The Medical Condom: Contentions, Challenges and Opportunities for Prep, HIV
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The Medical Condom: Contentions, Challenges and Opportunities for PrEP, HIV Prevention, Gay Sexuality and the Gay Male Body A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Dante E. Morelli August 2015 © 2015 Dante E. Morelli. All Rights Reserved. This dissertation titled The Medical Condom: Contentions, Challenges and Opportunities for PrEP, HIV Prevention, Gay Sexuality and the Gay Male Body by DANTE E. MORELLI has been approved for the School of Communication Studies and the Scripps College of Communication by Raymie E. McKerrow Charles E. Zumkehr Professor of Communication Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii Abstract MORELLI, DANTE E., Ph.D., August 2015, Communication Studies The Medical Condom: Contentions, Challenges and Opportunities for PrEP, HIV Prevention, Gay Sexuality and the Gay Male Body Director of Dissertation: Raymie E. McKerrow This project studies the phenomena of PrEP, gay health, gay sexuality and HIV/AIDS within the context of the gay male body. To understand all of these phenomena, and how they are mapped on the gay male body, this project will take interviews from 20 Gay Men in addition to various resources to help gain an understanding of this new HIV prevention measure (i.e. PrEP). This dissertation will also discuss the various challenges and opportunities associated with PrEP as it is introduced to the gay community. iii Dedication To my Life Partner, Jeffrey A. Wickersham, Ph.D. Thank you for all of the help and guidance during this journey. iv Acknowledgments First, and foremost, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my committee – Dr. Raymie McKerrow, Dr. Austin Babrow, Dr. Laura Black and Dr. Gregory Janson. It is never easy for a doctoral student to leave a graduate program without having completed at least a dissertation. Their patience, kindness and guidance were encouraging throughout this process. I especially want to thank Dr. Raymie McKerrow who had incredible patience with me as I submitted drafts to him. Secondly, I would like to thank the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University for allowing their doctoral students to pursue topics and ideas that are personally meaningful. The faculty and students have allowed plenty of space at the “scholarly table” to explore and learn from one another in a way that is collegial and supportive – no person, nor idea, is treated with inferiority thanks to this embracing culture. I would also like to thank some personal friends who have been encouraging throughout this process. Dr. Tennley Vik and Dr. Rebecca Mercado Thornton have been a huge support especially when I needed it most. I would like to thank my office mates Dr. Josie DeGroot Brown and Dr. Anna Wiederhold for all of the great laughs and support. Special thanks to Dr. Keith Berry who talked me through my insecurities about writing, thinking and researching. He taught me that this project is “simply a moment in time.” I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Communication Department at Suffolk County Community College on Long Island, NY. I am also grateful that I was granted a sabbatical to finish this project. Also, I am thankful for the incredible students v at Suffolk who are curious about my project and ask for updates about the completion of this dissertation. I also want to thank all of the Gay Men who gave me their time as interview participants. It is not easy to put one’s self out there to talk about sexuality and sexual practices – I am honored that they let me into that part of their lives and trusted me with their stories. Their narratives are extraordinarily powerful and they are the centerpiece of this project. Finally, a sincere thanks to my life partner Dr. Jeffery Wickersham, an incredible researcher, who encouraged me to pursue this topic and guided me to many helpful resources I used in this project. vi Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 HIV Statistics .................................................................................................................. 4 HIV Care & Treatment ................................................................................................. 10 PrEP & HIV Prevention ................................................................................................ 16 HIV, MSM/G, & Barebacking ...................................................................................... 18 Conceptualizing PrEP ................................................................................................... 20 Perception of PrEP. ................................................................................................... 27 Criticism & barriers of PrEP. .................................................................................... 28 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 2: Body Theory.................................................................................................... 39 The Body, Gay Health, & Sexuality ............................................................................. 39 Biopower: Disciplining Bodies ..................................................................................... 41 The Gay Male Body ...................................................................................................... 49 The Body & Corporeal Rhetoric ................................................................................... 57 Body Image, Mapping, & the Mobius Strip ................................................................. 60 PrEP & the Meaning of HIV/AIDS .............................................................................. 65 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 67 Chapter 3: Contextualizing the Gay Male Body ............................................................... 68 Gay Health .................................................................................................................... 68 Other indicators of gay health. .................................................................................. 74 Navigating the Gay Male Body .................................................................................... 76 Talking about gay male bodies. ................................................................................ 79 Sexuality & gay male bodies. ................................................................................... 80 Gay Sexuality: Barebacking ......................................................................................... 85 vii The gay community & history of barebacking. ........................................................ 86 What is barebacking? ................................................................................................ 89 Technical definitions. ................................................................................................ 89 Barebacking as identity. ............................................................................................ 92 Why MSM/G bareback. ............................................................................................ 96 The prevalence of barebacking today. .................................................................... 101 Gay Men, barebacking, & the internet. ................................................................... 102 Gay Men & bareback pornography. .................................................................... 108 Resistance to Condoms & Criticism of Public Health Campaigns ............................. 112 Resistance & Criticism towards Barebacking ............................................................ 115 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 115 Chapter 4: Method .......................................................................................................... 117 Why Interviewing? ..................................................................................................... 118 Participant Recruitment .............................................................................................. 122 Interview Data Collection ........................................................................................... 124 Interview Protocol ....................................................................................................... 125