Unsafe sex can therefore be an expression of positive values and of good feelings” (p
Semen Exchange and Emotional Connection
Vincke and colleagues (2001) found that “the incorporation of semen is an important value for many in gay cultures, a means of showing devotion, belonging, and oneness. 58). There is something deeply erotic, profoundly connecting and, some feel, even sacred about one person giving his most private and special fluid, semen, to the other as a gift of love and a symbolic joining of two souls. The many levels of meaning and special significance that giving and receiving of semen has for gay men cannot be underestimated as a contributing factor to the rise in barebacking — especially in romantic couples, as will be examined in Section 2 of this book. Early in the second decade of the AIDS epidemic Odets wrote, “Now that a decade of prohibition has made semen exchange relatively unusual and ‘special,’ it has become all the more powerful and meaningful” (Odets, 1994, p. 432). (more…)