TY - JOUR
T1 - Barebacking and the ‘cult of violence’: queering the criminal law
AU - Ashford, Chris
PY - 2010/8
Y1 - 2010/8
N2 - This article seeks to revisit the law in relation to the sexual phenomenon of barebacking. Drawing upon queer theory, the article seeks to evaluate critically the development of the criminal law in relation to the practice of ‘unsafe’ sex by men with other men, known as barebacking, along with the broader casting of the judiciary as sexual custos mores. It will argue that the present heteronormative legal and cultural framework largely reflects a focus upon the ‘good gay’, de-sexed and constructed within a rights discourse, in contrast to Stychin's ‘bad queer’, sexual and defiant of a narrow heteronormative rights agenda, and embracing ‘unsafe’ and ‘deviant’ sexual practices.
This article seeks to move the analysis of the criminal law on from the doctrinal debates that have dominated thus far, and onto a more theoretical exposition of the criminal law regarding barebacking as erotic play.
AB - This article seeks to revisit the law in relation to the sexual phenomenon of barebacking. Drawing upon queer theory, the article seeks to evaluate critically the development of the criminal law in relation to the practice of ‘unsafe’ sex by men with other men, known as barebacking, along with the broader casting of the judiciary as sexual custos mores. It will argue that the present heteronormative legal and cultural framework largely reflects a focus upon the ‘good gay’, de-sexed and constructed within a rights discourse, in contrast to Stychin's ‘bad queer’, sexual and defiant of a narrow heteronormative rights agenda, and embracing ‘unsafe’ and ‘deviant’ sexual practices.
This article seeks to move the analysis of the criminal law on from the doctrinal debates that have dominated thus far, and onto a more theoretical exposition of the criminal law regarding barebacking as erotic play.
KW - HIV
KW - BDSM
KW - violence
KW - sex
U2 - 10.1350/jcla.2010.74.4.647
DO - 10.1350/jcla.2010.74.4.647
M3 - Article
VL - 74
SP - 339
EP - 357
JO - The Journal of Criminal Law
JF - The Journal of Criminal Law
SN - 0022-0183
IS - 4
ER -