Dr Sharif Mowlabocus School of Media, Film & Music University of Sussex, creativemess Illegitimate communities of HIV: how the virus went virtual and what ‘we’ did with it.

Illegitimate communities of HIV: how the virus went virtual and what ‘we’ did with it.

- discourses of the virus - identities & Identifications - the role of mobile and digital media. - the role that mobile and digital media might play in harm reduction. Research focus in relation to HIV:

To explore how mobile and digital media have supported the formation of ‘HIV communities’. - to illustrate the virtual world of the virus - and consider how the virus has become ‘virtual’ - to articulate the role of digital and mobile media in (re)articulation relationships with the virus - to illustrate the contested ground on which conceptualisations of HIV take place. Today’s focus:

MSM have a long(er), deep(er) and (more) intimate history of mobile and digital integration. Underpinning (evidence-based!) assumption:

- how to live with the virus - information on treatment regimes - handling stigma and discrimination - connecting with others affected by HIV HIV online: a case study in virtual community support…

- communities that are no longer bounded by geography - inter-connected communities formed around (shared) interests - an inherently ‘queer’ approach to community? - a uptopian approach to community? (c/f disembodiment thesis) - what other (‘illegitimate’) HIV communities exist online? The HIV community online: a new counter- public? (c/f Fraser, 1999)

What is deemed il/legitimate often depends on a number of factors: -power relations -pre-existing social tensions -prevailing education standards -moral and community standards -current cultural anxieties Beyond the legitimacy of HIV Illegitimate beliefs & narratives include: -Only gay men get HIV -HIV is not linked to AIDS -HIV was created by US doctors to kill homosexuals / Africans / Russians / a.n.others -HIV can be cured through sex with a virgin / homeopathy/ religion / diet Bareback subculture – the online bareback community – can be thought of as an ‘illegitimate’ HIV community HIV narratives, beliefs, practices, communities – can be legitimate or illegitimate

Dr. DeAnn Gauthier and Dr. Craig Forsyth - discuss an emerging trend among gay men - a trend that involved the conscious rejection of condoms during sex. Circa 1997 – ‘Bareback’ begins to get used within (U.S.) gay male subcultures 1998 – Journalist articles in gay and mainstream press report on ‘barebacking’. Academic commentary includes : Richard Tewkesbury; Michael Scarce; Gabriel Rotello; Kane Race; Adam Bourne; Gary Dowsett; Eric Rofes; Barry Adam; Christian Grov; Mark Davis; Tim Dean; Wheldon et al. Relevant observations from all of this: Barebacking is real Barebacking is ‘about’ HIV The Internet and bareback sex cannot be decoupled. A (too brief and all too incomplete) history of bareback subculture.

“I thought if you cared about someone, you’d want to do your best to protect them, not put their lives at risk – or your own.” Mathew Hudson, Editor, Boyz Magazine. (1999). Barebacking: the media response. Why should we expect lesbians, who receive comparatively scant support from gay men, to continue to make the tremendous efforts many of them have made around HIV if it appears that we are actively courting the virus? (Fall, 2003)

Illegitimate communities of HIV: how the virus went virtual and what ‘we’ did with it online bareback community ongoing stigma HIV + health digital culture condom Fatigue silencing of desires HIV prevention success

My footer text 12 What does the online bareback community look like?

1.Articulation of desires hitherto silenced. 1.Connecting discussions of these (illegitimate) desires to broader civil rights / neo-liberal / anti-censorship / libertarian discourse. 1. New identifications made with HIV. 1.Appropriate health and safety discourse. Discourses within the (online) bareback community

My footer text 14 Discourses within the (online) bareback community “The ultimate feelings are those when he says "I am cumming". Knowing you are taking his sperm deep inside your body, holding it for several hours, feeling it as it moves around inside you.” “When you are getting fucked really good by a man, you should feel the energy of his body flowing into yours.” 1.Articulation of desires hitherto silenced. 1.Connecting discussions of these (illegitimate) desires to broader political discourse. 1. New identifications made with HIV. 1.Appropriate health and safety discourse.

‘it [bareback subculture] combines together notions of informed consent, contractual interaction, free market choice, and responsibility that create a platform for constructing unprotected sex as a ‘‘responsible’’ choice among adult men.’ (Adams, 2005: 344) 1.Articulation of desires hitherto silenced. 1.Connecting discussions of these (illegitimate) desires to broader political discourse. 1. New identifications made with HIV. 1.Appropriate health and safety discourse. Discourses within the (online) bareback community

1.Articulation of desires hitherto silenced. 1.Connecting discussions of these (illegitimate) desires to broader political discourse. 1. New identifications made with HIV. 1.Appropriate health and safety discourse. Discourses within the (online) bareback community

1.Articulation of desires hitherto silenced. 1.Connecting discussions of these (illegitimate) desires to broader political discourse. 1. New identifications made with HIV. 1.Appropriate health and safety discourse. Discourses within the (online) bareback community

Illegitimate communities of HIV: how the virus went virtual and what ‘we’ did with it online bareback community public health risk? space to articulate anxieties ongoing politics of HIV site for re- framing harm reduction re-imagines relationships with the virus a space to articulate desires

Illegitimate communities of HIV: how the virus went virtual and what ‘we’ did with it online bareback community public health risk? space to articulate anxieties ongoing politics of HIV site for re- framing harm reduction re-imagines relationships with the virus a space to articulate desires Why listen to an ‘illegitimate’ community? -Networked sexual culture -Intergenerational sexual cultures -New perspectives on HIV risk -New perspectives on health promotion Dr Sharif Mowlabocus School of Media, Film & Music University of Sussex,