LINK BETWEEN BAREBACKING PORN & THE REAL THING

A US study has found a link between gay men viewing barebacking pornography and engaging in unprotected anal sex in their real lives.

The study, titled Viewing Pornography Depicting Unprotected Anal Intercourse: Are There Implications for HIV Prevention Among Men Who Have Sex with Men?, was undertaken by the Department of Environmental Medicine at New York University School of Medicine.

The authors, Dylan Stein, Richard Silvera, Robert Hagerty and Michael Marmor, used an internet-based questionnaire to investigate whether viewing pornography depicting unprotected anal intercourse, commonly known as ‘barebacking’, was associated with actually engaging in this activity

With a sample of 821 non-monogamous men who have sex with men, the study found that in the three months prior to the interview, 77.2% had viewed pornography depicting barebacking, 42.6% had engaged in insertive unprotected sex, and 38.9% had engaged in receptive unprotected sex .

The study, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, concluded that the data showed “significantly elevated odds ratios” for having engaged in barebacking with viewing pornography that depicted unprotected anal sex.

The authors warned, however, that although a link had been established, it was not clear if viewing the porn ’caused’ the men to engage in unprotected sex, or if men who have unprotected sex simply tend to watch barebacking porn.

“Further research is needed to determine if this observation may have utility for HIV prevention,” they said.

The issue of depicting unprotected anal sex in pornography remains a controversial one. While most adult film studios tend to use condoms in their productions, barebacking porn appears to be growing in popularity, with its proponents arguing that pornography depicts a fantasy, not real life.