enough and make the decision to forego condoms.

It has definitely been demonstrated that people on the meds who reach an undetectable viral load and take the mess with utter consistency do not transmit HIV. So partners with undetectBle viral loads might reasonably decide there is no risk of the super-infection Larry Kramer used to salivate over.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 8:44pm

I mean... there's rape fantasy porn and people are going to get up in arms over HIV Fetish porn? Different strokes for different folks, doesn't concern you nor should it.

[vpd1981]

Posted: 4/18/14 at 11:11pm

Oh my my ...

I agree with Bailey in that pornography should not be setting an example for anything, regardless of ... um ... genre(?). It is not educational, nor has it ever been intended to be.

That being said, if fantasizing about contracting HIV is a turn-on for someone, that's good for them. I fear it may perpetuate the myth that HIV/AIDS is a "gay" disease and that homosexuals are careless, irresponsible, and promiscuous beyond comprehension.

When I read/hear about young men still contracting HIV, it saddens me. Are they testing positive because of these films? Who knows? It is not my place to guess, assume, or judge. HIV is still a scary and serious problem - an epidemic. I don't quite fully understand fetishizing an epidemic, but I don't have to. It doesn't work for me, so, I don't have to understand it. What does work for me, sexually, doesn't work for many, many people, and I don't need them to understand it.

I hope that the men in these films are truthful, and that any negative performers are made fully aware of a positive performers status.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 12:36am

Here's the thing, in North America, HIV is mostly a men who have sex with men's disease.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 10:50am

I'm with theatrefan4. It's, of course, disturbing.

But the same can and has been said of a lot of things that happen in porn and sex play. Some people eroticize rape, kidnapping, extreme domination, bigotry, sexism and all permutations of pain, suffering and humiliation.

Then again, people certainly get up and arms about rape fantasy porn. It was a large part of the entire anti-porn movement of the 80s, McKinnon, Dworkin et al. So perhaps there isn't an inconsistency here.