ABSTRACT.
This study aims to analyze, based on the experiences of men who have sex with men, what aspects influenced the use and non-use of condoms. This investigation is a qualitative, exploratory study with 20 men assisted by the Testing and Counseling Center (Centro de Testagem e Aconselhamento - CTA) in Porto Alegre. The data were produced from interviews analyzed from the perspective of discursive analysis. The findings indicate that risk management concerning the use and non-use of condoms occurs in a context of negotiation - not always explicit - in which the value attributed to sex to the other and oneself in the erotic scene interferes with the decision of condom use. These negotiations and the value attributed to the other and oneself also operate and are produced from social markers, in an economic logic, albeit non-monetary. In this context, beauty, appearance, not having an ‘STD (sexually transmitted disease) face’, as well as certain sexual practices and heteronormative patterns arise in the homoerotic scene, often reproducing power relations and influencing risk management and condom use. Building spaces for reflection on erotica as both private and public and reproductive of power relations can be an opportunity for the erotica politicization and reflection on risk and care management.
Keywords:
Men; condoms; HIV