TY - CONF
T1 - Posting Sexual Identities: Co-construction of the Bugchasing Identity in Online Amateur Sex Stories
T2 - Console-ing Passions Conference
AU - Garcia Iglesias, Jaime
PY - 2018/7/12
Y1 - 2018/7/12
N2 - Increasing attention has been paid to bugchasing, the fetishization of HIV infection. Available research has considered this practice from public health and sociological perspectives, as well as by analysing pornographic movies (particularly those produced by Treasure Island Media). However, no previous research has studied the relevance of online amateur sex stories as means of accessing the collective imaginary of bugchasing. These stories are produced by the hundreds in bugchasing forums, which comes to evidence bugchasing’s eminently narrative identity. This presentation analyses one such story, “Kevin is HIV+,” which has attained high popularity among the users of the forum breeding.zone. Both the story, produced by an amateur writer, and the comments posted to it by other users are examined over a sin-month span.The exploration of this story allows access to the narratives of masculinities, community and identity of bugchasing. Additionally, the consideration of the comments in response to the story by other users allows us to grasp the way in which these very narratives echo within a larger audience and are negotiated or contested by others. In so doing, this presentation reclaims the validity of amateur online sexual stories as points of access to the bug chasing community. Although both pornographic and personal advertisements have been previously contemplated both for bugchasing and other stigmatized sexual practices, their joint appearance in sex stories creates interesting synergies worth considering when addressing the bug chasing community as part of the larger construction of a bugchasing identity.
AB - Increasing attention has been paid to bugchasing, the fetishization of HIV infection. Available research has considered this practice from public health and sociological perspectives, as well as by analysing pornographic movies (particularly those produced by Treasure Island Media). However, no previous research has studied the relevance of online amateur sex stories as means of accessing the collective imaginary of bugchasing. These stories are produced by the hundreds in bugchasing forums, which comes to evidence bugchasing’s eminently narrative identity. This presentation analyses one such story, “Kevin is HIV+,” which has attained high popularity among the users of the forum breeding.zone. Both the story, produced by an amateur writer, and the comments posted to it by other users are examined over a sin-month span.The exploration of this story allows access to the narratives of masculinities, community and identity of bugchasing. Additionally, the consideration of the comments in response to the story by other users allows us to grasp the way in which these very narratives echo within a larger audience and are negotiated or contested by others. In so doing, this presentation reclaims the validity of amateur online sexual stories as points of access to the bug chasing community. Although both pornographic and personal advertisements have been previously contemplated both for bugchasing and other stigmatized sexual practices, their joint appearance in sex stories creates interesting synergies worth considering when addressing the bug chasing community as part of the larger construction of a bugchasing identity.
M3 - Paper
ER -