Dion Kagan’s book chapter “Crisis Re-runs: Barebacking, Chemsex & Post-Crisis Sex Panic” begins with a critique of the VICE News documentary “Chemsex”, which is a misleading depiction of chemsex (the combination of sex and drug use among some gay men) as a ‘risky’ sexual practice, one that portrays its participants as immoral and hedonistic. This is one of the many examples that Kagan uses to explain the troubling phenomenon of what he calls ‘re-crisis’. This is defined as the modern re-emergence of the AIDS crisis sex panic in which certain behaviours or groups are seen as threats to societal values, with minor changes that reflect neoliberal principles such as personal responsibility. Another major practice Kagan explores the treatment of
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The documentary Chemsex, that Kagan’s article criticizes, portrays drug-fuelled sex as a self-indulgent and reckless behaviour (‘self-destructive narcissism”), whereas Dean’s essay contradicts that idea and deems the practice of barebacking to be, in some views, an almost altruistic act in that the participants are willing to sacrifice their livelihood to carry on the gay subculture (Kagan, Chapter 3). They also both take the view that barebacking as transgression of sexual norms can be integral to gay identity for some men in the subculture. One major difference between the two articles is its treatment of barebacking in its relation to masculinity. While the use of the term barebacking is evocative of hyper-masculine imagery (horses as sexually potent, manly cowboys, etc.) in both essays, Dean sees it as a potential reassertion of masculinity - redefining the stereotypically ‘emasculating’ or ‘effeminate’ practice of bottoming and gay sexuality itself. I think that this, in some part, also demonstrates the pervasive and insidious nature of the dominant gender hierarchy and the gender binary. Kagan, on the other hand, presents the viewpoint that barebacking redefines masculinity itself and develops a new ‘queer masculinity’ or ‘queer erotics’ that transcends normative masculinity (Kagan, Chapter
The documentary Chemsex, that Kagan’s article criticizes, portrays drug-fuelled sex as a self-indulgent and reckless behaviour (‘self-destructive narcissism”), whereas Dean’s essay contradicts that idea and deems the practice of barebacking to be, in some views, an almost altruistic act in that the participants are willing to sacrifice their livelihood to carry on the gay subculture (Kagan, Chapter 3). They also both take the view that barebacking as transgression of sexual norms can be integral to gay identity for some men in the subculture. One major difference between the two articles is its treatment of barebacking in its relation to masculinity. While the use of the term barebacking is evocative of hyper-masculine imagery (horses as sexually potent, manly cowboys, etc.) in both essays, Dean sees it as a potential reassertion of masculinity - redefining the stereotypically ‘emasculating’ or ‘effeminate’ practice of bottoming and gay sexuality itself. I think that this, in some part, also demonstrates the pervasive and insidious nature of the dominant gender hierarchy and the gender binary. Kagan, on the other hand, presents the viewpoint that barebacking redefines masculinity itself and develops a new ‘queer masculinity’ or ‘queer erotics’ that transcends normative masculinity (Kagan, Chapter